Three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart suffered a broken leg after crashing during a sprint car race in Iowa. He was hospitalized early Tuesday morning, USA Today Sports reports.
Stewart broke both his right tibia and fibula in the crash, according to a Stewart-Haas Racing spokesman. The wreck occurred at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Stewart was transported by ambulance to a local hospital and underwent surgery.
Five laps remained in the 30-lap Front Row Challenge when driver Josh Higday's car spun on Turn 4, taking out Stewart's car and two others.
Stewart had been in the lead.
Brian Brown finished in first place once the race restarted, and Kyle Larson finished in second.
"First and foremost, we're concerned about Tony and making sure he's all right," Brown said after the race, via USA Today Sports. "He's a huge asset to our sport, especially sprint car racing and an icon in the whole motor sports field. Anytime you see him wreck like that and then leave in an ambulance, it's never good. Hopefully he's okay. We weren't going to win that race. We were probably going to run third or fourth."
Brown added: "It looked like he got into a lapped car. When I got close, he was flipping cage down. I didn't really have time to watch and see what was going on."
Driver Tony Bruce Jr. gave his account of the wreck and said: "At that time we were on the back straightaway. By the time I got there, all I saw was carnage. Cars and parts and pieces laying every which direction and it looked pretty bad. I knew it looked pretty bad, but hopefully Stewart is okay and he'll be able to continue his day job on Sunday."
Stewart will miss this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen. It's uncertain how long Stewart will be sidelined with injury.