HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — For Tony Stewart, there was no greater joy than escaping his everyday life and climbing behind the wheel of a sprint car. He loves the feel, the way they drive, the purity he finds at all the tiny dirt tracks across the country.

When he broke his leg racing his sprint car a year ago, an injury that sidelined him for six months, he was almost defiant in his desire to never give up his hobby. But after the death of Kevin Ward Jr., who was killed when Stewart’s car struck him as Ward walked on an upstate New York dirt track on Aug. 9, Stewart may never get back in a sprint car.

“I would say it’s going to be a long time before you ever see me in a sprint car again, if ever. I don’t have any desire at this moment to get back in a car,” Stewart told The Associated Press in his first interview since a grand jury decided he would not be charged in Ward’s death.

“If I had the option to go right now to a race, I wouldn’t. I don’t even know when I’ll go to a sprint car race again to watch. I can promise you it’s going to be a long time before you ever see me back in one.”

Sitting on his couch Thursday in his Huntersville, North Carolina, home, a sprint car race in Arkansas was on mute on his television. Stewart’s eyes were constantly drawn to the action. He can’t help himself. It’s where he came from, how he made his name and the one form of racing he simply couldn’t walk away from, even as he was criticized for jeopardizing his lucrative NASCAR career by messing around in the dirt.

He just couldn’t give it up. Not when he became a multi-millionaire and one of NASCAR’s biggest names, not after friend Jason Leffler was killed in a sprint car race last year, and not after his own injury led to three surgeries, a month in bed and forced him to miss NASCAR races for the first time ever.

Stewart is addicted to the simplicity of sprint car racing, to racing at venues across the country where the crowd is starving for gimmick-free racing. He didn’t care that a field full of drivers of varying talent were racing for purses that rarely reach $5,000.

He made it his goal to give back to the sprint car community at every turn, especially after his accident. He improved the part that broke and caused his broken leg, and spent $110,000 on firesuits and helmets for nearly 50 drivers who needed updated safety equipment.

Stewart even paid for the embroidery on the firesuits. His only request? That his Tony Stewart Racing logo be placed in a position that would not be noticed during interviews.

Stewart only returned to sprint car racing one month before Ward’s death.

“It’s hurt for 16 months to sit and be scrutinized for it,” said Stewart, “and to try to give back to a sport that you love, and every time you turn around, you’ve got to constantly defend yourself for doing something and trying to support something that you believe in and care about.”

Chuck Miller, president of the Empire Super Sprints series that Stewart and Ward were racing in that night, understands how Stewart feels, but believes it would be a blow to sprint car racing if he never returned.

“I do hope that somewhere down the line he’ll reconsider,” Miller said. “There aren’t many drivers of his stature that have done what he’s been able to do for all of motorsports, and especially sprint car racing. He’s been able to win races at all levels of the sport, including almost every sprint sanctioning.”

KEVIN HARVICK turned a lap at 162.933 mph to win the pole Friday at Dover International Speedway, leading the field for the third Chase race.

Led by Harvick, Chase for the Sprint Cup championship drivers took the top four spots and six of 10. Kyle Busch starts second, followed by Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.