It's been a little over a year since Tony Stewart accidentally hit and killed 20-year-old Kevin Ward during a sprint race. During the race, Stewart pulled a maneuver that sent Ward's car into a wall. Ward responded by leaving his car and walking toward oncoming traffic. After a number of cars passed him, Stewart clipped him as he turned, tossing him 25 feet across the track. Ward was pronounced dead 45 minutes later.
The NASCAR driver is still dealing with the consequences; earlier this month, Ward's family announced they were going after Stewart in a wrongful death lawsuit. Stewart's response doesn't exactly make him sympathetic. While he still claims the death was an accident, Stewart sought to attack the victims' credibility. He claimed that Ward smoked marijuana within five hours of the race and even blamed the parents, "who permitted or failed to prevent an impaired driver from participating."
Ward's family and their attorney Mark Lanier weren't cool with the comments.
“As for whether Ward had smoked marijuana a few days before the race, that doesn’t give Stewart the right to run Kevin over," Lanier said to USA Today. "Furthermore, Stewart never submitted to a drug test after killing Kevin.”
Ward's decision to leave the car and walk into traffic was a big reason the court didn't press criminal charges on Stewart.
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[via SBNation]
