Sunday, August 18, 2013

Mark Martin to take over Tony Stewart's No. 14 next week





   NASCAR veteran Mark Martin will take over the driving duties of Stewart-Haas Racing's No. 14 Chevrolet as soon as next weekend's Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol, Tenn., multiple sources confirmed to The Observer and ThatsRacin.com.
 

   Martin will drive the No. 14 while Tony Stewart continues to recover from two broken bones in his right leg, which he suffered in an accident in a Sprint car race earlier this month. Martin will remain the team's driver the remainder of the 2013 season if necessary, except for the Oct. 20 race at Talladega, Ala., sources said.

   If Stewart still needs a replacement driver for the Talladega race, Nationwide Series regular Austin Dillon will likely drive the car in that race, sources said. Dillon served as the team's driver Sunday at Michigan and finished 14th.

   An official announcement of the move is expected on Monday.

   Martin was scheduled to run several races yet this season with Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 55 Toyota team, but Brian Vickers is expected to take over those races for the remainder of the season, sources said. 

   Last week MWR announced Vickers would drive for the team fulltime beginning in the 2014 season.

   There was no immediate response from MWR to a request for comment.

   A spokesman for SHR called the report "premature."