Tony Stewart's insurance not liable for damages stemming from Ward incident
A court ruling Friday said Tony Stewart’s insurance company wasn’t obligated to pay any damages or fees regarding an incident at a dirt track in upstate New York where Stewart struck and killed sprint car driver Kevin Ward.
Stewart and Ward were racing each other at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in a sprint car race when Ward hit the wall. Ward exited his car and walked down the track to gesture to Stewart and was hit by the right-rear tire on Stewart’s car. Stewart was not charged in the incident and has said he didn’t see Ward walking on the track until it was too late.
The Ward family has filed a civil suit against Stewart regarding Kevin’s death.
Stewart’s insurance company had contended it wasn’t obligated to cover Stewart’s sprint car teams for what happened on August 9, 2014. It said Tony Stewart Racing’s insurance policy outlined specific events for the policy – the race at Canandaigua not being one of them – and a U.S. District Judge agreed with the company. From ESPN:
“[The] Policy is unambiguously limited by the Schedule of Events endorsement, which does not include the ESS Event where Stewart struck Ward. Therefore, Axis is not obligated to provide a defense or indemnification to Stewart in connection with the Ward Action,” U.S. District Court Judge David Hurd wrote in a decision issued Friday.
Stewart is now obligated – barring a reversal upon a potential appeal – to pay his attorney fees and any money as a result of a settlement or judgement regarding the civil suit.
Stewart missed three Sprint Cup races in 2014 following Ward’s death.
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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!
