Tony Stewart: 'I'm ready to put the last two years behind me'

Tony Stewart told reporters Tuesday that he's ready to put the last two years behind him and not look back.

Tony Stewart told reporters Tuesday that he's ready to put the last two years behind him and move forward, according to the Sporting News.

Stewart sustained a broken leg in 2013 in a sprint car accident, which caused him to miss the last 15 races of the season. Last August, his sprint car hit and killed Kevin Ward Jr. during a dirt track race in upstate New York. An investigation was conducted, and a grand jury decided not to bring criminal charges against Stewart. 

"When they counted down 2014, I was never so happy to see that number off the calendar," Stewart said Tuesday. "I'm ready to put the last two years behind me and never look back. I’m not looking in the mirror, I’m not talking about it, I'm not thinking about it. I’m going back to being me again."

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In his first public remarks after the crash that killed Ward back in August, Stewart said the accident is something that will "affect my life forever."

The three-time Cup champion took a couple weeks off following Ward's death to deal with his grief, and he said Tuesday that he spent most of the offseason at home and away from sprint-car and short-track races.

"From the personal side, that’s the best thing I could have done during the offseason," Stewart said. 

Stewart also said he thinks it will be "a long, long time" before you ever see him back in a sprint-car.

- Molly Geary