NASCAR driver Tony Stewart has announced he will return to racing this weekend at the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the first time since he fatally struck a fellow racer during a dirt track race in New York earlier this month.
The three-time NASCAR champion has missed the last three races since the Aug. 9 incident in which Stewart, 43, struck and killed 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. during a non-NASCAR sprint car race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York.
The results of the investigation into the crash are currently pending, though authorities said earlier on in the probe that they had no evidence of criminal behavior by Stewart.
Stewart will make his first appearance before the media today (Aug. 28), the Stewart-Haas racing team said in a statement, according to Reuters.
NASCAR said Stewart had "received all necessary clearances required" to return to racing this weekend.
"NASCAR has remained in constant contact with his race team, and we will stay very close to this situation as Stewart returns to competition," said NASCAR executive vice-president Steve O'Donnell, according to Reuters.
Stewart was competing at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park when he clipped the car of 20-year-old driver Kevin Ward Jr., according to video of the event published online shortly after the incident.
Ward then got out of his vehicle and onto the track and seemed to gesture at Stewart before being hit and killed by Stewart's vehicle.
"There aren't words to describe the sadness I feel about the accident that took the life of Kevin Ward Jr.," Stewart said in a statement after the incident, according to Reuters.
Ward died shortly after of blunt force trauma, according to AP.
Just a week after the accident, NASCAR introduced a rule that forces drivers to remain in their cars until a track safety official tells them they can exit.
If the vehicle is on fire or filled with smoke, drivers can leave immediately, according to the rule.
Stewart has 48 career Cup wins in over 542 starts, according to ESPN.
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