Stewart-Haas Racing drivers have gotten a glimpse into the future of the organization with Tony Stewart not in the race car but instead as a co-owner.

While Stewart hasn't driven a lap in 2016 because of a broken back, he has spent several race weekends at the track as coach and cheerleader. He has contributed during strategy sessions and competition debriefs just as he did as a driver, only with a different perspective.

The SHR drivers have liked what they've seen. They now know the Tony Stewart they will see in 2017 will have a pivotal role in the organization. And beyond that, he's enjoying that role. Maybe even relishing it.

"He's on the radios, he's in the meetings, he's around and he's just very engaged in what's going on and not in the car," said 2014 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick. "As you look in the future, he's calling on the phone wanting to know what we need to do differently to get better."

Stewart's involvement during his recovery shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, considering Stewart is involved in all his non-NASCAR race teams and other racing ventures, such as owner of Eldora Speedway.

Then again, with Stewart's struggles as a driver the past few years and the politics of the Sprint Cup garage, it wouldn't have been too much of a shocker if Stewart were just ready to spend all of his days at dirt tracks and with his other race teams.

"I always knew I would enjoy it," Stewart said about being on the radio and not in the race car. "I've had race teams since 2001, so I've always been engaged. ... I like being involved, like being hands-on in the process.

"Even though it's been negative to be out of the car, I think it's been positive to know we have a lot to look forward to next year and we're going to enjoy doing what we're doing."

Stewart will have scans on his back later this month, scans that likely will determine when he can return to racing for his final Sprint Cup season. He appears ready and says he feels great, he just needs his vertebra to heal.

Brian Vickers and Ty Dillon have raced the No. 14 car in his absence. Clint Bowyer will take over that seat next year.

"He has found a great balance, at least with me, of not micromanaging the team, not micromanaging the driver, giving great insight and tips and advice when it's warranted or he feels like it's needed or it's asked for," Vickers said.

"But he doesn't try to tell me how to drive the car. He doesn't try to tell the team how to set the car up. He very much lets the team kind of run its course and be a guiding hand along the way."

The drivers want that type of input from Stewart because they obviously respect his thoughts. He has won races. He knows what it's like to be a driver.

Most owners, if they raced, haven't raced in a long time.

Tony Stewart said he thought he would enjoy being an owner in the Sprint Cup Series. Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

"As you look at all those things, you want a competition guy and a driver -- him being the owner is definitely something you want that engagement with," said Harvick, who once owned race teams that competed in the Xfinity and Truck series. "His engagement is different than a normal owner because he knows so much about the sport and how it works from inside the car."

Danica Patrick related Stewart's next phase to that of another former champion who recently retired.

"The one thing that happens with a driver that gets involved in the other side of the car and helps out from a driver standpoint, from a crew standpoint, from an organizational standpoint, is that they're fresh," Patrick said. "They know what's going on.

"They're very current, and I think you see that in a parallel universe with Jeff Gordon in the [television] booth. You can see that, you can feel that, you can trust that experience and knowledge because it is so fresh off of just being in the car, which is the ultimate feel for everything that is going on."

For Stewart, he has gotten to see just how dominant Harvick has been at some tracks. He can see more areas where he can make suggestions for all his teams. And he can take a step back from how the race team operates.

In the past, as he has repeatedly said, when he gets to the track, he's a driver much more than a co-owner.

Now he has come as a co-owner and injured driver. Unlike his leg injury in 2013 when he was bedridden, Stewart feels good enough to be at the track.

"You get to take more time to see it from a bigger perspective, and sometimes a deeper perspective in other ways, too, being a team side of things that isn't always seen from a daily basis from the drivers," Patrick said.

"He loves racing. He's involved, and he wants to see it go well. He finds a tremendous amount of joy in seeing his cars do well even if it's not him."

Harvick (one win, third in the standings) and Kurt Busch (five top-10s, seventh in the standings) have provided much of that joy for Stewart this year.

"As you see Tony so engaged and so a part of what we're doing and so much around the cars and people and in tune with what's going on, [it] is very encouraging for all of us to see what we're going to be looking at down the road as far as what he wants to do and how he's going to fit in with the communication," Harvick said. "That's been exciting for me."