Tony Stewart against Kevin Ward family. The final decision! Do You still support Tony?

Last year three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart filed an appeal in his lawsuit against the family of Kevin Ward Jr. after his insurance company claimed he wasn’t covered for the incident that resulted in the death of Ward. This week Stewart has withdrawn that appeal.

Bob Pockrass of ESPN was the first to report that the appeal that was filed last year by Tony Stewart and his legal time has been withdrawn via court documents.

According to court records, Stewart’s legal team has indeed filed the necessary paperwork to withdraw the appeal. In the filings no reasons were indicated as to why the appeal is being withdrawn or even Stewart and his team are actively in settlement talks with the Ward family.

Should Stewart and his team change their minds, they have until January 30th to reinstate the appeal.

The appeal came after a ruling that determined Axis Insurance Company did not have to cover legal costs and claims by the family of Kevin Ward Jr. against the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. It was a ruling that was made by a federal judge in July of 2016. The judge felt that Stewart’s policy did not cover the Empire Super Sprints, which was the series Stewart was racing in on Aug. 9, 2014, when Stewart’s car struck and killed Ward at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.

Should Stewart and his legal team hold true to this action it would mean that when it comes time to pay or settle (assuming that time comes) it would be Stewart who is 100 percent responsible to foot the proverbial bill.

The exclusion of the insurance company also means that it’s up to Stewart how much money he spends in legal fees to fight the case and at which point (if any) he decides to go to the table to discuss or offer a settlement.

For those who might not remember, the Ward family maintains that Stewart is responsible for the death of their son due to what they believe were his aggressive and reckless actions on the track that night.

Stewart and his team maintain that Ward being out of his car, under the influence of marijuana and approaching Stewart’s car with the intent to come into contact with it were all factors that led to the accident.

As We rmember…

NASCAR star Tony Stewart said he didn’t see a driver walking on a dirt track in upstate New York last year before he struck and killed him, and noted the racer was impaired by marijuana and shouldn’t have been outside his car, according to court papers filed Friday.

Kevin Ward Jr.’s family filed a lawsuit that accused Stewart of gross negligence, saying he gunned his engine and put his car into a skid as the 20-year-old Ward walked on the track after a crash at Canandaigua Motorsports Park on Aug. 9, 2014.

Stewart’s attorney, Brian Gwitt, argued in an answer to the Wards’ lawsuit that Stewart didn’t see the crash Ward had been involved in and didn’t realize anyone was standing on the track.

"Stewart was not aware that anyone had exited their vehicle," Gwitt wrote, adding that his client "did not see Ward Jr. or anyone else walking on foot on the track until just prior to contact, and did not know the identity of the person walking on the track until afterward."

Gwitt claims Ward’s death was caused by his own decision to exit his car and walk along the track while the race was still going on. The court filing says a toxicology report showed Ward had smoked marijuana within five hours of the competition, a violation of the race’s rules and regulations, which "impaired him."

Ward’s parents, Kevin and Pamela Ward, are seeking unspecified monetary damages in their suit, which claims wrongful death, reckless conduct, gross negligence and their son’s terror and suffering.

The lawsuit notes Stewart’s reputation for having a temper and claims that Stewart deliberately veered toward Ward after the collision.

Stewart denied those allegations, and his lawyer argued that Stewart had never met Ward before and didn’t even know there was a crash before he came up to it, because it happened behind him.

Stewart also claims that Ward’s death was "caused in full or in part" by his parents, "who permitted or failed to prevent an impaired driver from participating" in the race.

Evidence from the crash was presented to a grand jury in upstate New York, which declined to indict Stewart and called the incident "100 percent an accident."