Tony Stewart said Monday he never planned to retire from racing despite the anguish the NASCAR driver felt after Kevin Ward Jr. died from being struck by Stewart’s car during a sprint-car race.
In his first news conference since Ward’s death seven weeks ago, Stewart also said it was “worthless” for the public to choose sides as to who was at fault because it “was 100 percent an accident.”
Stewart’s appearance came after a grand jury last week cleared him of any criminal charges stemming from the Aug. 9 tragedy in which Stewart’s car hit and killed Ward, 20, while Ward was on foot at a dirt track in upstate New York.
When he returned to NASCAR racing on Aug. 31 in Atlanta, Stewart read a brief statement to the media but did not take questions.
Stewart still could face a civil lawsuit from Ward’s family, and Stewart on Monday again declined to talk about any details surrounding the incident.
Ward’s car had crashed after close racing with Stewart. Ward then climbed from his car, walked on the track and apparently was angrily pointing at Stewart when he was struck by Stewart’s car as Stewart came back around.
Stewart did say he had watched an amateur video of the race fatality, but he did not elaborate on the video during his news conference at the Kannapolis, N.C., headquarters of his Stewart-Haas Racing team.
Stewart said he was unsure whether he would again race sprint cars such as the ones he and Ward were driving, which are open-wheel race cars unrelated to NASCAR’s top-tier Sprint Cup Series.
But Stewart said “there was never a thought in my head about stopping” racing entirely. “That would take the life out of me,” he said. “This is what I’ve done all my life.”
Stewart addressed several other topics, including:
— He didn’t know Ward. “After the accident I’ve read a lot about him and from what I read, I think he had a really promising career as a sprint-car driver,” Stewart said.
— Stewart was consumed with grief immediately after the incident. “All you thought about was what had happened and asking yourself, ‘Why?’ ” he said.
— The three-time NASCAR champion also said, “Initially, I was hurt by some of the things I read,” casting blame on Stewart, but that he “stopped wasting my time worrying about it” because “they were people who didn’t like me to begin with and it didn’t matter what the facts were.”
“Everybody is entitled to their opinion,” Stewart said, but he added that “to me, it’s worthless to pick sides. A young man lost his life, and I don’t care what side you’re on, it doesn’t change that. His family is in mourning, I’m in mourning.”
— Authorities also said Ward was under the influence of marijuana during the race, but Stewart said, “For me it didn’t change anything. I know in my heart it was 100 percent an accident, and that detail didn’t mean anything to me personally.”
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