Tony Stewart to sit out NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan

TURIN, NY - AUGUST 14: Pallbearers help to carry the casket of sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr. at South Lewis Senior High School on August 14, 2014 in Turin, New York. Ward was killed August 9, when he exited his car during a dirt track race and was struck by a car driven by NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
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TURIN, NY - AUGUST 14:  Pallbearers help to carry the casket of sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr. at South Lewis Senior High School on August 14, 2014 in Turin, New York. Ward was killed August 9, when he exited his car during a dirt track race and was struck by a car driven by NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.  (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
TURIN, NY – AUGUST 14: Pallbearers help to carry the casket of sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr. at South Lewis Senior High School on August 14, 2014 in Turin, New York. Ward was killed August 9, when he exited his car during a dirt track race and was struck by a car driven by NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)

NASCAR champion Tony Stewart will sit out the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway this Sunday. It marks the second NASCAR race Stewart has missed in the wake of a fatal accident at a dirt track in New York State last Saturday.

Monday, Stewart withdrew from the Bob Newton Classic sprint car race at Plymouth (Indiana) Speedway this coming Saturday.

Last Saturday night 20-year-old driver Kevin Ward Jr. who was outside of this car, was struck by Stewart during the feature event.  Video showed Ward’s car as it came to rest on the back stretch after being involved with Stewart on the previous lap. Ward exited the vehicle, and still wearing his racing helmet walked toward the line of cars circling under caution.  He angrily pointed towards the car driven by Stewart; Stewart’s car struck Ward who was thrown in the air and landed several feet away. Ward was later pronounced dead at FF Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.