Tony Stewart may never forget his involvement in the tragic death of Kevin Ward Jr. But his performance Friday at Texas Motor Speedway suggests that Stewart has moved on.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Stewart became the first NASCAR Sprint Car driver ever break the 200 mile-per-hour barrier by running a second lap in 200.111 mph during qualifying for the AAA Texas 500 on Sunday.
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The lap also was the fastest qualifying lap on a 1 ½-mile track in NASCAR history.
"It is always cool to be the first guy to be able to do anything," Stewart said, according to the Dallas Morning News.
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And it's far different Stewart than the one that basically went into hibernation for three weeks in August following the tragic death of Ward on Aug. 9 in Canandaigua, N.Y. The two were racing on a dirt track when the two cars may or may not have touched (originally it was believed the drivers collided, but subsequent reports said their cars never touched).
The 20-year-old Ward veered toward the wall and hit it. Angrily, he got out of his car and walked toward Stewart's moving vehicle. Stewart's right rear wheel caught Ward and hurled him 50 feet where he was killed instantly.
Toxicology reports indicated that Ward was under the influence of marijuana, but his family still blames Stewart. Stewart returned to the last two qualifying races for the Chase for the Sprint Cup but was a non-factor in both.
Then, he got caught up in a fracas involving Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin when Keselowski hit Stewart's car after the race. Stewart put his car in reverse, hit Keselowski's front and incurred a $25,000 fine.
But that seemed to jolt Stewart out of a daze as he then proceeded to finish fourth at the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 in Martinsville, Va., on Sunday, tying his best finish of the year.
And now, Stewart has broken a pair of records in qualifying.
Whether he has grieved long enough is debatable (Kevin Ward's parents won't think so), but it seems the time has arrived that Stewart has regained his racing aggression.
Do you think Tony Stewart has grieved long enough over Kevin Ward, Jr.
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