The family of racecar driver Kevin Ward Jr. filed a wrongful death lawsuit against NASCAR driver Tony Stewart on Friday. The lawsuit comes one year after Ward was killed.
The lawsuit was filed in Lewis County, New York which is where the Ward family lives. Last August Stewart hit Ward as he was walking on the track to confront Stewart after a crash during a sprint car race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York. Ward died after being hit with the cause of death being massive blunt force trauma. The lawsuit accuses Stewart of gross negligence, saying he gunned his engine and put his car into a skid and hit and killed Ward. The Ward family is seeking monetary damages which weren’t specified, claiming wrongful death, reckless conduct, gross negligence and their son’s terror and suffering, according to the Associated Press. The family has requested a jury trial.
''Our son was truly the light of our lives and we miss him terribly every day,'' the Ward family said in a statement. ''Our hope is that this lawsuit will hold Tony Stewart responsible for killing our son and show him there are real consequences when someone recklessly takes another person's life.''
Last September a grand jury decided to not charge Stewart for Ward’s death. Stewart has said that Ward’s death was “100 percent an accident,” although the Ward family disagrees.
"Kevin Ward would be alive today if not for the reckless and dangerous actions of Tony Stewart, who eventually will have to answer for what he did," Mark Lanier, the Ward family’s attorney said, CNN notes. "The past year has been extremely difficult for Kevin's mother and father, and they're still trying to cope with their unimaginable loss."
Stewart, a three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, has struggled the past couple of seasons. This season he has no wins, no top fives, and just two top tens in 21 races, according to the Charlotte Observer. He is currently 25th in points and in danger of missing the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
The outcome of the lawsuit will likely depend on whether the Ward family can prove that Stewart had some percentage of fault in Ward’s death. If it goes to a jury, then the jury will have to decide if Stewart had a duty to drive a certain way under caution and whether or not he breached that duty.
Stewart is in Watkins Glen, New York, which is not far from where Ward was killed, for this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.