Tony Stewart Announces Racing Return Following Back Surgery

After missing the first eight races of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season because of injury, Tony Stewart announced Thursday that he will compete in Sunday's Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

The 44-year-old veteran made his return to action official on Twitter:

Stewart-Haas Racing also announced his return, noting Stewart had "been cleared by his doctors and NASCAR to return to racing, effective immediately."

Stewart injured his back in an all-terrain vehicle accident on Jan. 31, and Brian Vickers served as his primary replacement in the No. 14 car during his absence.

"Smoke" underwent surgery in February, which resulted in two rods and three screws being inserted into his back.

Despite the severity of the injury, Stewart said Thursday that his recovery was thorough enough to get him back in racing condition:

The three-time series champion announced in September that the 2016 season would be his last as a full-time Sprint Cup driver.

While his retirement celebration will start two months later than expected, it will occur at a fitting location, as pointed out by Richmond Raceway on Twitter:

Fox NASCAR analyst and three-time series champion Darrell Waltrip also believes the stars have aligned well for Stewart to return and make an impact:

Kyle Busch missed 11 races last year with a broken leg, but he managed to come back and win the first Sprint Cup championship of his career.

That bodes well for Stewart in his swan-song campaign, but with finishes of 28th, 25th and 29th in the standings over the past three years, he faces a major uphill climb. Jeff Gluck of USA Today passed along confirmation from NASCAR that it had given Stewart a waiver to be eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Stewart will need to be in the top 30 and win a race to get into the Chase, per Gluck.

Stewart hasn't won a race since 2013 at Dover, Delaware, but with the added motivation of returning from injury and competing in his final season, he may have one last run left in him.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.