TURIN, NY — Black-clad family and friends also wore orange and white — Kevin Ward Jr.’s racing colors — as they bid a tearful goodbye Thursday to the 20-year-old sprint-car racer, who died last weekend after being hit by Tony Stewart.
Mourners flooded the 700-seat auditorium at South Lewis Central High School as the Dixie Chicks’ song “Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)” piped through speakers.
“If there wasn’t a dirt track in heaven before, there sure is now,” Kayla Herring, Ward’s sister, told mourners. “From all of us, Kevin, please watch over us. Drive fast. Turn left and Godspeed. You will never be forgotten.”
Herring wore a ribbon pin of orange and white on her black clothes as a reminder of his cheerful spirit.
“The reason for our orange and white ribbons is to show how bright those colors are. Kevin’s colors. And even against black, orange and white shine through,” she told reporters before the funeral, while choking back tears.
Ward died Saturday night after he was struck by Stewart’s winged car as they competed in a race at Canandaigua track.
Stewart first bumped Ward’s car, causing him to spin out and into a wall. In a video, Ward can be seen then getting out of his damaged car and walking onto the dirt track while angrily gesturing at Stewart.
The three-time Sprint Cup champ clipped Ward as he drove past, killing the young driver.
There was no mention of Stewart during the 90-minute funeral ceremony, held at the Turin school in order to accommodate the large crowd of mourners.
And while there were tears, there were also plenty of laughs.
Friends remembered Ward’s unique sense of humor and “Justin Bieber” haircut. His other sister, Katie, joked that he wore cologne called “Pimp Juice” because “the ladies love it.”
The audience chuckled as she spritzed the cologne on Ward’s body, dressed in an all-white suit. His glossy black casket was adorned with a spray of orange and white flowers.
Investigators are looking into whether Stewart hit the throttle before hitting Ward, sucking him under the car and sending him flying 50 feet into the air.
Stewart, 43, has not been criminally charged.
Authorities said the investigation will take at least two weeks to complete.