Heated emotions over a car crash during a race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park preceded Tony Stuart hitting and killing another driver, according to multiple media reports.
The Sporting News reported Stewart's car hit Kevin Ward Jr., and launched him about 50 feet, according to a witness. Ward later was pronounced dead.
Ward and Stewart had collided, according to Tyler Graves, another sprint-car racer and friend of Graves', whom The Sporting News reported was sitting in the grandstand and saw the incident unfold.
"Tony pinched him into the fron- stretch wall, a racing thing," Graves said in a phone interview with The Sporting News. "The right rear tire went down; he spun on the exit of (Turn) 2. They threw the caution and everything was toned down. Kevin got out of his car. ... He was throwing his arms up all over the place at Tony for most of the corner.
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"I know Tony could see him. I know how you can see out of these cars. 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 (feet)."
Graves said Stewart appeared to swerve before gunning the engine but did not believe Stewart was aiming for Graves.
"You never mean to do something like that," Graves said. "Kevin was pissed and he let Tony know. And Tony was trying to give the message back that he wasn't happy either. He went over the line with it."
The Sporting News reported that Stewart was not arrested; he cooperated fully with authorities. The Associated Press reported that calls to Stewart's representatives were not immediately returned.
Another man, identified by The Sporting News as Rich Willis, reported that his sister also was sitting in the grandstand at Turn 1 and her description was similar to that of Graves.
"People (who could see it better) said the guy got out of his car and was gesturing angrily at Tony Stewart when Tony Stewart came by during the next lap under yellow," Willis said in a phone interview. "He approached him and evidently when he was driving by the guy standing on the track gesturing at him, he gunned his engine.
"What happened was the back end kicked out and clipped the guy and the guy flew across the track."
Stewart is scheduled to start in today's NASCAR event at Watkins Glen; no word has been given whether he'll race.
Graves said the last thing Stewart should be doing is racing.
"Tony Stewart needs to be put in prison for life," Graves told The Sporting News.
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