The aunt of the sprint car driver who was struck and killed by auto racer Tony Stewart on Saturday has blamed the NASCAR hothead’s temper for her nephew’s death.
“Thanks for thinking of our family tony Stewart when you decided to be a d***!,” said Wendi Ward, aunt of driver Kevin Ward Jr., who was fatally struck when he exited his vehicle to confront Stewart during the caution flag of a dirt track sprint car race in upstate New York on Saturday.
In the emotionally heated message posted Sunday on Facebook, Wendi Ward opened up about the initial shock of losing Kevin Ward.
“I feel numb, I look into the eyes of family and see a deep hurt that should not be there,” she wrote.
“My heart has pounded out of my chest for hours.”
“My nephew was one of a kind, a true race car driver, a piss head and a sweetie all in one,” she wrote.
“A young man who will be truly missed by many! Aunt Wendi loves you budster, forever in our hearts.”
She isn’t the only one who feels Stewart is responsible for striking Kevin Ward on purpose, brutally killing him.
“Tony Stewart needs to be put in prison for life,” Tyler Graves, a fellow sprint car driver and friend of Kevin Ward, told the Sporting News on Sunday.
“When you hit the throttle on a sprint car, the car sets sideways,” said Graves, who was watching the race on Saturday.
“It [Stewart’s car] set sideways, the right tire hit Kevin, Kevin was sucked underneath and was stuck under it for a second or two and then it threw him…”
The sprint car confrontation began when Stewart appeared to collide with Ward, causing him to lost control of his car near the top of the Canandaigua track.
In a fit of rage, Ward can be seen exiting his vehicle and gesturing angrily toward Stewart as he makes his way around the track during a caution flag.
When Stewart hits the straightaway, his car fishtails just moments before striking Ward and sending him flying nearly 50 yards.
Warning: Graphic content and language below.
Shocked fans in attendance looked on and screamed in horror as law-enforcement officers stormed onto the track — something that’s unheard of in auto racing crashes.
Ontario County Sheriff Philip Pover said Monday there were no criminal charges pending, adding that the investigation was still ongoing.
“We are basically trying to see if there are any other video recordings that may have been made on Saturday night that could help us in the analysis of this crash,” he told CNN.
“This is still a very young investigation and there’s much work to be done before we can come to any conclusions.”