Stewart: Marijuana in Ward 'didn't mean anything to me personally'
Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart met the press Monday morning, his first media briefing since being exonerated Sept. 24 by a New York grand jury in the death of fellow racer Kevin Ward Jr.
Ward, 20, died Aug. 9 after being struck by Stewart's sprint car at an Empire Super Sprints Series race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in Upstate New York. Ward was racing closely with Stewart when he crashed into an outside wall.
Seconds after the crash, Ward got out of his car and ran onto the track, gesturing at Stewart as he came around under caution. Stewart's right-rear tire appeared to strike Ward, who was thrown from Stewart's car. Ward died en route to the hospital. The Ontario County (N.Y.) coroner ruled that the cause of death was blunt-force trauma.
Afterward, Stewart was stunned.
"All you thought about was what had happened and asking yourself 'Why? Why did this happen?'" said Stewart.
A 23-person grand jury in Ontario County determined that there was not enough evidence to merit criminal charges against Stewart.
"Their job was to determine whether or not, based on all the evidence they heard, all the testimony they heard, whether there was reasonable cause to believe that Tony Stewart had committed a crime or not," said Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo. "Obviously their vote was that they did not reach that finding."
Additionally, Tantillo said Ward was under the influence of marijuana when he hit the wall, got out of his car, ran onto the track and was struck by Stewart's car.
"There is toxicology evidence in the case relating to Kevin Ward that actually indicated that at the time of operation, he was under the influence of marijuana," said Tantillo. "... The levels that were determined were enough to impair judgment."
Stewart said the toxicology results were a non-issue.
"That detail didn't mean anything to me personally," he said.
As far as racing a sprint car again, Stewart said he didn't know when or if it would ever happen.
"I'm not going to say I'm never going to get in one," Stewart said. " ... Right now, I wouldn't be even to give you a small idea. ... I won't be in one for a while."
Stewart said he has not reached out to the Ward family but hopes to at some point.
"At this point, ... I want to be available to them," said Stewart. "At this point I don't need to talk to them about closure. I know what happened, I know it was an accident."
Stewart said he hasn't considered retiring from driving.
"There was never a thought in my head about stopping (racing). That would take the life out of me," said Stewart.
