NASCAR driver who suffered horror injuries in wreck targets return date

When NASCAR driver Stewart Friesen suffered horrific injuries in a major wreck just a few short weeks ago, nobody imagined he would be talking about a race return in 2025.

The 42-year-old Truck Series star and team owner suffered multiple injuries back on July 28 while competing in the SuperDIRTcar King of the North race in Drummondville, Quebec.

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Friesen was running wide on the track in the very early stages when he was catapulted into the air, flipping multiple times before finally coming to a stop in a flaming wreck. The race was immediately red-flagged.

He was immediately hospitalized locally, and then transferred to the New York area where he underwent surgeries on injuries which included an unstable/open-book pelvis fracture (meaning his pelvis was broken in two or more places) and a fractured right leg.

Friesen was eventually allowed home to continue his recovery, and now we have even better news - he is back at the racetrack and talking about dates for a return to race action.

Speaking to FOX insider Bob Pockrass at New Hampshire over the weekend, he admitted that returning for Daytona at the start of the 2026 season had been his initial goal. Now though he even dreams of being back for the dirt car World Finals in November.

Stewart Friesen return date

He said: “That’s the goal [Daytona] we set right away. If I can get a little bit more mobility and range of motion back in this right foot, I’d like to be back in at least a dirt car maybe for World Finals. But I think that’s super wishful thinking and if my wife was here she’d be punching me.

“That’s the goal, we’re gonna work as hard as we can, just so fortunate to have such a great group of people around me…It’s been something we couldn’t do by ourselves.

“My wife’s been awesome, Jess has been a superhero through all of this and we’re just gonna work as hard as we can.”

“It’s been seven or eight since the accident so I’m thinking well, as good as I feel now, maybe for World Finals. But we’re gonna prepare like we’re going anyway - just to give me something to do - but yeah I’m not sure.”

Friesen was also asked if he’d considered not racing again, given the severity of the injuries he suffered.

“That’s something that’s crossed my mind,” he admitted. “I don’t know about that, we’ll see how I feel in a month or two months or whatever, and try not to think about that too much.”

Friesen’s injuries did rule him out of a place in the 2025 Truck Series playoffs, and Kaden Honeycutt continues to deputize in the No. 52 car for the remainder of the season.

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