Driver Struck By NASCAR's Tony Stewart On Dirt Track Dies
CANANDAIGUA, New York (CBSLA.com) Authorities are investigating a incident involving NASCAR driver Tony Stewart and another driver of the Empire Super Sprints slate.
Late Saturday night, CBSLA confirmed that Stewart was racing on a dirt track in upstate New York and was involved in an incident that could lead to his possible arrest.
Stewart collided on the track, and spun out the car of the driver of the No. 13 car Kevin Ward Jr., leading him straight to the wall.
Ward, 20, then got out of his car to try to confront Stewart -- but instead, the 3-Time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion hit the gas and struck Ward.
Local TV station WHAM is reporting that the driver that was struck by Stewart is dead, according Ontario County Sheriff Phil Povero. However, the Sheriffs Department would not identify the driver that was killed.
BREAKING: The driver who was hit by Tony Stewart's car has died, according to Ontario County Sheriff Phil Povero.
— 13WHAM (@13WHAM) August 10, 2014
Another driver in the race, Ward's friend Tyler Graves, told the Sporting News:
"When Tony got close to him, he hit the throttle. When you hit a throttle on a sprint car, the car sets sideways. It set sideways, the right rear tire hit Kevin, Kevin was sucked underneath and was stuck under it for a second or two and then it threw him about 50 yards."
@espn Tony Stewart just ran over driver after he got out of his car in retaliation pic.twitter.com/R5Gz82EIPX
— logan messerly (@loganmesserly) August 10, 2014
According to WHAM, the driver was dead upon arrival at Thompson Health.
The race was cancelled after the incident.
Stewart had ranked 13th in the starting grid for Sunday's NASCAR race -- the Sprint Cup series at Watkins Glen.