Tony Stewart Crash: NASCAR Driver Released From Hospital With Metal Rod
NASCAR champion Tony Stewart has been released from the hospital following a crash last week that required the player to have to surgeries.
Stewart was released from a North Carolina hospital Sunday night after a sprint car crash in Iowa last Monday. During the incident, Stewart broke his tibia and fibula; he had a preliminary procedure on Tuesday to clean and stabilize the wound. On Thursday, the driver had a metal rod inserted into his tibia. Stewart was released from the hospital Sunday.
"#TonyStewart is out of the hospital & resting as comfortably as he can at home. Thx for the thoughts & prayers. #SmokeWillRise," Stewart-Haas Racing said in a tweet over the weekend.
Stewart is a three-time NASCAR Cup champion. In addition to racing, he has competed in over 520 races over a 15-year career and he also owns his own team. Stewart often goes by the nickname of "Smoke," which offers a flashback into the racer's history when he wasn't always on the top of his game.
"I wasn't very good about not slipping the right-rear tire, initially. So it started as 'Smoker,' then it got shortened to 'Smoke.' Then when I got in the Indy Racing League it was 'Smoke' because one of the guys on the crew who was my roommate, and knew the nickname, carried it over to the IndyCar team. But then when I started blowing engines, 'Smoke' really stuck. I've had it ever since," he said in a previous interview with NASCAR.
Last month Stewart walked away from a sprint car crash uninjured after his vehicle flipped more than five times.
Racing his sprint car against Shane Stewart at the Ohsweken Speedway dirt track in Ontario, Canada, the racer was attempting to get into the lead when his car flipped. The car flew "end-over-end" according to USA Today, completing a five-time flip before landing.