Two days after a wrongful death lawsuit was brought against him and on the one-year anniversary marking the death of driver Kevin Ward Jr., Tony Stewart concluded an emotional week by finishing last in Sunday’s NASCAR race at Watkins Glen International.
Tony Stewart ends emotional week with last-place finish at Watkins Glen
The finish wasn’t what he wanted Sunday, but Tony Stewart is seeing progress in what has been an underwhelming season.
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Sunday was Stewart’s first race at Watkins Glen since 2012. He missed the event two years ago while sidelined with a broken leg sustained in a sprint car crash at an Iowa dirt track. Last season, he withdrew following the events involving Ward the evening prior.
“We had a good weekend -- as good as it could be,” Stewart said. “Happy to get to race here today. That is something I have been looking forward to.”
On Friday, Ward’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit contending Stewart was negligent and responsible for striking and killing the 20-year during a sprint car race at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park, located an hour from Watkins Glen.
The incident occurred following contact between Ward and Stewart that disabled Ward’s car. Upset, Ward then began walking down the track towards Stewart’s car as the NASCAR champion circled under caution. That was when Stewart’s right rear tire struck and killed Ward.
An autopsy determined Ward died from massive blunt force trauma. A grand jury cleared Stewart of criminal wrongdoing. Stewart, who’s said Ward’s death was “100 percent an accident,” has not spoken publicly regarding the lawsuit.
Stewart was competitive during the early portions of the Cheez-It 355 on Sunday, running in or near the top 10. His race ended, though, when an issue with the rear gear disabled his car 34 laps from the finish. He was scored 43rd.
Though he’s in the midst of a career-worst season with just two top-10 finishes in 22 starts, Stewart’s performance has improved in recent weeks. He has qualified fifth or better in each of the past three races and shown greater speed.
“I guess for me its big picture,” Stewart said. “The way our season has been we’ve picked up. Indy we picked up, Pocono we picked up, we picked up here in qualifying at all three places for sure.
“At the end of the day, the results won’t show it, but I feel like we are starting to gain some momentum.”
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