For Tony Stewart, the emotional recovery from his involvement in the tragic death of Kevin Ward Jr. has taken another twist.
The three-time Sprint Cup champion whose passion, USA TODAY Sports reports, lies with short-track dirt racing, attended the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a week-long event that includes the running of the nation's biggest Midget car race.
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But rather than get on the track as a driver, Stewart stayed behind the scenes, sort of, by helping maintain the track itself. According to USA TODAY Sports, Stewart manned one of four orange tractors responsible for maintaining that the clay surface remained even for the week of dirt-track racing, which concluded Sunday.
"There are four of us here (on the track crew) who can absolutely destroy this week," Stewart told USA TODAY Sports between runs. "If one of us screws this thing up, we could have a bunch of people mad at us in one night. It's like any other race track. The guys who prep it don't get enough credit. This is just as competitive as working on the cars.
"The guy who runs the grader here -- I've never seen anybody better. This track stuff is real soft. You can take a key and scratch through the top, it's so soft. But to be as precise as he is with that blade -- it's sexy to watch."
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Stewart has not raced on a dirt track since he ran into driver Kevin Ward Jr. at a dirt-track event in Canandaigua, New York in August. Ward was angry with Stewart and perceived that Stewart sent him and his car into a wall when the two were side by side.
Ward jumped out of his car and started walking around the track, waiting for Stewart to come around again. Unfortunately for Ward, he got too close to Stewart's car. Stewart's right rear tire clipped Ward and hurtled him some 50 feet to his death.
Stewart has won the Chili Bowl Nationals himself - in 2002 and 2007. Though he didn't participate in the 2015 event, he admitted to USA TODAY Sports that he'd rather have been racing then helping out - a promise he gave to event promoter Emmett Hahn.
Stewart kept his promise but with one eye toward racing there again.
"I'm still a driver," he said.
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