It's almost as if the moment that Kevin Ward Jr. died, so too did Tony Stewart.
Almost.
Questions linger about Tony Stewart's involvement in the death of Kevin Ward Jr.
Multiple media outlets reported Tuesday that Stewart will miss his third consecutive race when he skips Saturday night's Sprint Cup race in Bristol, Tenn.
Stewart has been in seclusion ever since the Aug. 9 dirt-track race in New York. His car first bumped Ward's car, sending Ward's car into the outside fence. An apparently angry Ward got out of his car, gesturing and moving toward Stewart's oncoming car.
When Stewart came around, the rear of Stewart's car caught Ward. Ward was thrown 50 feet and died.
Police question Tony Stewart over incident in which Stewart's car struck pedestrian Kevin Ward.
Last week, Brett Frood, executive vice president of Stewart-Haas Racing, told USA TODAY Sports that Stewart was "grieving ... it will be up to Tony when he's ready to get back in a car."
The Sporting News speculated that Stewart's career could be in jeopardy if he were to skip the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway:
"Stewart may not be ready, but if the three-time NASCAR Cup champion is going to save his racing career, it's time for him to race Saturday in the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway or announce he isn't going to race again in 2014," The Sporting News wrote.
"The mourning period has lasted long enough. After Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced to a second-place finish in the 2001 Daytona 500 while his father, NASCAR's biggest name, died in a horrific crash on the last lap, Dale Jr. honored his father and everything being a NASCAR driver represents by racing a week later at Rockingham."
Stewart's situation is a little different than that of Earnhardt Jr. Stewart isn't racing, but he has yet to announce he's shutting down for the rest of the year.
And no one can clearly comprehend what Stewart is dealing with. On one hand, it doesn't seem like such a bad idea for someone in Stewart's camp just to announce that Stewart is shutting down for 2014 to be able to regroup for 2015.
On the other hand, however, the longer Stewart waits to return to the track, the harder it could be to get over the mental block of returning to competition.
How much longer can Tony Stewart stay away from the track if he hopes to race competitively? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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