Tony Stewart Breaks Leg in Crash, Replacement Driver Yet to Be Named

Three-time Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart suffered a broken leg while competing in a sprint car race in Iowa on Monday night. The accident came just one day after Stewart finished ninth in the Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono.

ESPN.com reports that Stewart was leading the 30-lap feature event when he was involved in the accident:

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Stewart was leading the 30-lap feature in a 360 winged sprint car with five laps remaining when a lapped car spun in Turn 4 and collected Stewart and two others.

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Stewart was transported to a local hospital, where surgery was performed after it was determined that he had broken both the tibia and the fibula in his right leg.

The winner of the race, Brian Brown, gave the Des Moines Register his perspective on the incident:

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First and foremost, we're concerned about Tony and making sure he's all right. He's a huge asset to our sport, especially sprint car racing and an icon in the whole motorsports field.

Anytime you see him wreck like that and then leave in an ambulance, it's never good. Hopefully hes OK. We weren't going to win that race. We were probably going to run third or fourth.

When I saw the wreck, I turned left and hit an infield tire and kept going. It was just luck.

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No official announcement has been made on to when Stewart may be able to return to the track. While it is likely he will be unable to compete in this weekend's Sprint Cup Series race in Watkins Glen, a replacement driver has yet to be named.

Stewart sits in 11th place in the series standings. Missing any races would likely mean that he will fail to make the Chase field.

A Tuesday test session that had been planned by Stewart at Atlanta Motor Speedway has been canceled by his team.