TONY STEWART

Even if you've never heard of Nascar (have you been living under a rock or something?!?!), my guess is you have heard about the accident involving Tony Stewart ad nauseum.  It seems as though everyone has an opinion about what most who know about such things consider an unfortunate accident.  A tragedy.  A horrible, horrible tragedy. 

I am not going to comment on what happened at that dirt track in Canadaigua.  If you want to read about it or see video of it, knock yourself out.  There is more commentary out there than anyone could possibly care about.

I feel horrible for the family of Kevin Ward, Jr.  The pain and anguish they are going through is unimaginable.  It isn't fair.  Their hearts are broken and their world will never be the same.

I feel equally horrible for Tony Stewart.  Believe what you want about the accident, but know this.  No athlete ever sets out to intentionally kill a competitor.  No adrenaline rush, no anger management issue, ever drives anyone to want to kill someone over something that happened during a sporting event. You may hate them at the moment.  You may be consumed by a rage that makes you see red and say stupid things.  You may even be driven to physically lash out at them.  But you don't want to kill them.  You just don't.

Tony Stewart has had issues with his anger when he was younger.  He has thrown stuff and said stuff that he should not have. ( I have even heard he is a lousy tipper at the Olive Garden in Charlotte!)  But he did not get so mad at a twenty-year-old kid on an obscure little dirt track in New York that he wished him dead.  Of that I am sure.

If you didn't see Tony's news conference yesterday, let me tell you - this man is broken.  He had a hollow look in his eyes, a haunting emptiness,and he looked like he was going to burst into tears if he didn't get out of there PDQ!  My heart aches for him too.  I have seen soldiers suffering from PTSD.  Tony looked just like them.

Have you ever accidentally hit an animal while you were driving?  I'm talking squirrel or skunk or cat.  I have.  And I hate squirrels.  But when I hit one a while back, I thought about it for a long time. I replayed the 'thud' over and over again in my head.  I avoided driving on that same stretch of road because I didn't want to see it again.  And it was a squirrel.  Just a squirrel!!

I can't imagine what Tony Stewart's private moments are like.  I don't ever want to know what that feels like.  I hope he finds peace, and I hope that young Kevin Ward's family will too.  Maybe together they can heal.  That would be nice for both of them.

I am glad that Tony has decided to get back in his race car.  Sometimes, like Dr. Phil says, you just have to behave yourself out of a situation.  I hope he races well.  But his finish doesn't really matter.  I'm just glad to see that he understands that he needs to be behind the wheel of a race car.  Maybe there - in normalcy - he will find some peace.  I certainly hope so.  Good luck #14, and I'm not talking about Atlanta or any other track for that matter.  Good Luck.