NASCAR’s Tony Stewart was involved in a crash that killed another driver named Kevin Ward Jr. on a dirt track in upstate New York. In the video below, you can see Ward Jr. crash and then get out of his car to walk toward oncoming traffic and looks like he is pointing towards Stewart as he approaches.

I suppose he was placing blame on Stewart for his crash. There was a car in front of Stewart on the track that had very poor lighting as well. It’s hard to tell, but did Stewart turn into the direction of Ward Jr. and speed up as some suggest?  I would be interested in if these buggies have audio the same way NASCAR vehicles do? I’m sure the conversation between Stewart and his crew in the pits would shed a ton of light on the situation. Check out the video for yourself below:

35 thoughts on “Was Tony Stewart at fault in death of Kevin Ward Jr.? *Video*”
  1. I’m sorry that the young man died, and I feel very strongly that It was not Tony’s fault.
    Kevin showed his immaturity by running on to an active raceway.
    I know tempers can and do fly after a crash, but his move was simply stupid.
    I feel bad for his family, and I feel equilly as bad for Tony and his team.
    It is never good when they have an accident, and worse when someone dies, but they all
    know the risk when they strap into their car.
    My prayers go out to Kevin’s family, and to Tony, his family and his team.

  2. LOOKING AND LISTENING TO THE VIDEOS STREAMING THE NET YOU CAN HEAR TONY REVING HIS ENGINE RIGHT BEFORE IMPACT TONY THREW HIS CAR IN A TAIL SWING PROBABLY TO SCARE THE YOUNG DRIVER BUT INSTEAD CAME WAY TO CLOSE AND HIT HIM GO TO YOU TUBE AND WATCH THE AMATURE VIDEOS ONCE AGAIN TONY’S TEMPER GETS THE BEST OF HIM.

  3. It is sad thathe young driver died, but first of all, you don’t get out of the car, if you do, you go away from the traffic, not into it. Heat the moment, I know. But the natural instinct is to turn the car away, which unfortunately would slide the rear of the car up the dirt track.

  4. There is no debate that Tony hit the gas when he approached Kevin. You can hear it and you can see it when the car swerves on the track surface. I don’t think that Stewart wanted to hit the kid, but definitely was intending to intimidate/scare him. It was reckless and the cost was this young man’s life. It’s no different than road rage on a public street that ends in tragedy. On the other hand, if Kevin had stayed in his car and waited for track personnel this tragedy never would have occurred. In my opinion, what Tony Stewart did is manslaughter.

  5. If anyone didn’t know Stewart was an idiot, now you have proof. One of his temper tantrums finally killed someone. He should be banned from all racing. It was only a matter of time. He showed what happens if someone should have the audacity to race the “great” Tony Stupid. He should be in jail. He has displayed dangerous behavior his entire career, nice going Tony.

  6. You can not believe that Tony would even think of doing something that would take someones life. It is one thing to get upset and yell at someone who hasn’t but to take a person life because of of a dispute come on.

  7. I have little doubt Tony was attempting to throw a scare or toss some dirt on the kid when he revved up that motor (what other reason would he do that during a yellow flag) when they got close but no way do I think he intended on hitting the guy. Either way the poor guy should have never walked out into the track like that.

  8. I have been racing for 50 years. I have also jumped out of my car on several occasions and been hit once. By a driver speeding up and fish telling into me. We settled the matter in the pits. I should not have been out of my car and he should not have tried to intimidate me. TONY DID NOT TRY TO HIT THE GUY. He may have wanted to sling a little mud on him. The previous car got pretty close to Kevin. For Petes sake racing is also high emotions.

  9. Yes Tony tried to scare him I can see that (throw some dirt), but Kevin got out of his car and went close enough to Tony’s car that this happened. He had to be real close to Tony’s car as I have watched the video and it shows you that. He should of never went out in the middle of the track pointing fingers and getting that close to the cars (he was close to the first car that went by him also) Tony in no way to me wanted to hurt this kid. Let’s get real people.

  10. I argee! I don’t think it was tony’s intention to hit him either, But I do hold him responsible all the same! It looks to me a F/U move gone terribly wrong. Weather he meant to or not he played a game with someones life and lost!

  11. Not trying to be disrespectful but…………. Shame he died, but ya don’t jump out of a sprint car on a dimly lit dirt track and STAND IN THE MIDDLE of the track to show how tough you are with Tony being a celebrity driver. But I bet the family won’t let it go & will make a bundle out of this deal even tho the driver was in the wrong for doing what he did. RIP. Shame. Feel for Tony, he has to live with the mental anguish and try and do what he loves doing- (Driving)- for that KIDS mistake.

  12. It is a sad thing what happened. But in racing it is the chance you take. When a driver dies in his car after being hit by another car on the track is it that drivers fault??? Give it a rest. Both families are the one who are in pain here. When you get into that car you know your odds. God will judge it is not up to you or me. It is sad because Tony is a great driver. He is a man with a love to race. He knows more then anyone what it means when you get in to that car. Don’t for 1 second believe he did anything to harm this young man. People will talk forever, and it is sad that this happened, but let it rest. Smoke is a human and he has feelings just like the family of Ward Jr. Please consider everyone when you post your thoughts on here.

  13. Kevin Ward Jr. is dead because of Tony Stewart! I’ve never liked him because he’s a hypocritical hothead & Saturday was only more of that! My advice to Stewart is good luck paying your lawyers because you have a wrongful death lawsuit coming in addition to getting kicked out of NASCAR!

  14. Tony in no way would have hit that kid had he seen him ,in a sprint races on a yellow they all reave there engines on the turns maybe not all but most . Yes Tony has a temper can any one say you don’t have one I know I do but that does not make me a bad person,nore would I try to kill some one NOT. This kid should not have been on that track outside of he car, looks to me like the kid had a temper, should Tony be punished for the stupidity of one. I’m sorry for the family of the young man but they knew what they were doing when they let there son in a car to race. I have friends with a son who races cars soon to be sprint cars, they know the risk they take every time he gets in his car, he has been taught not to get out of his car on the track.

  15. Anyone that has ever
    raced ,knows this …..unless your car is on fire ,never ever get out of the car on the racetrack .it is said at every drivers meeting ….wait for emergency personnel to respond ….period !!!!!

  16. I watched the video 3 times and had other family members watch to make sure I was seeing what I thought I had seen . Tony Stewart hit the young man on purpose he should be held for manslaughter

  17. I’m not buying the dim lighting. Does anyone really think Stewart during a yellow was not looking in the direction of a wreck he was just involved with? Of course he was and the kid was pretty close so he saw him.

    Here’s the bottom line. Stewart gave a little swerve toward him as a little F U. This same thing probably happened over 100 times at tracks this weekend. The kid just ran too fast and close to him. Ultimately if one of them had a cooler head it wouldn’t have happened. Obviously there was no intent to kill.

  18. I think Smoke was hot that a punk kid had the gall to be pointing/calling out a NASCAR super stud
    who was doing this little track a favor. I’ve watched all the videos. I’m almost positive that Tony
    wanted to brush the kid with the side of his car, but he momentarily forgot that he wasn’t
    in his stock car with hidden wheels but in a Sprint car……….a brush with the side of a nascar puts the
    kid on his butt. A brush with the side of a Sprint car kills a kid with the tire.
    In the tape you hear everybody cruising slowly by in ‘caution’. Then Stewart gooses it when gets to the
    kid. Nothing less than manslaughter and the Ward family owns Stewart Racing.

  19. O.K. so the kid shouldn’t have gotten out of the car and walked onto the track… that’s obvious but that still didn’t give Tony the right to hit him. I have been on the freeway when a crazy guy walked out into lanes. I could have easily hit him but it was my responsibility as a human being to do all I could to avoid him. I also didn’t have any right to try to “teach him a lesson” as many people think Tony was doing here. The kid’s act was unwise but Tony’s was criminal and he should be appropriately punished for manslaughter at least.

  20. Why do people assume the revving noise was Tony? Just because his vehicle was in-frame? It was recorded on a mobile phone. The audio would have been from a vehicle much closer to the phone than Tony was. A mobile divide wouldn’t have even been able to pick up an engine that far away over the noise of the other engines and surrounding crowd, it just doesn’t have that good a microphone.

  21. Obviously in the video you can see Tony get too close to him and try to scare him…sure the guy shouldn’t have been on the track, but it was Tony’s fault for getting too close and killing him by mistake. The other drivers saw the guy clear as day, and so did Tony….great job at ruining this kids life and yours as well.

  22. Btw what do we take out of this story…..yes don’t get out of your racecar on the track…there might be people like Tony out to show you who’s boss and hit/kill you.

  23. We don’t know what part of the car hit Ward. If Stewart didn’t see Ward because the 45 car blocked his view and the right side of the car having blind spots if Ward hit the wing could have been the reason for Stewart engine rev just from the impact. I don’t think Stewart tried to scare Ward, but it would be nice to know if there was communication between Stewart and his crew. If Stewart knew that Ward was on the track and pissed then I think Stewart was at fault.

  24. This whole thing is a tragedy that should never have happened. Every body should be pouring out support for Ward’s family and Tony Stewart. I have seen the first video a number of times, due to it being shown on almost every channel (real support for the family), and from what I can see, the case could be argued that Kevin Ward could have had an issue with the number 45 car. It would be interesting to see video a few minutes previous to the crash. Seeing that most people posting have an opinion that were not there, my opinion of watching the video is that Kevin went at the 45, misjudged oncoming traffic in the dark and inadvertantly placed himself in the path of Stewart’s car. I also am really getting tired of people blathering about Stewart being a multi-millionaire. Who cares, if they had the talent of Ward, Stewart and other professional drivers, they probably would not be whining about it.

  25. Wow…It totally blows my mind that ANYONE would have the nerve to say it’s that kids fault for getting out of the car. Of course he shouldn’t have…but really! Good luck Tony…your gonna need it.

  26. If you guys knew anything about science you would realize that gunning the engine would not slide the rear wheels toward Mr. Ward as you are claiming, but away from him. On a track that slopes toward the infield (which like most racetracks, Canadaigua does), applying power would make the rear wheels follow the path of least resistance, which is downhill, not uphill. The video bears this out. Ward was to the right (uphill) of Stewart’s car. When Stewart guns the engine, the wheels slide to the left, away from Ward. The revving was an evasive maneuver.

  27. I have read all the responses In the above article. I have benn a nascar fan since I was 8 years old . In no way do I think Tony Stewart had any intentions of hurting anybody, he is human and he has compassion just like every other person. For those of you that think he is responsible that is your opinion. But the sad part is their is parents that have to bury their son and Tony has to live with this fact the rest of his life , neither family will ever be the same. My God give these people strength to get thru these difficult periods . So all of you that are judging maybe you need to judge yourself instead of others . May God be with all .

  28. I think physics degree has it right that is the way it looks to me . I think he maybe he was hit with the right front which would have made the car fishtail down hill like the video shows

  29. I’m not sure why the Kevin was upset with Tony to begin with. Tony never touched his car when he went into the fence, he did that on his own. One thing I learned form racing is you never remove your helmet and you never approached another driver/car if you don’t intend on something more happening. Kevin almost got hit by the first car and then Tony was coming along a little higher on the track, what was Tony looking at or thinking of when he got to Kevin; a corner worker on the inside, talking with his crew, another car, we don’t know but I do know that all drivers have a limited visibility with the wings on these types of cars. Again the first driver swerved at the last second to miss Kevin and Tony did the same thing. Was that Tony’s engine that revved up? We’re not sure because of the distance from the camera and the turn. We can speculate all we want and we can blame either. Risks are taken when drivers strap into a race care, but to get out and approach moving cars, is careless.

  30. To continue my explanation. You can hear a car throttling up at the 55 second mark on the video but no cars are in view in the corner area where Kevin lay. That’s why I believe it was not Tony’s car you hear throttling up before it struck Kevin. I also believe Kevin’s issue was with the blue/white car in front of Tony (maybe they got together a couple of laps sooner) and not Tony. The video does not show any thing earlier. Tony was just driving along the turn because he never made contact with Kevin causing his spin. Tony was driving along higher on the track and Kevin may not have realized that he was in line causing the situation.

  31. It is a shame that a young man lost his life on the track. But I think this is getting way to much attention. If it had been another 20 year old driver that hit Kevin there would not be all this media attention, there would have been a small blerb on the news and that woud have been the end of it. Because Tony is famous, the world is making a big stink of it. ALL DRIVERS ARE HOT TEMPERED!!not just Tony. It is sad that Kenvn lost his life but that is a risk all drivers take. Tony should not be charged for an accident, where both were at fault.

  32. I have to agree with some of the previous posts. There is no way to tell that the revving you are hearing is absolutly with out a doubt coming from Stewarts car. More likely it is from a car that is passing by on the opposite side of the track where the fan recording this was seated. Although very tragic, I believe that Ward was trying to make a name for himself by confronting a NASCAR driver. His hot headedness cost him his life. He had no business being on the track.

  33. Amen to that! No driver would aim to hit a fellow driver. Any driver who takes the chance of walking the track through passing cars dressed in black, in the dark, is
    not thinking of his own safety or the safety of cars driving on the track that is for racing cars, not walking.

Leave a Reply