Something else stood out in that article, too. Stewart missed half of last year's Sprint Cup season because of a broken leg he sustained in one of these dirt track races. Here's the money quote from the article for me:
The multimillionaire is known to participate in races with purses worth less than $3,000 and drive alongside drivers of varying ages and talent levels.
A fool and his money are soon parted. What kind of 'effing idiot would risk his well-being, his finances, and now his reputation over something like this?
You don't know much about racin do ya. Guys like Tony do it for the love of the sport. He didn't need the purse money or any other reason except to promote local track racing. Tony came from the same background. He probably feels worse about this than anyone.