This past week, a grand jury found NASCAR driver Tony Stewart innocent, pressing no criminal charges for the death of Kevin Ward Jr. on Aug. 9. Stewart struck Ward after an on-track altercation in which Ward left his vehicle and walked down the track to confront Stewart. The poor lighting at the dirt track and Ward’s all-black fire suit played factors in the accident, and ultimately, Ward was killed by the two-time Sprint Cup Series champion.
Further developments came out after the jury ruled Stewart innocent that Ward had excessive amounts of marijuana in his system during the accident, more than enough to impair judgment, according to the prosecutor in the trial.
Ward’s death is both tragic and sad. However, it just doesn’t make sense to me that Stewart had to wait in limbo for almost two months to hear the final verdict on this.
The officials understandably wanted a thorough investigation. They certainly did that. Everybody needed to do their due-diligence in getting to the bottom of this. But to me, it seemed like a no-brainer from the beginning.
As someone who has been around motorsports my entire life, it’s common knowledge not to exit your vehicle and walk towards moving cars on the racing surface. It’s extremely dangerous, and as we’ve seen, can be life-threatening. As a beginner racing against Stewart, I’m sure Ward felt he had something to prove. The lap prior to the caution, Stewart squeezed Ward out of turn two and didn’t give him enough space to stay on the track. After Ward’s car took a spin, he exited the vehicle and walked down the track to give Stewart a piece of his mind.
When a race is under caution, you are never looking out for somebody to be walking on the racing surface. It’s almost never done. Usually you see somebody walking on the highest or lowest most grooves of the track. Never do you see them walking on the surface, which likely took Stewart by surprise.
The car in front of Stewart had to swerve to avoid missing him. Both Stewart, and the driver in front of Stewart under caution weren’t prepared to see somebody walking towards their moving vehicles. The driver in front of Stewart barely missed Ward and, sadly, Stewart had no time to react before fatally striking Ward. As sad as it is, Ward had everything going against his favor the night of his death.
I applaud Stewart for his actions during this period. He didn’t give into the media frenzy surrounding this issue to give respect to the family. He released one public statement and didn’t allow any questions. He missed a pair of races in the midst of a tightly contested chase for the cup, ultimately putting him out of position to win his third championship this year. He truly is a professional, and it’s saddening to see somebody with so many accolades on and off the race track stricken with guilt from an accident in which he had no control.
It’s good to see that the grand jury got this one right. Stewart is a free man, as he should be.