Kevin Ward Jr.’s family files wrongful death lawsuit against Tony Stewart
NASCAR driver Tony Stewart looks on from a garage during a practice for a Sprint Cup series race on July 10.
The family of a young driver struck and killed by Tony Stewart’s sprint car on an upstate New York track filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NASCAR star Friday.
The lawsuit was filed as Stewart returns to Watkins Glen International Raceway on the one-year anniversary of the fatal crash.
The lawsuit accuses Stewart of gross negligence, saying he gunned his engine and put his car into a skid as 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. walked onto the track after a crash at Canandaigua Motorsports Park on Aug. 9, 2014. Stewart’s car struck Ward, and he was killed.
A grand jury declined to indict Stewart, who at the time called it “100 percent an accident.” There was no immediate comment from Stewart, who was with his crew in the garage before a final practice Friday afternoon.
Ward’s parents, Kevin and Pamela Ward, requested a jury trial seeking unspecified monetary damages, claiming wrongful death, reckless conduct, gross negligence and their son’s terror and suffering.
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“Our son was truly the light of our lives and we miss him terribly every day,” they said in a statement. “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.”
Stewart, who frequently races in extracurricular events as a hobby, was participating in a sprint car race on a dirt track when Ward crashed into a wall after a bump with Stewart.
The lawsuit notes Stewart’s reputation for having a temper and claims that Stewart deliberately veered toward Ward after the collision.
“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 states.
ALSO:
NASCAR’s Tony Stewart is hoping for better days ahead
Kevin Ward Jr.’s family to ‘pursue all remedies’ in fatal incident
NASCAR’s Tony Stewart: Kevin Ward Jr. death ‘was 100% an accident’
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