Today at 1:00 p.m. ET on ESPN the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race will kick off from Watkins Glen, which can be live streamed free by clicking this link. Sadly, while the action promises to be thrilling, there will be a pall hanging over the race.
Tony Stewart, who is in 13th position, was involved in a tragedy one night ago during a sprint car race in which 20-year-old driver Kevin Ward Jr. was killed after being struck on the track while on foot and sent flying 50 feet. Ward had been trying to confront Stewart because of a crash the two were involved in a bit earlier in the race; the race was being run under a caution flag at the time of the accident.
Stewart was questioned by the police Saturday night, but Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero said he was not being questioned in a criminal capacity.
"He was visibly shaken by this accident," Povero said. "... This is right now being investigated as an on-track crash and I don't want to infer that there are criminal charges pending. When the investigation is completed, we will sit down with the district attorney and review it. But I want to make it very clear: there are no criminal charges pending at this time."
Stewart is expected to race today despite the tragedy.
Prior to the Stewart incident, Jeff Gordon appeared to be the story heading into the action today. Gordon won the pole for today's race after telling his son he would try to do just that as a birthday gift.
"This year has been phenomenal. I wished him a happy birthday this morning and said, 'All right, I'm going to try to get you that pole,'" Gordon said. "I wasn't real confident in that statement, and now I really can't wait to talk to him."
STARTING GRID
| POS | DRIVER | MANUFACTURER | CAR | SPEED |
| 1 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 129.466 mph | |
| 2 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 129.138 mph | |
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 128.968 mph | |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 128.859 mph | |
| 5 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 128.816 mph | |
| 6 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 128.701 mph | |
| 7 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 128.186 mph | |
| 8 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 128.179 mph | |
| 9 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 128.052 mph | |
| 10 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 127.867 mph | |
| 11 | Joey Logano | Ford | 127.761 mph | |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 127.510 mph | |
| 13 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 128.205 mph | |
| 14 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 128.131 mph | |
| 15 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 128.026 mph | |
| 16 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 127.839 mph | |
| 17 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 127.782 mph | |
| 18 | Cole Whitt | Toyota | 127.715 mph | |
| 19 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 127.575 mph | |
| 20 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 127.573 mph | |
| 21 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 127.562 mph | |
| 22 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 127.322 mph | |
| 23 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 127.309 mph | |
| 24 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 127.278 mph | |
| 25 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | 127.245 mph | |
| 26 | David Ragan | Ford | 127.243 mph | |
| 27 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 127.197 mph | |
| 28 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 127.192 mph | |
| 29 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 127.177 mph | |
| 30 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 127.012 mph | |
| 31 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 126.819 mph | |
| 32 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Ford | 77 | 126.715 mph |
| 33 | David Gilliland | Ford | 126.704 mph | |
| 34 | Boris Said | Ford | 126.571 mph | |
| 35 | Ryan Truex | Toyota | 126.508 mph | |
| 36 | Alex Bowman | Toyota | 125.824 mph | |
| 37 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | N/A | |
| 38 | Alex Kennedy | Chevrolet | N/A | |
| 39 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | N/A | |
| 40 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | N/A | |
| 41 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | N/A | |
| 42 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | N/A | |
| 43 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | N/A |
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