Tony Stewart Hospitalized Following Non-Racing Incident

Tony Stewart, on the verge of starting his final season as a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, was involved All-Terrain Vehicle-related accident on Sunday afternoon while on the west coast according to a spokesman from the team. The team issued a statement today “Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, sustained a back injury in a non-racing accident Sunday afternoon. Stewart was transported to a local hospital following the accident and is currently being evaluated. Stewart is awake and alert, and able to move all extremities. An update will be provided Thursday afternoon when more information is known.”

 

This is the third incident to come to Stewart in the last 2 ½ years. In August of 2013, Stewart lost the remainder of the Sprint Cup Series season after suffering a double compound fracture in his right leg following a sprint car accident in Iowa. The following August, Stewart was involved in an incident when Kevin Ward Jr got out of his car and in front of the car Stewart was driving, the incident killed Ward and caused Stewart to miss three races.

 

The good news is that Stewart is awake and alert, according to the aforementioned statement via Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart is a three-time Sprint Cup champion and previously announced that this would be his last season in the Sprint Cup Series.  Stewart has been slumping recently, not recording a single top five finish all of last season and last winning a race in 2013 at Dover.

 

This article will be updated with more information as it becomes available.