Stewart begins leg rehab

Tony Stewart with his leg in cast

Tony Stewart began a very long rehab assignment this week.

The 42-year-old three-time Sprint Cup champion, who broke his tibia and fibula Aug. 5 in a sprint car race at Iowa, had surgery following the wreck and a second surgery Aug. 8 to insert a metal rod into his tibia.

"I think it's going good so far," Stewart said Saturday at Dover International Speedway. "The therapist thinks we're ahead of schedule, so that's an encouraging sign. He's surprised by some of the stuff that we're already able to do. So I take that as it's going really well."

Stewart will work with a therapist "three times a week – Monday, Wednesday and Thursday – until he says I'm done." He said he won't push things too fast, thus jeopardizing the task at hand: a full recovery at the end of an expected four months of rehab.

"It's going to take a while," Stewart said. "I'm doing what they tell me to do at the time and not asking too many questions. I want to make sure I do everything right."

"There are days you can't sleep because you just can't get comfortable," Stewart said.

"Then there are days when you feel like it's a hall of fame day all of a sudden. It's just weird because you can't predict when those days are going to happen."

Though there had been speculation Stewart could be back in a race car for testing in December, that's out of the question for now.

"No," Stewart said emphatically. "Not until probably the end of January to get back in a race car – maybe February, for sure." FOX Sports