According to The SportsXchange, Tony Stewart will sit out his second straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season following the death of sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr. last Saturday night.

“The decision was Tony’s,” said Brett Frood, executive vice president of Stewart-Haas Racing. “An emotional week for him. He’s grieving. Made the decision he’s not ready to get in the racecar and will take it week by week. Tony is surrounded right now by his closest friends and family.”

This weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race takes place at Michigan International Speedway. Thursday, Stewart-Haas Racing announced that Jeff Burton would drive the team’s entry in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400.

“My role here is to hopefully provide a little stability, give that team a chance to have the most success they can have in a very difficult situation,” said Burton. “Hopefully me being here in some kind of way can help. I don’t know how, but hopefully I can find a way to help a healing process start. I don’t know how that is, but that would be my ultimate goal for everybody.

“Obviously, it’s an awkward situation for everyone. But there’s a lot of people at Stewart-Haas Racing that work really, really hard and deserve 100 percent effort from me and that’s what they’re going to get.”

Most competitors in the garage seem to think the collision that resulted in Kevin Ward Jr.’s death was an accident.

Greg Biffle said, “”It’s a tough situation altogether. Nobody wants to deal with something like that, and we support Tony in whatever decision he makes. He has to personally make a decision on what he wants to do, and we absolutely support that 100 percent.

“Let’s face it; the obvious thing is it’s an accident and, unfortunately, accidents happen. No matter what, accidents happen, and we have to, at some point, move on. It’s a tragedy for the Ward family and everyone involved.”

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