NASCAR mailbag: What does the future hold for Tony Stewart?

But Stewart is far from your typical NASCAR driver. He won a championship in 2011 at age 40 and, unlike a Jimmie Johnson or a Jeff Gordon, Stewart doesn't

Lars Anderson | Aug 21, 2013

NASCAR mailbag: What does the future hold for Tony Stewart? /

Despite his recent injury, Tony Stewart has said he plans to continue racing sprint cars in 2014. — Despite his recent injury, Tony Stewart has said he plans to continue racing sprint cars in 2014 :: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

But Stewart is far from your typical NASCAR driver. He won a championship in 2011 at age 40 and, unlike a Jimmie Johnson or a Jeff Gordon, Stewart doesn't have a wife and kids or many interests outside of racing. Put simply, he's as committed to (or you could even say as obsessed with) his craft as anyone in the sport today. That's why he races sprint cars during the week, why he owns a sprint car team, a NASCAR team, and a local dirt track (Eldora Speedway, in Ohio). It's my belief that this injury won't slow him a tick in 2014.

Thanks for the questions. Please keep them coming. Now it's onto Bristol, where on Saturday night the engines will fire under the lights in what is typically one of the most entertaining races of the year.

Published Aug 21, 2013

LARS ANDERSON

Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated Senior writer Lars Anderson is Sports Illustrated's main motor sports writer. He has profiled many of the sport's iconic figures, including cover stories on Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmie Johnson and Danica Patrick. Anderson has covered multiple Daytona 500s and Indianapolis 500s and writes a twice-weekly racing column for SI.com. He also covers college football. Anderson penned a regional cover story on Alabama's defense in 2011 and has written features on Cam Newton at Auburn, coach Frank Solich at Ohio and the history of spring practice. The most important piece of his SI career, according to Anderson, was his 2011 cover story on the tornado that struck Tuscaloosa, Ala., and how sports was going to play a role in rebuilding that sports-obsessed city. Anderson is the author of five books: The First Star: Red Grange and the Barnstorming Tour that Launched the NFL (published by Random House in December 2009), Carlisle vs. Army (Random House, 2007), The All Americans (St. Martins, 2005), The Proving Ground: A Season on the Fringe in NFL Europe (St. Martins, 2001) and Pickup Artists (Verso, 1998). Both Carlisle Vs. Army and The All Americans have been optioned for movies. Of Carlisle, Booklist, in a starred review, called the work "a great sports story, told with propulsive narrative drive and offering a fascinating look at multiple layers of American pop culture." Anderson is currently working on a sixth book, The Storm and The Tide, about the 2011 Tuscaloosa tornado and Alabama's national championship that season. It will be published by Time Home Entertainment Inc., a division of Time Inc., in August 2014. A native of Lincoln, Neb., Anderson joined SI in 1994 following a short stint as a general assignment reporter at the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star. He received a B.A. from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., and an M.S., from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. Anderson resides in Birmingham, Ala.