Anguish after US dirt track death
Investigation begins after Kevin Ward Jnr climbs out of car after collision and is struck by Nascar star Stewart
The collision was as common as any in racing. Kevin Ward Jnr’s car spun twice like a top, wheels hugging the wall, before it plopped backward on the dimly lit dirt track.
In a sport steeped with bravado, what happened next was another familiar, but treacherous, move: wearing a black firesuit and black helmet, the 20-year-old Ward unbuckled himself, climbed out of the winged car into the night and defiantly walked on to the track at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.
He gestured, making his disgust evident with the driver who triggered the wreck with a bump: three-time Nascar champion Tony Stewart.
Ward, a relative unknown compared to Nascar’s noted swashbuckler, was nearly hit by another passing car as he pointed with his right arm in Stewart’s direction. As he confronted Stewart in his passing car, disaster struck.
Ward was standing to the right of Stewart’s familiar No 14 car, which seemed to fishtail from the rear and hit him. According to video and witness accounts, Ward’s body was sucked underneath the car and hurtled through the air before landing on his back as fans looked on.
Ward was killed. Stewart, considered one of the most proficient drivers in racing, dropped out of Sunday’s Nascar race at Watkins Glen, hours after Saturday’s crash. And the sport was left reeling from a tragedy that could have ripple effects from the biggest stock car series down to weeknight dirt track racing.
“There aren’t words to describe the sadness I feel about the accident that took the life of Kevin Ward Jnr,” Stewart said.
Authorities questioned the 43-year-old Stewart once on Sunday night and went to Watkins Glen to talk to him again yesterday. They described him as “visibly shaken” and said he was co-operative.
Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero said investigators also don’t have any evidence at this point in the investigation to support criminal intent. But he also said criminal charges have not been ruled out.
The crash raised several questions: will Ward’s death cause drivers to think twice about on-track confrontations? Did Stewart try to send a message by buzzing Ward, the young driver, only to have his risky move turn fatal? Or did Ward simply take his life into his own hands by stepping into traffic in a black firesuit on a dark track?
The only one who may have that answer is Stewart.
David Weinsten, a former state and federal prosecutor in Miami who is now in private practice, said it would