NASCAR: Ward Family Responds To Stewart’s Motion To Dismiss Claims
Three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart has asked that some of the claims in the pending lawsuit against him be dismissed, earlier this week the family of Kevin Ward Jr. responded to that motion.
Two weeks ago former NASCAR driver Tony Stewart filed a motion asking the courts to throw out several of the claims being made against him by the family of Kevin Ward Jr. in their pending lawsuit. In the motion Stewart’s team provided expert reports, witness depositions and more. According to the filing, Stewart has asked for the claims of negligence, wrongful death, and terror pain and suffering prior to death to be dismissed.
The basis for the motion is that Stewart doesn’t believe he was negligent and that the waivers Ward signed dissolve Stewart from being culpable. Additionally, Stewart’s team believes that Ward was influenced by the drugs in his system, thus making him not feel fear in the moment. The motion also shows evidence that Ward died on impact, taking away the theory that he suffered before passing.
This week the Ward family responded to the Stewart motion with their own expert reports which refute many of the claims made by Stewart’s team. The Ward family focused on the path of Stewart’s car on the track that night, maintaining through a reconstruction and witness reports that Stewart turned into Ward with intent.
Below are some excerpts from the filing taken from an ESPN.com article by Bob Pockrass.
"Stewart confessed that he did not need to throttle his car to make it turn. Anticipating the impact, Ward Jr. put his hands up in a defensive position and desperately scrambled to get out of the way. … Based on the evidence and reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, Stewart either intentionally hit Ward Jr. with his car or intended to execute a reckless maneuver in an effort to scare or humiliate Ward Jr.It is apparent [according to the Ward family expert report] Mr. Stewart intentionally caused his vehicle to move toward Mr. Ward by aggressively adding throttle input while counter steering through the turn. Mr. Stewart’s [car’s] speed, acceleration, heading angle and vehicle path towards Mr. Ward was different than the six cars that passed Mr. Ward’s location without incident."
Jessica Zemken-Friesen, Stewart’s ex-girlfriend, testified in a deposition about what she witnessed that night as she was driving in the race directly behind Stewart when the incident happened.
"I could see Tony’s left front wheel turn to the right, closer in the direction of where Kevin was up higher onto the racetrack. … I could see Kevin still there in front of his car with his hands in the air. And I saw the rear of the car stand up and the dust come off the rear tires as Tony hit the throttle. When he hit the throttle, the rear of the car came around and the front end of the car went to the left, the car got sideways and he struck Kevin."
The Ward family also questions Stewart’s motion that claims he was fearless at the time. The motion says that video evidence shows Ward Jr. trying to block the contact and then run from it before he was struck. The motions cites these actions as evidence of fear. The motion also questions whether or not Ward Jr. was killed on impact.
These questions are important because in NYS you can receive monetary compensation for a victim’s pain and suffering. In NYS you can also gain monetary compensation for a victim’s fear of impending death. As a result, proving that Ward Jr. showed fear before the accident and then suffered in the moments after would be critical to the Ward family’s case.
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The next step in the lawsuit is a mediation hearing that is schedule for the middle of next week. Following that a judge will hear both sides of the motion that was filed on the matter of dismissing the above claims, that hearing will take place at the end of April.