A pair of racing veterans came out in support of Tony Stewart on Sunday, but their comments did little to shed light on the controversy that remains over the death of Kevin Ward Jr.
IndyCar racer Ed Carpenter and Jeff Burton, who replaced Stewart this weekend at Michigan International Speedway both expressed disappointment over the speculation surrounding the Aug. 9 dirt-track race in which Ward and Stewart collided, knocking Ward's car to the wall and leading to and angry ward walking toward Stewart's car and being struck and killed when Stewart passed.
"I feel for the Ward family, and I feel for Tony Stewart, too," Carpenter told USA TODAY Sports during a break from preparations for the IndyCar Series race at the Milwaukee Mile. "He's going through a hard time and I don't agree with how much he's been vilified. I don't think that part's fair, with how much speculation there's been. It was a tragedy. In my eyes, it was an accident. It should never have happened."
Burton talked of Stewart's philanthropy to The Sporting News in defending him.
Police question Tony Stewart after he hit and killed Kevin Ward Jr. during an Aug. 9 race
"Everybody in this garage knows Tony," Burton said. "Tony doesn't beat his chest and talk about the things he does for people. But we know it. We see it. But nobody else does. (Dale) Earnhardt was like that. Earnhardt didn't want anybody to know the things he did for people.
"That's how Tony is and that's something that a lot of people miss. They only know Tony because he threw a helmet. They only know Tony because he got mad. Well, hell, I get mad, too. It's made people jump to conclusions."
The jumping to conclusions started when Tyler Graves, a sprint-car racer and friend of Ward's said that Stewart hit the throttle when he approached Ward to express his own anger at Ward's anger.
"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 told The Sporting News.
Stewart has not commented on the incident and has not raced since it happened. Even Carpenter admitted Stewart's silence on the matter is the proper course of action.
There's only one person that knows what happened and he's, wisely I think, not saying anything right now," Carpenter said. "I think it was just a terrible accident."
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