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Ward’s family files wrongful death suit against Tony Stewart

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – The family of a young driver struck and killed by Tony Stewart’s car on an upstate New York sprint racing track has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

The lawsuit filed Friday in Lewis County accuses the NASCAR driver of gross negligence, saying he gunned his engine and put his car into a skid as Kevin Ward Jr. walked onto the track after a crash at Canandaigua Motorsports Park on Aug. 9, 2014. The car struck and killed Ward.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages.

A grand jury declined to indict Stewart, who called it “100 percent an accident.”

Stewart is scheduled to make his first appearance at Watkins Glen on Sunday, the anniversary of Ward’s death.