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Tony Stewart unable to race at Plymouth due to weather

Posted: 9:37 PM Jun 16, 2012
Reporter: Angelo Di Carlo

Tony Stewart unable to race at Plymouth due to weather

Tony Stewart wanted nothing more than to give back to his good friend Irish Saunders and Irish's son Eric, a teenager from Lakeville who was paralyzed two years ago after a motocross accident.

Eric is now the promoter at Plymouth Speedway and Saturday night's event was centered around Stewart racing in front of a huge sellout crowd.

But a ton of obstacles got in the way.

The defending Sprint Cup Champion qualified 8th in Brooklyn, MI for Sunday afternoon's Sprint Cup race. But issues with the track caused NASCAR to switch to a different tire and they added an extra practice session from 6-7:30pm on Saturday for drivers to test things out.

That's when Tony was to be in a helicopter flying to Plymouth. Instead he was on the track testing things out. When he got done, getting in the air became a problem due to cell storms between Brooklyn and Plymouth.

Stewart's Office Depot 14 Dirt Car even took a ride around the Plymouth track, without Tony driving it. Around 8:30pm, fans got excited when they saw a chopper flying above the Speedway--but it wasn't Tony's ride.

Stewart finally arrived at the Speedway around 10pm. Then came the rain and lightning that wiped everything out. It just wasn't meant to be.

The dirt race will now take place on August 18th. Stewart will return to to race that night. All tickets from Saturday will be honored on the 18th.

Stewart got on a plane around 11:30pm on Saturday and flew back to Brooklyn. He'll now look to turn a rough Saturday into a winning Sunday at the Sprint Cup race at Michigan.