Tony Stewart's Return Press Conference

Here's the full video of yesterday's press conference where Tony Stewart announced he would return to NASCAR racing this weekend at the race in Atlanta. Stewart's emotional comments were very brief. He said he has suffered "a sadness and pain I hope no one has to experience in their life." He called out Kevin Ward's Jr.'s family members by name, who he said he thought about every day and prayed for. He said he took time off "out of respect for Kevin Ward and his  family" and "to cope with the accident in my own way." Stewart said he missed his team, teammates and being back in the race car, and he thought by returning to racing it would help him get through it. He declined to answer questions based on the ongoing investigation into Ward's death.

Brett Frood of Stewart-Haas racing took a few questions from reporters following Stewart's announcement, but we learned very little new. Frood said it has been Stewart's decision to sit out the last three races. He said NASCAR has cleared him to race this weekend, but he declined to respond to a reporter's question about what that clearance process entailed. Frood indicated that Stewart had not spoken directly to the family of Kevin Ward, Jr. since his death, although he hoped to do that at some point in the future as part of the healing process.