Nearly one year after Tony Stewart tragically struck and killed a fellow competitor under caution at a dirt track in upstate New York, the family of Kevin Ward Jr. has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.
The Ward family filed the suit on Friday morning at the Lewis County Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction over the Ward home in Port Leyden, N.Y.
Stewart was not criminally charged in the death of the 20-year-old sprint car driver, as Ward stepped out of his car following contact with the NASCAR star and charged towards his moving car at the Empire Super Sprints event at Canandaigua Motorsports Park on Aug. 9.
Ward was pronounced dead 45 minutes after being struck by Stewart. The cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma.
The lawsuit does not list the amount of damages the family is seeking in claims of wrongful death, reckless conduct, gross negligence and Ward’s suffering between the time he was hit and his death. The lawsuit asserts that Stewart throttled his car as he drove by Ward, causing the moment of the right rear tire that made contact with Ward and tossed him nearly 25 feet across the track.
“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. “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.”
The Ward family will likely have to prove that Stewart has some degree of fault in the death. Should the case go to a jury, they would have to decide whether or not Stewart had a duty to drive in a certain manner under caution and if he did not adhere to that duty.
A statement from Kevin Ward Sr. and his wife Pamela says they intend to hold Stewart responsible for the death through their lawsuit.
“Our son was truly the light of our lives and we miss him terribly every day,” Ward’s parents said in a statement. “Our hope is that this lawsuit will hold Tony Stewart responsible for killing our son and show him that there are real consequences when someone recklessly takes another person’s life.”
The grand jury watched two videos of Stewart’s car striking Ward and Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo said they showed “no aberrational driving” by Stewart before he made contact with Ward.
Ward was found to have marijuana in his system at the time of the incident, according to a post-incident autopsy.
The Ward family is represented by Mark Lanier of The Lanier Law Firm in New York, and they have requested a trial by jury.
“A jury needs to see the video, learn of Tony Stewart’s past, and give the verdict that delivers justice,” Lanier said. “Tony’s actions took the life of a marvelous young, talented man.”
Stewart is represented by Indianapolis attorney James Voyles, who has also betokened Mike Tyson, Bob Knight and Jim Irsay in high-profile cases. New York law does not allow the Ward family to collect damages for their own pain and suffering, but does allow parents to recover the loss of expected future support and care Ward could have provided if not for his death.
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