Despite his injury, Stewart will soldier on in the series and maintains that it won’t affect his run at the 2013 championship.

“Obviously, the first race [I] got hurt, last weekend I was riding cautious trying not to damage it anymore,” Stewart told Racer X Online. “But you know, it is what it is – when I did it, I ended up tearing my ACL at the first race.

“So it was one of those things that is kind of, it’s a bummer. That’s the deal, it did happen, and this week I feel a lot better. I’ve seen my doctors, got some stuff put in my knee so I feel a lot better, but we’re here to race.

“I’m not using it as an excuse, I don’t really want to talk about it anymore and I feel like it’s not going to hinder my performance in the championship.”

Stewart currently sits ninth in the point standings, 18 points in arrears of early leader and fellow Suzuki contender Davi Millsaps.