Following the incident that took place at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in Ontario County, New York on Saturday night in which a sprint car driven by Sprint Cup Series driver Tony Stewart struck and killed a fellow sprint car driver outside of his vehicle, Sheriff Philip Povero addressed the media to update his ongoing investigation with more information.

"Right now, we’re less than 16 hours into this investigation and it continues to be ongoing. … There are no criminal charges pending at this time and I would follow that up by saying that as we have reviewed the investigation to this point with the Ontario County District Attorney," Povero said. "I want to make it very clear that as we speak at this time, there is no evidence in hand or no facts that would support a criminal charge or support criminal intent on the part of anybody."

A YouTube video of the incident showed Stewart racing to the low side of Kevin Ward Jr., of Port Leyden, New York. The two cars made contact, sending Ward’s No. 13 car bounding off the Turn 2 wall.

After Ward spun to a stop with a flat right-rear tire, the driver quickly dismounted to confront Stewart, walking out onto the track and pointing at the veteran driver’s No. 14. Stewart’s car revved and fishtailed, catching Ward with its right-rear tire and sending him a sizable distance from the crash site.

"The district attorney is very interested and supportive in the investigation and has offered their assistance and any other advice they can offer."

Povero also noted that as the investigation continues, his department is soliciting amateur videos that can be used to further his investigation and is calling assistance from the public to come forth with such material.

"With the media present, I would ask for some assistance from the public that if there are persons hearing or seeing this message that had recorded a video of this crash or had first-hand knowledge of this crash, our investigators would like to reach out to you, retrieve this data and conduct interviews to obtain relevant information."

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"So with that being said, we feel that as a group, Tony will not drive today. Regan Smith is on his way up."

Smith, who finished 17th in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Zippo 200 at The Glen, had returned home to the Charlotte area. The JR Motorsports Nationwide championship contender ran six Sprint Cup races last year. In four previous Cup starts at the Glen, he has a best finish of ninth in 2012.

"NASCAR has approved for him to get in the race car today," Zipadelli said. "They’re going to do everything they can to help us expedite getting his seat, (getting) him comfortable. So that’s what we’ve been working on this morning and trying to get executed. Get Regan here and obviously anything we can do for Tony and everybody else is just like I said, it’s an emotional time right now."

After a hectic morning, Smith arrived at about 11:55 a.m. ET, flying up with Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick.

"I was actually at home in North Carolina," Smith said. "I went back after the Nationwide race yesterday. Got up and then got a call from my crew chief Ryan Pemberton, said they may need some help up here today and went to the shop as soon as I knew that. So left the shop at probably 9:30. Fortunate enough that Mr. H. was still coming up here and (I) was able to hitch a ride up here with him and get up here on time. That was pretty much the events of the morning."

Prior taking his current role at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2012, Zipadelli joined NASCAR’s premier series in 1999 as a crew chief for a rookie Stewart at Joe Gibbs Racing. Over 10 seasons together, Stewart and Zipadelli won 33 races and two series championships in 2002 and 2005. Zipadelli joined Stewart’s organization after three seasons and a win with Joey Logano.

Zipadelli said Stewart sitting out of Sunday’s race was a group decision, and he expressed his support for his driver, owner and friend. 

"It was a few of us that were in there, just supporting him," Zipadelli said. "He’s a brother to me. He’s way more than a boss. He’s going through a tough time. It’s emotional for him. We as a group support him, feel like he’s doing the right thing and we’ll move on from this. I support Tony Stewart. I think I’ve shown that over the last 18 years."

With five races to go until the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup starts, Stewart has yet to win and clinch a spot in NASCAR’s playoffs. As the all-time win leader at Watkins Glen with five, Sunday’s race appeared to be a good chance for him to go to Victory Lane. Zipadelli said that neither the Chase nor Stewart’s success on the road course factored into Stewart’s decision to sit out the event.

"…honestly that is the furthest thing from our minds right now," Zipadelli said. "We’re thinking of Kevin’s family and Tony and the people at our company. That’s something that when we get home on Monday, we’ll have to look at, evaluate and go through that and make decisions. Today is all about doing what we can today. To get through today and do it the best we can as a group and try to do it in the right way so we haven’t even crossed the bridge yet."

By qualifying for the Cheez-It 355 at the Glen, Stewart is still eligible to make the Chase if he returns to the No. 14 ride next week at Michigan International Speedway.

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