This is the huge moment every NASCAR team owner dreads, that their driver is off gallivanting around in a secondary hobby/love, and they get injured, removing them from the cockpit of the car.
In this case, the team owner himself was the one who got hurt.
Tony Stewart was in a sprint car race in Iowa Monday night when, while leading the race, ended up hitting a slower car and flipping down the track. In the process, he broke both bones (the tibia and fibula) in his right leg.
Damn!
At the moment, no stand-in driver has been announced for the No. 14 for the upcoming Watkins Glen.
But I'm guessing this would be a good time to get a medical sponsor on the hood!
Stewart is ... was the wildcard Chase contender in the top-12 in driver points.
If you're wondering, Stewart drives in about 70 sprint car races each year. It's his first love of racing and sticks to it as often as he can.
Buggers.
-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bruce,
ReplyDeleteI saw Tony racing his 360 sprinter this past March in Yuma, with the touring ASCS series. That was when the Sprint Cup series was in Phoenix. The grandstands were filled with the press release that "Smoke" was racing in Yuma!
Nevertheless, i would think that Stewart's sponsors were a little uneasy knowing that "their man" could get injured racing the 900 hp, mudslinging, rocket ships!!
Well, the inevitable happened this past week! A severely broken right leg will keep Stewart out of the cockpit for several weeks, thus, ending his run at another Sprint Cup championship. Now the sponsors are hung out, high and dry, most likely for the remainder of the season.
What consequences are in for the SHR #14 team, since the driver is unable to fulfill the contract in its entirety?
Hmmmmmm! Do you think that "Smoke", at age 42, might ought to curtail his extracurricular dirt car racing??? I would think that Mobi1 is not a happy camper this week!
I am just saying...........
I hear ya Cap! All team owners worry about their... oh, wait, he is THE team owner! LOL. To be honest, most of the drivers do things outside their Sprint Cup rides that make owners and sponsors nervous. And their contracts are not as iron-clad as some other sports and their athletes, because these guys want to be able to jump in the fun stuff from time to time, other than their work "office" of a Sprint Cup cockpit. I get it... from both sides.
DeleteIn this case though, because it's Tony, I don't think the Sponsors have too much to worry about. Everyone will be interested in what the replacement driver will be doing to keep the car in Owner Points and the like, so I think they'll manage.