Tony Stewart: "Grieving" Over Death Of Fellow Racer

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

Tony Stewart will not return to racing just yet. Although criminal charges are currently “unlikely” according to the local sheriff, Stewart’s decision to stay out of the public eye is probably the most sensible and cautious one possible. This isn’t really one of the things that TTAC would normally cover, so you can read my thoughts on the situation over on my site.

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • Lightspeed Lightspeed on Aug 17, 2014

    Stewart should be up on charges and never drive a race car again.

  • Sjalabais Sjalabais on Aug 17, 2014

    I don't get it. Does TTAC cover this story or not? A 1995-ish "come to my site"-post seems odd.

  • Mitchw Mitchw on Aug 17, 2014

    The local cops and DA have much more evidence than us internet typing pool. Like other videos and interviews with drivers and spectators. Let's wait and see. Personally, at this moment, I'm glad I'm not Tony.

  • Jimal Jimal on Aug 17, 2014

    I'm not a legal expert, but I've been around a lot of race tracks. The more I think about it, the more I think that unless their are criminal charges the only money the award family will see will be out of the kindness of Stewart's heart. To start with, I don't think Tony Stewart did anything wrong in this incident and no one has been able to prove the popular theory that this happened because "Stewart is a hot head". From there the question becomes civil liability. Forgetting that these types of wrongful death lawsuits with racing drivers rarely go well for the plaintiffs. First there Canadaigua Speedway, which some are saying could be liable because of a lack of lighting. The answers to that are 1) no one forced this driver to participate in the race, 2) to voluntarily participate in this race, Ward had to sign a waiver of liability and 3) poor lighting did not cause him to commit the negligent act of exiting his damaged race car and walk onto a hot race track while cars were slowing for the caution he caused. #3 is pretty much the beginning and end of the discussion of Stewart's liability as well. Had Stewart walled or otherwise crashed into Ward's car, fatally injuring him, there might be a case. As soon as Ward exited the race car, he assumed liability for his own actions. It's hard to say to the grieving parents of a dead child, but he killed himself just as much as the high school kid who is given too powerful a car for his age and maturity and runs it into a tree.

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