An affirmative vote of at least 12 members of the 23-member grand jury would have been needed to indict Stewart. Tantillo did not reveal the vote tally but said he believed the grand jury blamed Ward for the accident.

“The grand jury was never tasked with the responsibility of anything other than to determine whether there was enough evidence to file charges against Tony Stewart,” Tantillo said in a news conference. “They were not considering whether anybody else was at fault. However, I am sure from their deliberations and discussions that the fact that Kevin Ward was observed running basically down two-thirds of the track into a hot track in the middle of other cars that were still racing played a big, big factor in their decision.”

Tantillo said that Stewart did not change course as he passed Ward and that the fishtail movement of his racecar seen on a widely viewed video of the accident came at impact and was a result of his car’s hitting Ward.

When reached by phone, Pam Ward, Kevin’s mother, read a prepared statement, maintaining that Stewart’s actions were dangerous.

“Our son got out of his car during caution while the race was suspended,” she said. “All other vehicles were reducing speed and not accelerating except for Tony Stewart, who intentionally tried to intimidate Kevin by accelerating and sliding his car towards him, causing this tragedy. The focus should be on the actions of Mr. Stewart and not my son. This matter is not at rest, and we will pursue all remedies in fairness to Kevin.”

The suggestions that Stewart’s car accelerated and slid were not supported by the information released Wednesday.