NASCAR grants Tony Stewart waiver into Chase if Stewart wins in next two races

If Tony Stewart wins Sunday at Atlanta or September 7 at Richmond, he's going to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

NASCAR President Mike Helton said Friday that Stewart would be granted a waiver to remain Chase-eligible. Stewart missed races at Watkins Glen, Michigan and Bristol after he struck and killed Kevin Ward at a dirt track in upstate New York.

Before Helton's announcement, Stewart made an emotional three-minute statement about his time away from the track and his return.

Under NASCAR's new format, any driver who wins a race and is in the top-30 in points makes the Chase. However, the driver also has to attempt to qualify for all 26 races before the Chase unless granted a waiver by NASCAR upon the sanctioning body's discretion. Stewart's situation, NASCAR said, is worthy of a waiver.

"After evaluating the circumstances around this occurrence, we've come to the conclusion that Tony will be eliglble to participate in the Chase if he were to earn a spot in it," Helton said.

When Stewart-Haas Racing announced Stewart's intention to drive Sunday at Atlanta on Thursday, NASCAR said Stewart had been approved for competition.

"Throughout this period of time ... NASCAR has been in constant contact with Stewart-Haas Racing," Helton said. "But when it comes to the assurances that a driver or a NASCAR member is ready to return, we're going to rely on outside experts."

Helton declined to reveal what capacity the outside experts were in.

Because he missed three races, Stewart is too low in the points standings to get into the Chase via points. (12 drivers have won races in 2014, meaning that at least two winless drivers will make the Chase.)

Stewart must win either at Atlanta or Richmond to be eligible. If he does, he would fill one of the 16 Chase spots. Last year, when the Chase was set at 12 participants, NASCAR expanded the field to 13 and added Jeff Gordon in the wake of a race manipulation scandal involving Michael Waltrip Racing at Richmond.

Friday, Helton said NASCAR had no plans to expand the Chase to 17 drivers if Stewart won in the next two races.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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