The Ontario County (N.Y.) grand jury that received details of the investigation into NASCAR star Tony Stewart’s involvement in the death of fellow driver Kevin Ward Jr. is expected to return a verdict at 3 p.m. (ET) Wednesday.
Tony Stewart grand jury to reveal decision at 3 p.m. Wednesday
An Ontario County (N.Y.) grand jury will return its decision Wednesday as to whether to bring formal charges against NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.
Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
The grand jury has three options, varying from returning a “No True Bill,” indicating there is no basis to proceed with charges, to finding enough evidence to issue a felony indictment of Stewart. A third option would be to send misdemeanor charges to a lower court.
A sprint car driven by Stewart struck and killed 20-year-old Ward on Aug. 9 at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park dirt track in upstate New York. Ward was on foot at the time after leaving his car following a minor collision with Stewart. The grand jury heard testimony Tuesday from Chuck Hebing, a driver who was also in that race. Hebing's car was just ahead of Stewart's and video of the incident appeared to show Hebing swerving to avoid Ward just before Stewart fatally struck him.
Stewart made the decision to skip his next three scheduled NASCAR Sprint Cup races before returning to his car at Atlanta Motor Speedway at the end of August.
Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero conducted a monthlong investigation before turning his findings to Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo on Sept. 11. The DA made the decision five days later to have a grand jury hear the case.
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