iNSIDE SCOOP: No Charges, But No Peace Either

With the word that a New York grand jury had declined to send the Tony Stewart-Kevin Ward case to trial, there was an audible sigh of relief from many people.

Not all people.

Kevin Ward’s father was understandably upset with the findings, as were many in the clannish upstate New York racing circles. That is to be expected, because Ward was one of them and Stewart is not. In fact, Stewart represents the enemy, in some ways, because he’s a big-time NASCAR star.

They forget that Stewart was once Kevin Ward Jr. Back in the day, he was the same kid, hungry to be a star and racing open-wheel cars for not a lot of money at local tracks in Indiana and the Midwest. 

Whatever your feelings in all of this, there are a couple of simple facts that remain to be addressed. First, a young man is dead far too soon. Second, it all could have been prevented, as most accidents can be in hindsight. Third, and perhaps most important, it’s not over yet, nor is it likely to be for quite some time.

Kevin Ward Jr. didn’t need to die on Aug. 9. Yes, he was involved in a racing accident, and yes, he was ticked off. Why he did what he did once his car stopped near the wall that night is something only he will ever know. It is a sad and tragic end to what could have been a promising career. 

Had he stayed by the car and not walked into a hot race track with cars still circulating, he might not have been struck by Stewart’s car. It is the kind of thing most of us think about doing, but never do. He did, and he died.

Had he not been under the influence of marijuana at the time, would he have made a different choice? Only he knows for sure, and I’m not going to speculate. The DA was clear that toxicology revealed he was under the influence enough to cause impaired judgment, but that is a moot point.

The final point is, this won’t be over for a long time. There will likely be a wrongful death lawsuit filed in short order by Ward’s parents. It seems to be the way things work. They lost their son, and Stewart has deep pockets. Someone must pay.

What I really mean is, no one walks away from this unscathed. Ward lost his life, his family lost their son. Stewart lost something too. He didn’t go and race open-wheel cars for money. He has enough of that. He does it because it makes him happy. It’s what he loves to do. 

Some people play golf. Stewart fishes, plays with his toys and races cars on dirt. He does a lot of other stuff, but he’s happiest with a fishing rod in hand, a hot car underneath him or sliding sideways with the throttle on the floor and the dirt kicking high and handsome behind him.

I don’t know when or even if he will ever do that in competition again. Ward’s death struck him in a way that is hard to handle. You may see him as a punk or a jack-wagon or something equally distasteful, but rest assured, he’s as human as the rest of us. In a lot of ways, he’s more human. Depth of emotion is something not easily measured, and this turn of events has struck even deeper than we can imagine, I would guess. 

I have maintained since Aug. 9 that what happened at Canandaigua was a terrible accident, that Stewart didn’t see Ward until the moment of impact, and that there was no intent to harm, injure, embarrass or otherwise cast aspersions on Kevin Ward Jr.

Remarks by the District Attorney, Michael Tantillo, tend to prove that view essentially correct. Videos were watched by the grand jury and assessed accordingly. Tantillo said that enhanced video from the track showed that Stewart never turned the wheel until after impact. While that tends to shut down some of the more crass conspiracy theorists, it won’t shut them all down.

Stewart has lost something in all this too, and that’s what the anti-Smoke folk tend to forget. He was shook up hard by all this, and as I’ve said before, it’s one thing to see someone die but quite another to be involved. 

There will be more pain from this particular wound to come, and it’s likely to get worse before it gets better…if it ever does, for Ward's family and for Stewart.