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Stewart hits, kills driver during NY race
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NASCAR driver Tony Stewart struck and killed a sprint car driver who had climbed from his car and was on the track trying to confront Stewart during a race in upstate New York on Saturday night.
Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero said his department’s investigation is not criminal and that Stewart was “fully cooperative” and appeared “very upset” over what had happened.
“He was visibly shaken by this accident,” Povero said.
A video of the crash at Canandaigua Motorsports Park showed 20-year-old driver Kevin Ward Jr, wearing a black helmet and firesuit on a dimly lit track, walking toward Stewart’s car before being hit and hurtled 50 feet.
Povero said the 25-lap race was under caution when Ward was struck. Stewart’s car was behind another before he hit Ward. “The first car swerved to avoid the driver,” Povero said.
Povero said the driver was pronounced dead on Saturday night at a Canandaigua hospital. Stewart was unhurt.
A witness said it appeared Ward was trying to confront Stewart, the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion. The video showed Ward standing to the right of Stewart’s familiar No. 14 car, which seemed to kick out from the rear and hit him.
“The next thing I could see, I didn’t see (the other driver) anymore,” witness Michael Messerly said. “It just seemed like he was suddenly gone.”
Povero said the 43-year-old Stewart, a frequent competitor at local sprint car events, was questioned and released.
A spokesman for Stewart’s racing team called Ward’s death a “tragic accident”.
The dirt track, about 30 miles southeast of Rochester, canceled the remainder of the race.
Ward’s website said he began racing go-karts in 1998 at age 4, but didn’t start driving sprint cars until 2010. Ward, from Port Leyden, New York, was Empire Super Sprint rookie of the year in 2012 and this year was his fifth season racing the Empire Super Sprints.
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