Stewart's Injury Caused By Broken Torque Tube

Stewart Haas Racing driver Mark Martin and Competition Director Greg Zipadelli said today that the injury that sidelined Tony Stewart for the remainder of the season was caused when his Sprint Car’s torque tube broke loose on impact and broke his leg.

“Evidently, the rear ends can’t come back because they hit the fuel cell,” said Martin, who spoke with Stewart earlier this week and discussed the crash. “When the car went upside down, the rear end was able to get below the fuel cell and it was able to pull like the drive shaft (torque tube)… yoke out of the front side. That is what got him.

“Technically, I shouldn’t even answer that question because I’m an idiot,” said Martin. “I haven’t ever been closer than 10 feet to a Sprint Car, so I don’t know what I’m talking about.”  

 Zipadelli confirmed Martin’s explanation, saying, “The torque tube came out and hit (Stewart). There is protection, but obviously that hoop that is there is not enough to contain it.  I think that is the area they are working in.”

Asked about Stewart’s recent pledge to return to Sprint Car racing in 2014, Zipadelli said, “I think it’s too early to get into that stuff.  He needs to go through his (rehabilitation) process right now and we need to go through ours. We need to spend time talking, honestly. 

“I don’t think you can take Tony Stewart and tell him he can’t drive other cars.  That is what makes him who he is.  Can we get him to cut his schedule back? Can we get him to look at things; can we help him with this movement of making the cars safer for everybody, including himself?  I think those will be the things that come in the next couple of months.”