Cavanna: 'Impossible To Say' If Tony Stewart Could Have Avoided Kevin Ward Jr.
BOSTON (CBS) - AJ Allmendinger and the No. 47 team were the winners on Sunday at Watkins Glen for the NASCAR Cheez-it 355, but the real racing story from the weekend came Saturday night in a sprint car race in upstate New York.
NASCAR driver Tony Stewart struck and killed sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr., who had climbed from his car and was on the track trying to confront Stewart during a race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.
Video of the incident shows an angry Ward Jr. approach Stewart's car in the middle of the dirt track, where one lap prior a jockeying for position between the two competitors sent Ward Jr.'s car crashing into the wall.
An investigation is underway, although it is not considered to be criminal at this time.
Alan Cavanna, a reporter and host on NASCAR.com, joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich show Monday morning.
"Tony Stewart is aggressive on the race track. When you speak of his reputation, a lot of people think off the track, whether in a media interview or not having the best relationship with reporters if he's mad. He can be aggressive on the race track as well. We've seen him throw a helmet or two and get rough on the race track -- he's a clean, fair race car driver but we've seen him be aggressive as well."
Did Tony Stewart do anything wrong during the caution period?
"We're all looking at the same video. From my perspective of watching the sport and growing up in the sport, no. He was going just as fast as everybody else on the track. It's impossible to say if Stewart could have avoided Ward," said Cavanna. "When you have video and you have eyewitness account, everybody expects it to be so black and white. That's what's blowing everybody's mind, is that there's still so much grey area."
Listen below for the full interview:
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