Tony Stewart Broke His Leg Racing On A Small-Town Dirt Track In Iowa

ESPNTony Stewart, who has defended his decision to race sprint cars in the past, broke his leg and needed surgery after a crash at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Stewart was leading the race when he appeared to get tangled up with a driver that was a lap down. Stewart broke both his tibia and his fibula and needed to be air-lifted to a local hospital.

This was the third time Stewart has wrecked while racing a sprint car this year, including one a week ago in Ontario where his car flipped five times. After that crash, Stewart got testy with reporters asking him about racing outside of NASCAR's Sprint Cup.

"You mortals need to watch more sprint car videos. It was not a big deal," Stewart said to reporters. "It is starting to get annoying this week [answering questions] about that."

With five races left before the Sprint for the Cup on the NASCAR circuit, Stewart is eleventh in points and was in position to be one of the Wild Card drivers for the championship. However, it is unclear if he will be able to return this season.

Here is the crash...