NASCAR driver Tony Stewart to announce he is retiring

A champion NASCAR driver is to announce he is stepping down from racing – a year after the crash which killed Kevin Ward.

Tony Stewart will say he is retiring from the sport following the 2016 season during a news conference at his team's headquarters in Kannapolis, North Carolina on Wednesday, sources say.

The move follows a difficult year for the veteran driver whose racing accident on August 9, 2014 resulted in the tragic death of Ward Jnr.

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Tony Stewart (pictured at a press conference last year following the announcement he would not be indicted) will say he is retiring from the sport following the 2016 season at a news conference on Wednesday, sources say

Suit: The parents of Kevin Ward Jr (right), a young driver who was struck and killed by Tony Stewart's car on an upstate New York sprint racing track, have maintained the NASCAR champion acted recklessly 

Clint Bowyer appears to be the most likely candidate to replace Stewart in 2017 after he was released from his contract with Michael Waltrip Racing – which folds at the end of the season, reported CBS News.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3252205/NASCAR-driver-Tony-Stewart-announce-retiring-13-months-deadly-accident-killed-Kevin-Ward-Jr.html#ixzz3n5QmH7jP