Stewart’s sprint-car career may be over

huntersville, n. c. For Tony Stewart, there was no greater joy than escaping his everyday life and climbing behind the wheel of a sprint car. He loves the feel, theway they drive, the purity he finds at the tiny dirt tracks across the country.

When he broke his leg racing his sprint car a year ago, an injury that sidelined him six months, hewas almost defiant in his desire to never give up his hobby. But after the death of Kevin Ward Jr., who was killed when Stewart’s car struck him asWardwalked on an upstate New York dirt track Aug. 9, Stewart might never get back in a sprint car.

“I would say it’s going to be a long time before you ever see me in a sprint car again, if ever. I don’t have any desire at this moment to get back in a car,” Stewart said in his first interview since a grand jury decided he would not be charged inWard’s death.

“If I had the option to go right nowto a race, Iwouldn’t. I don’t even knowwhen I’ll go to a sprint-car race again to watch. I can promise you it’s going to be a long time before you ever see me back in one.”

On the advice of legal counsel, Stewart would not describe what he remembers about the crash but insists what happened “was 100 percent an accident.”

“Anger had nothing to do with what happened that night,” he said. “Iwasn’t angry with anything or anybody.”