Tony Stewart has decided to return to racing this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The NASCAR Cup race will be Stewart’s first start since Aug. 3 at Pocono. More importantly, it’s Stewart’s first race since Aug. 9th when struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. during a sprint car feature at Canandaigua Motorsports Park. As of now, Stewart will not be charged with any crime connected to the accident.
Stewart sat out the past three races at Watkins Glen International, Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn and Bristol Motor Speedway following that tragic, fateful evening.
UPDATE: FOX Sports 1 is interrupting regularly scheduled programming to bring viewers live coverage of the Tony Stewart and NASCAR President Mike Helton press conferences from Atlanta Motor Speedway today at 1:00 PM ET and 2:00 PM ET, respectively. Stewart, a three-time NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES champion, is returning to the track for the first time since being involved in an on-track sprint car incident Aug. 9 that resulted in the death of fellow racer, Kevin Ward Jr., at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park. Stewart has not competed in the last three NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES events.
Also, Tony Stewart will speak to the media for the first time since Ward’s death, at 1 p.m. EDT on Friday in the infield media center at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Stewart will be joined by Stewart-Haas Racing executive vice president Brett Frood for the media session. Obviously, you can guess what the first topic on conversation will be.
Paul M. Banks owns and operates The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports, Yahoo! and the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world and been featured in hundreds of media outlets including NFL Network, Fox Sports 1 and ESPN2. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)