NASCAR Sprint Cup Series WATKINS GLEN Watch FREE Live Stream Online & Listen: Live Coverage STARTING GRID

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 13^th 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."

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