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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway was less than 30 minutes from
starting when Tony Stewart stopped me on pit road.
He stood within inches of my face, staring me down like a boxer before a prizefight.
"Why do you sometimes write things that make me want to beat the s--- out of you?" the three-time Cup champion said in a way that was pointed, but not threatening.
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Jerry Markland/Getty ImagesTony Stewart will miss this weekend's Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen after breaking his right leg in a sprint car crash Monday night.
Tony Stewart was upset with my Thursday column, in which I suggested -- three days after he rolled a sprint car five times at a dirt track in Canada, two weeks removed from his involvement in a multiple-car wreck that sent a 19-year-old driver to the hospital with a fractured back, and less than two months after the death of two drivers -- that he should back away from competing in these high-powered machines to focus on the Chase.
He explained that he takes every precaution, that his sprint cars are 80 pounds heavier than most of the competition's because of the full-containment seat he uses. He insisted that there was just as much risk getting injured or killed driving down the highway as there was in a sprint car, and that what I wrote was bad for short-track racing across the country.
I understood.
I also asked if it was worth the risk if even a broken fingernail impacted his performance in his Sprint Cup car and cost him, Stewart-Haas Racing and his sponsors the millions that go with making the Chase.
He never backed down, saying it was unfair to ask him not to live the way he wanted, to give up what at times he seems more passionate about than NASCAR. He explained how one of the reasons he left Joe Gibbs Racing was because owner Joe Gibbs didn't want him taking these chances that Stewart doesn't consider chances at all.
I respected that.
Now this.
Tony Stewart broke his tibia and fibula in a Monday night sprint car race at Southern Iowa Speedway. He underwent surgery and will miss Sunday's road course race at Watkins Glen, where his five wins are the most by any driver -- where another win could have solidified his chances to run for a fourth championship.
Now, he could miss the rest of the season.
Now, barring a miracle, Stewart will have to watch the Chase from the sidelines, just as Louisville player Kevin Ware had to at the NCAA Final Four this past spring, after breaking his tibia and fibula in the regional final against Duke.
But at least Ware wasn't taking unnecessary chances. Tony Stewart was, even though he and other drivers will disagree.
Now his company will suffer. His fans will suffer. His sponsors will suffer. The Chase will suffer.
Tony Stewart loves to race. But as a team owner and Sprint Cup driver, is it wise for the three-time champion to risk his health -- and his team's -- at far-flung dirt tracks?
Everyone who follows NASCAR will suffer because the playoffs will be minus a future Hall of Famer.
This isn't to suggest Stewart is selfish for following his love of dirt-track racing. But his love for dirt-track racing shouldn't override common sense.
Tony Stewart is an asset that he as a boss can't replace. There are few better in the world at what he does with a Cup car. A replacement driver can't keep him in championship contention, the way a backup guard could for eventual national champion Louisville, because only the starting driver can collect points.
Tony Stewart is 11th in the standings, in line for the first of two wild cards for the Chase, with one victory, and only five points out of the top 10 who are guaranteed a playoff spot. Martin Truex Jr., in 14th place with a win, holds the second wild-card spot.
But Tony Stewart's teammate, Ryan Newman, is only 19 points behind him with a victory. If Newman finishes 23rd or better on Sunday, he could move into a wild-card spot, depending on what Greg Biffle, who is in 10th with a victory, and others do.
Reigning champion Brad Keselowski in 12th and 2004 champion Kurt Busch in 13th are only two and six points, respectively, behind Stewart without a victory, so this improves their playoff hopes.
It opens the door for drivers all the way back to Joey Logano in 17th place, 33 back and winless, with the top two drivers between 11th and 20th eligible for wild-card spots, with five races left in the regular season.
The chase for the Chase just got crazier.
And Tony Stewart, only two years removed from his third title, can only sit back and watch.
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