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NASCAR driver Tony Stewart sustained a broken right tibia and fibula in a sprint car accident Monday night at Southern Iowa Speedway.
Stewart was competing in a dirt sprint car race at the half-mile track when he was involved in a multi-car incident in Turn 4 that resulted in him flipping multiple times, according to The Des Moines Register. Track officials told the newspaper that Stewart was conscious and talking after being placed on a stretcher.
He was then transported to a local hospital where he immediately underwent surgery.
Stewart is the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing and the team confirmed he will miss this weekend's Sprint Cup Series event at Watkins Glen in a statement. No replacement driver has been named. Stewart has started 521 consecutive races dating back to the beginning of the 1999 season, third-most among active drivers.
At the time of his wreck Monday, Stewart was leading the 30-lap Front Row Challenge sanctioned by the American Sprint Car Series when he made contact with a lapped car, The Des Moines Register reported.
"It looked like he got into a lapped car," race-winner Brian Brown told the newspaper. "When I got close, he was flipping cage down. I didn't really have time to watch and see what was going on."
This is the second time in a week the three-time Cup champion has crashed while driving in a sprint car race. Last Monday at a dirt track in Canada, Stewart was challenging for the lead when his car got loose and went end-over-end five times. He walked away uninjured.
When asked this past weekend at Pocono if he would curtail running sprint car races despite the risks, Stewart was adamant that he would continue barnstorming. He called flipping in a sprint car "no big deal."
"You guys need to watch more sprint car videos and stuff," Stewart said. "It was not a big deal. It's starting to get annoying this week about that so that was just an average sprint car wreck.
"When they wreck they get upside down like that. ... I guarantee you there were 15-20 guys across the country that flipped just like that this weekend and were just fine just like we were."
Stewart is currently 11th in Cup Series points and leads the wild card standings with five races remaining before the Chase.
