Tony Stewart Won't Race at Bristol

Tony Stewart will not be racing in NASCAR’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

Stewart-Haas Racing said that Jeff Burton will fill in for Stewart once again. This marks the third NASCAR event that Stewart will have missed since killing 20-year-old dirt-track driver Kevin Ward Jr. on August 9. A police investigation into Ward’s death continues.

“He’s grieving,” Stewart-Haas Racing Executive Vice President Brett Frood told the press last week. “He made the decision he’s not ready to get in the racecar and will take it week by week. It will be up to Tony when he’s ready to get back in the car.”

Stewart’s absence from the track has already dropped him from 19 to 25 in the Sprint Cup standings.