No one can relate to Tony Stewart.
While one of NASCAR's most popular drivers continues to deal with his involvement in the death of Kevin Ward Jr., his racing team's competition director says the tragedy affecting Stewart is an issue in which his peers cannot offer anecdotal support.
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USA TODAY Sports reported Friday that Greg Zipadelli, who was Stewart's crew chief before transferring over to competition director at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2012, said Stewart is inconsolable.
But the reason Stewart is in such a state isn't necessarily because of Stewart's emotional makeup, Zipadelli says, but rather because no other driver on the circuit has experienced what he's experienced.
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"It's just a different nature from things of the past," USA TODAY Sports reported Zipadelli as saying. "Not to make light of any of the other situations, but this is truly just a tragedy. You are talking about somebody who lost their life. You are talking about (sprint car racing) that (Stewart) enjoyed, just loved to do it.
"It was his golf game, his hunting and fishing, and it's just a really bad situation," said Zipadelli, who guided Stewart to two championships and 33 victories as his crew chief from 1999-2008 at Joe Gibbs Racing. "There's a lot of things that he's gone through that I went through earlier in my life that we could sit and talk about, but this is something that none of us can. And everybody deals with it differently. But it's something he'll have to deal with the rest of his life. It's just a tough deal, that's all I can say. There's just a lot of stuff going on. There's just a lot of unknown right now."
Stewart remains under investigation by the Ontario County (New York) Sheriff's Department for hitting and killing Ward during an Aug. 9 dirt-track race. Stewart is scheduled to compete in Saturday's Federated Auto Parts 400 in Richmond, Va., tonight.
He needs to win the race to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup after receiving a waiver that allows him the chance even though he did not compete for three consecutive weeks in NASCAR events after Ward's death.
Stewart crashed and finished 41st of 43 entrants at last week's Oral-B USA 500 in Atlanta. The chase seems to be the lowest priority, however necessary, in his life.
But if he needs a confidant, it must come from professional help, not a fellow racer.
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