By alley - Aug 25, 2015, 2:15 PM ET

Report: Stewart case moved to federal court

Multiple sources report that the wrongful death lawsuit

filed by the family of deceased sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr. against Tony Stewart on Aug. 7

has been moved from New York state court to federal court. The action was reportedly submitted Friday by Stewart's attorney on the basis that the Ward family lives in New York and Stewart's residence is in Indiana.

The lawsuit, filed two days before the anniversary of the crash at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in which Ward was killed, accuses Stewart of gross negligence. Ward died when he walked onto the track to remonstrate with Stewart after the pair made contact, and the lawsuit claims that the 20-year-old's death was the consequence of Stewart blipping the throttle and putting his car into a skid.

A grand jury declined to indict Stewart, who at the time called it "100 percent an accident." A subsequent toxicology report found Ward had marijuana in his system.

"Our son was truly the light of our lives and we miss him terribly every day," the Ward family said in a statement. "Our hope is that this lawsuit will hold Tony Stewart responsible for killing our son and show him there are real consequences when someone recklessly takes another person's life."