Brett Frood: “It’s been an emotional week for (Stewart). He’s grieving.”

On Friday morning at Michigan International Speedway, Stewart-Haas Racing Executive Vice President Brett Frood addressed the media, along with VP of Competition Greg Zippidelli and intern driver Jeff Burton. Burton is filling in for Tony Stewart behind the wheel of No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS as Stewart sits out this weekend.

During a sprint car event last Saturday night at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park, Ward Jr. was spun out by Stewart. He then got out of his car to display his displeasure, when Stewart’s car would make contact with Ward, sending him sliding across the track. Ward Jr. would be transported to hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. Stewart skipped the race on Sunday at Watkin’s Glen with Regan Smith driving the No. 14 Chevrolet. 

Frood stated that the decision was Stewart’s to skip this weekend’s Sprint Cup Series race.

“It’s been an emotional week for him,” he said. “He’s grieving.  Anytime someone is lost, especially at a racetrack, it’s tragic.  It was a tragic accident, and he’s dealing with quite a bit of grief.”

Frood added that Stewart is “surrounded right now by his closest friends and family” right now, stating that he has been in contact with Stewart over the past week. Moving beyond Michigan, no decision has been made as that will be up to Stewart to decide when he wants.

“When he’s ready to get in the car, he’ll be in there, and we’ll go from there,” he commented.

Some people have been concerns as to what Stewart’s sponsors will have to say following the events, however Frood says that hasn’t been a problem.

“We’ve got the greatest sponsors in the world,” he commented. “They’re very caring.  They understand it’s an emotional time.  There’s much sympathy for the family of the young man, and the care for Tony.  We’ve had a great deal of support from our partners.”

Burton will be making his third start of the season this weekend at Michigan. He ran two races earlier this year as part of a part-time deal with Michael Waltrip Racing. He finished 17th at Las Vegas in March and 20th at New Hampshire in July. In 40 career starts at Michigan, Burton has four top-fives and 11 top-10s, including a pair of top-10s in last year’s races. Burton said he was approached by Zippidelli on Wednesday morning about the possibility of filling in, with the formal decision made on Thursday.

“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,” Burton said. “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 everybody.  But there’s a lot of people at Stewart Haas Racing that work really, really hard and deserve 100% effort from me, and that’s what they’re going to get.”