Ward family files wrongful death lawsuit against Tony Stewart
The family of Kevin Ward Jr. filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tony Stewart on Friday, almost a year after Ward was killed when he was struck by Stewart at an upstate New York dirt track.
The Sprint Cup Series races at Watkins Glen on Sunday. A year ago this weekend, Stewart went racing at Canandaigua Motorsports Park the night before the Watkins Glen race. He was racing with Ward and Ward’s car hit the wall. Ward got out of his car to confront Stewart and was hit. He died from his injuries.
Stewart was not prosecuted criminally and has maintained the incident was an accident. He missed three Sprint Cup Series races before returning to the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2014.
The filing of the lawsuit is not a surprise. After Stewart wasn’t criminally charged the family said the matter was “not at rest.”
“Stewart could have easily acted reasonably and with prudence to avoid striking Ward, just as all other drivers had done as they passed Ward during the yellow caution flag,” the lawsuit says (via ESPN). “Stewart acted with disregard for Ward’s life and safety by driving his vehicle in a manner that would terrorize Ward and thereafter strike, severely injure and kill Ward.”
Damages weren’t specified.
A statement from the Ward family said “Our son was truly the light of our lives and we miss him terribly every day. Our hope is that this lawsuit will hold Tony Stewart responsible for killing our son and show him there are real consequences when someone recklessly takes another person’s life.”
When announcing the Ontario County grand jury’s decision to not charge Stewart, Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo said the two videos of the incident didn’t show any aberrational driving by Stewart. He also said toxicology reports showed Ward had marijuana in his system.
Stewart had said earlier in the week that he was attempting to block out the events of a year ago. Sunday is set to be his first race at Watkins Glen since 2012. The five-time winner at the track missed the race in 2013 after suffering a broken leg in a sprint car crash in Iowa. He’s struggled this season and has just two top-10 finishes.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
