The Ontario County (N.Y.) Sheriff's Department confirmed to FOXSports.com late Saturday night that it is investigating an incident that occured during a dirt-track race at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park, reportedly involving three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and another driver.
According to multiple unconfirmed reports, Stewart was involved in an on-track incident with 17-year-old driver Kevin Ward Jr., with Stewart's car allegedly striking Ward after he got out of his car to confront Stewart about earlier contact between the two.
Tyler Graves, a sprint-car racer and friend of Ward's, told Sporting News in a phone interview that he was sitting in the Turn 1 grandstands and saw everything.
"Tony pinched him into the frontstretch wall, a racing thing," Graves said. "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.
"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 yards."
Graves said he didn't believe it was intentional.
"You never mean to do something like that," Graves told Sporting News. "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."
Police would confirm only that they are investigating an undisclosed incident that took place at approximately 10 p.m. during a sprint-car race at the half-mile dirt track north of Syracuse.
FOX Sports 1 spoke with the head nursing supervisor at Thompson Health in Canandaigua, who could not confirm the identity, but did confirm that they have someone at the hospital who was said to be a racecar driver with injuries sustained at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.
The supervising nurse, Barbara Manning, confirmed that the individual sustained serious injuries and that the condition was not determined at this time. Also, out of respect for the family, she could not confirm that it was Ward.
