Stewart: No intention of quitting Sprint Cup racing
Kannapolis, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – Five days after a grand jury in Ontario County, New York exonerated him of any wrongdoing in the death of Kevin Ward Jr. during an accident in the Aug. 9 sprint car race, NASCAR driver Tony Stewart said he plans to move forward in his Sprint Cup Series racing career.
Stewart, a three-time champion in the series and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, spoke to reporters on Monday at his team’s headquarters.
The 43-year-old driver does not plan to compete in sprint car races, at least not in the foreseeable future.
“I don’t know when or if I’ll ever get back in a sprint car,” Stewart said. “The support from the fans and the support from your peers and people that were around everyday, I’ve had drivers that I’ve raced with every week and drivers that I haven’t raced with for months that have said, ‘Don’t let this keep you from doing what you love.’ This is what I’ve done all my life. This is what I’ve done for 36 years, and I wouldn’t change anything about it.
“I love what I do. I love driving race cars. I think it might change, but right now, as far as how much of it and what I do, there was never a thought in my head about stopping. That would take the life out of me.”
Stewart struck and killed 20-year-old Ward at Canandaigua Motorsports Park. The incident occurred during a caution when Ward climbed out of his car and then walked down the dirt track, pointing his finger in the direction of Stewart and apparently yelling at him to express his displeasure. Both drivers had made contact while battling for position, with Ward spinning out and hitting the wall and therefore forcing the caution.
The right rear of Stewart’s car hit Ward and dragged him briefly across the track. Ward died from massive blunt trauma.
Stewart missed three Sprint Cup races — Watkins Glen, Michigan and Bristol — while he was in seclusion following the incident at Canandaigua. He returned to competition the last weekend in August at Atlanta. Stewart did not qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. He finished 14th at Dover this past Sunday — the third race in the Chase.
“I’ve been racing since Atlanta, but it hasn’t been business as usual, by any means,” he said. “This is going to be a healing process for me. It makes you think about a lot of things other than driving race cars, but the one thing that’s probably helped me more than anything else is being back at the racetrack and being around my racing family, remembering that I have a passion for what I do. That’s probably helped me more than anything when it comes to trying to make that next step to move forward.”
Last Thursday, Stewart spoke to the Associated Press about the fatal accident, saying, “I know 100 percent in my heart and in my mind that I did not do anything wrong. This was 100 percent an accident.”
When Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo announced the grand jury’s decision to clear Stewart of any criminal charges last Wednesday, he revealed that a toxicology report had indicated Ward was under the influence of marijuana at the time Ward was competing in the race, and it was enough to impair his judgement.
Categorized in: NASCAR