NEWARK — The driver of a Walmart tractor-trailer that plowed into a limousine van carrying the comedian Tracy Morgan and several friends, killing one and severely injuring Mr. Morgan and two others, was speeding in the final moments before the crash, according to a preliminary report released Thursday.

The driver, Kevin Roper, was traveling 65 m.p.h. in a 45-m.p.h. zone just before the June 7 crash on the New Jersey Turnpike, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s report. The crash killed 62-year-old James McNair of Peekskill, N.Y., a comedian also known as Jimmy Mack.

“A preliminary review of the data showed that the Peterbilt combination vehicle was traveling at 65 m.p.h. for the 60 seconds preceding the collision with the Mercedes-Benz limo van,” the report concluded.

The board used the truck’s electronic engine-control system to calculate how fast Mr. Roper was driving. A Walmart spokeswoman, Brooke Buchanan, said that the store’s trucks are equipped with devices that limit the vehicles’ speed to 65 m.p.h.