Smoke: 'Heck Yeah, I'll Drive Sprint Cars Again'

Tony Stewart says he will return to sprint car racing next season, according to Kendra Jacobs, co-host of Motor Racing Network’s “Winged Nation.’’

Jacobs visited Stewart on Monday night.

Jacobs, whose father Kenny is one of the foremost winged sprint car drivers in the country, said on Tuesday’s show that Stewart gave her explicit instructions to tell “Winged Nation’’ listeners he will continue to race sprint cars despite breaking his right tibia and fibula in a sprint car crash Aug. 5 at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Stewart-Haas Racing announced Monday that Stewart will be out the rest of the season. He is expected back for preseason testing in January.

Jacobs said on “Winged Nation’’ that Stewart’s sprint car crew is preparing for his return.

“His race team, (crew chief) Jimmy Carr and those guys are already building his sprint cars for next year,’’ Jacobs said on the weekly show that details winged sprint car racing throughout the country and can be heard at MotorRacingNetwork.com. 

“(Stewart) will not be staying away from dirt-track racing. This has not affected any of his plans for dirt-track racing. He will be back in dirt-track racing next year. There is absolutely no reason why he would not get back into a sprint car.’’

Jacobs said on “Winged Nation’’ that when she told Stewart how some people were speculating that Stewart would not drive a sprint car again, “he looked at me like “What is wrong with you?’ ‘’

Jacobs said on “Winged Nation’’ that Stewart’s sprint car team is looking at ways to make not only his car but all of sprint car racing safer.

“(Stewart) did say the one good thing that is going to come out of this is that crew chief Jimmy Carr is really dissecting what happened, what broke, what may have impacted his leg,’’ she said on the show. “There are some safety plans coming out of this. They are already working on some new safety ... equipment that could go into the cars to stop this from happening in the future.

“He will rise and get back into sprint cars.’’