Stewart escapes serious injury

The Joe Gibbs Racing star was briefly knocked out in the shunt. He hit the outside wall of the oval a he tried to avoid the spun car of Buckshot Jones, and came to rest in the middle of the track where he was hit lightly by Jeff Gordon and then rammed hard by Jimmy Spencer.

Sewart was airlifted to hospital. He complained of pain in his lower back, plus numbness and tingling in his left foot, but x-rays and CAT scans proved negative.

Spencer said there was little he could do to avoid Stewart's Pontiac. "Somebody lost it and took Tony Stewart up into the wall," he said. "We all slowed down as much as we could, but that track is so narrow, there's no room there. We were just too close to avoid it."

No decision has yet been made whether Stewart will be fit enough to race this weekend at Bristol.