This is a far contrast from what is now the norm in NASCAR, where one driver or team manages to run away with the race and is rarely challenged once the green flag drops.
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Kevin and Pamela Ward filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Friday, claiming that Stewart drove recklessly and their son’s death could have been avoided.
NASCAR driver Tony Stewart is being sued for wrongful death by the family of sprint auto driver Kevin Ward, Jr., who died when Ward’s vehicle struck him during a race past year. The auto struck Ward, and he was killed.
USA Today Sports reports that, “At the time of the grand jury ruling last September, Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo said there were two charges submitted for consideration against Stewart: manslaughter in the second degree and criminally negligent homicide”.
According to ESPN, New York law does not allow the Ward family to collect damages for their own pain and suffering but does allow parents to recover loss of expected future support and care that their child could have provided.
Stewart was indulging his passion for dirt-track racing when he entered his No. 14 Sprint auto into the weekly program in Canandaigua.
Some wonder, however, if the death of Ward is not taking a toll emotionally on Stewart, who has a reputation as a mentally strong competitor.
I can only imagine how many times Tony Stewart has replayed the accident in his mind knowing that he was driving the auto that took the life of a 20 year-old.
“I don’t think how anybody could be exactly back to where they were”, after being involved in a fatal accident, Stewart said told reporters during a Wednesday media availability at Texas Motor Speedway. “Everyday I’m thinking about them and praying for them”. It was also determined that Ward was under the influence of marijuana at the time of his death. The vitriol was scathing, the jokes from comedians he enjoyed hurtful.
I spoke to fans about Stewart’s struggles since the accident… “You’d be proud of me”. “Unfortunately, I have a feeling that’s going to get brought up a lot this week, but it doesn’t help you continue to move forward with it”. “He just has to put it all together”.
Those are hard to come by these days. “It is a very fast course and we had a really good vehicle previous year”. Stewart remained cautiously optimistic when he said, “Moving the needle two weeks in a row…doesn’t mean that the team has everything figured out”.
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Ward and Stewart had been racing for position at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York on August 9 when Ward crashed. He’s hoping for rain Sunday so NASCAR will use rain tires, something he believes would give him an edge.
