It wasn't just physically painful for Tony Stewart on Monday night when he broke two bones in his right leg in a sprint car crash in Iowa, it also hurt his NASCAR championship chances.
Stewart has been ruled out for Sunday's Sprint Cup event at Watkins Glen, N.Y., putting his playoff chances in a precarious position a month before the Chase. When Stewart does return to his No. 14 Chevrolet, he can expect plenty of questions about his recreational choices and his priorities away from his primary job.
Those tough questions need to be asked, but Stewart has never been one to shy away from a microphone and will certainly have the answers.
His injury comes a week after another crash in a sprint car race last weekend in Ohsweken Speedway near Brantford, Ont. That spectacular wreck saw Stewart flip five times, but the former NASCAR champion dismissed concerns about the risks inherent in his extra-circular racing.
"You mortals have got to learn, you guys need to watch more sprint car videos and stuff," he told reporters last week. "It was not a big deal. It's starting to get annoying this week about that. That was just an average sprint car wreck. When they wreck, they get upside down like that."
Sprint car racing acts as a training ground of sorts for young drivers, some of whom eventually make the jump to NASCAR. The small, fast cars known for their distinctive wings, are often raced on dirt tracks and can have dramatic crashes.
More often than not the drivers walk away from the wrecks, but earlier this year former NASCAR driver Jason Leffler died after crashing into a wall in a sprint car race in New Jersey.
Stewart's injury comes after he'd been involved in three different sprint car crashes this summer.
As both a driver and owner with Stewart-Haas racing, Stewart has the luxury of not needing to report to a boss or clear any of his outside activities with a boss, but by breaking his leg and jeopardizing his playoff chances, he risks providing less exposure for his sponsors in a sport where marketing is king.
Yet, marketing is exactly what Stewart was doing Monday night when he strapped himself into a sprint car in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
By choosing to race sprint cars at small tracks all across North America during the week and Sprint Cup event on weekends, Stewart is doing his part to promote the sport. A champion driver, Stewart draws crowds wherever he goes and has the personality to draw new fans into the sport.
With NASCAR's television rankings relatively flat in recent years, having a high-profile ambassador willing to crisscross the continent is an invaluable asset.
Stewart heads into the weekend in 11th place in the NASCAR driver's standings, just five points out of an automatic playoff spot. With a win in his back pocket and a strong second half of the season to build on, he seemed like shoe-in to racing for a fourth championship when the Chase gets underway way Sept. 15.
Now that five-point gap will no doubt increase as 10th-place driver Greg Biffle and others on the bubble like Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne pick up points this weekend while Stewart stews off the track.
Stewart does hold one of the two wild card berths by virtue of his victory this year, but even that is in jeopardy the longer Stewart is out of his race car. Both Martin Truex Jr., who holds the other wild card spot and Ryan Newman, who also has a win this year, can pass Stewart this weekend with as little as a top-25 finish this week.
If Stewart misses more than one race he may fall so far behind that a second win may be the only hope of making the Chase.
But this is only one season of many for the 42-year-old and missing the Chase this year could push him to even greater heights next year.
Stewart may have damaged his body and could have ruined his NASCAR season with Monday's wreck, but he should have no regrets about being one of the sport's biggest boosters.
