Postby Cherish No Wrong » September 1st, 2014, 2:31 am
Tony Stewart out of Atlanta race in NASCAR return
HAMPTON, Ga. — Tony Stewart's return to racing lasted half as long as he wanted.
Two meetings with the outside wall – neither his fault – ended Stewart's night before the halfway point of the Oral-B USA 500 Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kyle Busch drove up the track and forced Stewart into the wall on a Lap 122 restart, crumpling the right side of Stewart's No. 14 Chevrolet and damaging the suspension.
"We just got run over big-time!" Stewart radioed his crew. "I hit the wall pretty hard there."
Stewart said his steering wheel was "about an inch to the left." He fell from 11th to 19th position before making a stop on pit road for repairs, the first of several to mend damage to the right front.
After extensive repairs, Stewart returned to the track,but slammed the wall again on Lap 170 when his right front tire blew.
"Sorry guys, you deserve better than this," Stewart radioed his crew.
Stewart's Chevy limped into the garage, and he climbed from the vehicle. A few minutes later, crew chief Chad Johnston determined the damage could not be repaired, so Stewart's night was over.
Stewart did not speak to the news media after retiring.
Johnston said damage from the first encounter with the wall led to the second incident.
"It went really tight and ended up blowing the right front," he said. "It's terminal. No way to really fix it here."
PHOTOS: Stewart's return to racing at Atlanta
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TONY STEWART RETURNS TO NASCAR
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Tony Stewart returned to NASCAR and the Sprint Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway, three weeks after he struck and killed driver Kevin Ward Jr. during a sprint car race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate NewYork. Kevin Liles, USA TODAY Sports
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PHOTOS
Stewart, making his first Sprint Cup start since hestruck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. on Aug. 9, remains under investigation.
Johnston said Stewart's first race weekend back went well.
"It was awesome," he said. "It was like he was never gone. We never skipped a beat. He's a champion. That's what true champions do. That's why he's a champion, and he'll be a champion again.
"He's the owner. He's the leader. He's the driver. Most important, he's the leader of the team. We all look at him to lead us and guide us, and it's good to have him back. We look forward to going on the rest of the year and getting him to victory lane."
On Friday, NASCAR granted him a waiver to participate in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. So despite him missing time in the car during the regular season, Stewart will make the 16-driver championship field if he wins next Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway. He must win to challenge for what would be a fourth championship. He won in 2002, 2005 and 2011.
"This is not what we wanted for Tony's first race back to end this way," Johnston said. "We'll see if we can get him in the Chase at the last moment. It will be exciting."
Before the green flag, Stewart walked out during driver introductions to a chorus of cheers — the loudest and longest among the 43 drivers — as some fans in the frontstretch grandstand stood and clapped.
The response drowned out the public address announcer's introduction of Stewart.
He waved a couple times and shook hands with each person on the stage before taking the customary lap around the track in the back of a pickup.
In the half-hour before the start of the race, Stewart, standing beside his No. 14 Chevrolet, was visited by sponsor representatives Johnny Morris of Bass Pro Shops and Rusty Rush of Rush Enterprises, who earlier Sunday told USA TODAY Sports 'We stand by Tony'.
