NASCAR Results & News: Tony Stewart Crashes Out
Tony Stewart's race to the Nascar championships was cut short on Sunday after one of his tires blew out during his comeback race at the Oral-B USA 500.
The said race declared Kasey Kahne as winner after charging past racers like Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin.
A CNN report said that the front tire of Stewart's car blew just after the 172nd lap at the Atlanta Motor Speedway causing him to hit the wall on Turn 2. The race champ re-entered the competition after the tragic accident on Aug. 9 which killed Kevin Ward Jr., a fellow driver which Stewart hit with his car.
During the recent race, USA Today noted that Stewart collided with Kyle Busch at the said lap."Sorry guys. You deserved better than this," Stewart was quoted by USA Today as saying while he was talking to his crew.
The same report said that another race awaits the Nascar champ in Richmond this weekend and that this would be his last chance to make it to the Chase.
"I wish we could have had a better effort and a better finish for him. We'll go on to Richmond and hope we can do better there," crew chief Chad Johnston told NPR.
The report noted that he was indeed having issues with this wheels when he went into the garage and had his car checked with his crew.
"I went into today with some pretty good hopes of finishing well. It just didn't work out," Johnston added.
Spokesman for Stewart-Haas Racing, Mike Arning, told NPR that it was good to see Stewart back on the race track.
"Part of that healing process for him was getting back in the race car. This is what he's done since he was 8 years old. This is his family. He's 43 years old. He's not married. He doesn't have children. It's who he is and what he knows," Arning added.
With his recent incident on the race track, it seems that Stewart has still not removed his thoughts of the grim incident that killed Ward. "This is something that will definitely affect my life forever," Stewart noted during a press conference.
Though the investigation of Ward's death is still ongoing, videos of the accident surfaced, showing the fatality waving his hand and trying to confront Stewart while cars were passing but not hitting him. It was only Stewart's rear tire that hit Ward and sent him flying to the air. Authorities said he died of massive blunt trauma.
Ward's father told the media earlier that he blames Steward for his son's death. "Apparently, Tony Stewart was the only one driving out there who didn't see him," he said, in a report from Syracuse.com.
The accident, according to CNN, caused Stewart to miss three races in New York, Michigan and Tennessee as he claimed that he also "mourned" the fatal accident. He told CNN that he wants the Ward's family "to know that every day I'm thinking about them and praying for them."