A little more than an hour after struggling through his first public statement since his fatal encounter on an upstate New York dirt track 20 days ago — “This is a sadness and a pain I hope no one ever has to experience in their life” — Tony Stewart was back driving at 190 mph.
“Welcome back, Tony Stewart!” came one disembodied voice from somewhere within the Atlanta Motor Speedway garages as Stewart, dressed in his sponsor-soaked firesuit, appeared for Friday afternoon’s practice session.
That marked the first competitive sighting of Stewart since the night of Aug. 9, when during a sprint car race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park, he struck and killed 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. Under caution, Ward had climbed out of his wrecked car and walked through traffic in order to confront Stewart. The rear of Stewart’s car struck Ward, killing him.
Stewart, who often raced at small tracks in small cars for sheer enjoyment, has since been in seclusion, missing three NASCAR Sprint Cup races. Much of the attention generated by Sunday’s Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will center on his return.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the incident grinds along. In a statement Friday, the Ontario County (N.Y.) Sheriff’s Office said that there would be no official finding for at least two more weeks.
NASCAR President Mike Helton said he had no assurances that Stewart would not be charged in the death before allowing his return to competition.
“We made our decisions based on the circumstances we’ve got currently,” Helton said.
In the 2-minute, 30-second statement Stewart read Friday — he took no questions — the three-time Sprint Cup series champion and one of the most fiery and polarizing drivers in the sport said he needed to get back to racing in order to recover from the events of Aug. 9.
His voice trembling, Stewart said, “I’ve taken the last couple of weeks off out of respect for Kevin and his family and also to cope with the accident in my own way. It has given me the time to think about life and how easy it is to take it for granted.
“I miss my team, my teammates and I miss being back in the race car. I think being back in the car this week with my racing family will help me get through this difficult time.”
“For Tony it’s all about this healing process and that’s part of why he’s in the car,” Brett Frood, executive vice president of the Stewart-Haas race team, said.
“Besides his mom, his dad, his sister, his niece and nephew, his family is here, it’s at this race track. It’s part of the healing process being with the family he’s been with since 1999 and knowing that these people are going to help him get through this,” Frood said.
As he reached his garage at the start of Friday’s practice session, Stewart exchanged high fives with crew members. Teammate Kurt Busch gave his owner and teammate a quick hug.
“It’ll be good to have him back. Obviously, he is the namesake to our team name. We’ll be all on board to help him with whatever he needs. But he’s Tony Stewart, so I’m sure he’ll be fine,” teammate Danica Patrick told NBCSports.com.
Added four-time Sprint Cup Champion, and current series leader Jeff Gordon, “I’m very supportive of having him back and I know based on watching the press conference how emotional this has been for him. I do think that the best thing for him is to be in that race car.”
There were pragmatic issues to Stewart’s return. There is a requirement in the new Sprint Cup playoff format that drivers must attempt to qualify or run in every points race to be eligible for the season-ending Chase. Despite Stewart’s absence, Helton said he remains eligible for the Chase due to “a very unique set of circumstances to Tony and to our sport.” Stewart would need to win either in Atlanta or next week in Richmond in order to be a factor in the 10-race Chase.
In Friday afternoon’s practice, Stewart turned the 10th-fastest time in the field (189.64 mph). Qualifying for Sunday’s race was Friday night.
There also were deeper emotional issues involved.
How fit would a still obviously shaken Stewart be to resume racing?
While refusing to be specific about who may have examined Stewart, Helton said that NASCAR’S policy of relying upon “third-party experts to assure us that a NASCAR driver or a NASCAR member is ready to return,” had been followed in this case.
According to Frood, Stewart has sent a card and flowers to Ward’s family. He mentioned the dead driver’s parents and siblings by name in his statement Friday, adding that “every day I’m thinking about them and praying for them.”
“I believe it’s going to be an overwhelming process this weekend,” Frood said.
“That being said, Tony Stewart is a race car driver. He’s been a race car driver for the past 35 years. When he puts that helmet on for practice, I’m quite convinced he’ll be ready to race the car and he’ll be able to separate the two.”
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