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 Normally brash and outspoken, Stewart was subdued during a
30-minute question-and-answer session with journalists at the
headquarters of Stewart-Haas Racing in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
It marked the first time he spoke publicly since a grand jury in New
York state on Wednesday decided to bring no charges against him
stemming from Ward's death on Aug. 9 at Canandaigua Motorsports
Park.
Ward died after being struck on the race track by the car driven by
the three-time NASCAR champion. Ward's family has been publicly
critical of Stewart since the incident.
"I want to be available to them if they want to talk about it,"
Stewart said of Ward's family. "At this point, I don't need to talk
to them for closure. I know what happened, and I know it was an
accident, but I'm offering to talk to them to help them, if it helps
them with closure."
Stewart said he was relieved not to face charges.
"I would be lying if I said there wasn't a piece of relief, but that
was very short-lived. Because as quickly as it was relief in my
heart, it went right back to the fact that we lost Kevin. We lost a
young driver that had a lot of talent," he added.
Stewart also said he did not know when - or if - he would return to
sprint-car racing. "At this point I won't be in one for a while," he
said.
The incident occurred on the night before a NASCAR race at Watkins
Glen, New York. While most of his peers race only on the NASCAR
circuit, Stewart, 43, often races in lower-tier sprint cars. When
asked if he would do anything differently the night of the incident,
Stewart said: "I would have stayed at Watkins Glen that night."
"I go run those cars to have a good time," he said. "That's all I
wanted to do that night. I wanted to go have fun," he said.
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Stewart said the incident had changed him. "Before the accident
happened, a day would fly by," said Stewart.
"And now, a day seems like two or three days. It feels like the
batteries are running low on the clock. I honestly think that every
day it will get better, it will get easier. ... I don't know if it
will ever be normal again."
The accident occurred after the cars driven by Stewart and Ward
bumped, sending Ward's car into the wall. Ward left his car and
walked to the center of the track, where Stewart's car hit him.
Toxicology reports stated Ward had marijuana in his system at the
time.
Stewart said the toxicology report "didn't change anything."
"To me a young driver lost his life," he said. "Didn't matter why or
what was going on. The end result was the same. No matter what was
said, it was still a tragic accident. I just know in my heart that
it was a hundred percent an accident."
(Writing by Steve Ginsburg; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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