View Full Version : Tony Stewart "Accident"!?!?
I do NOT know how to even BEGIN to comment on this right now, so I won't try. Tony runs over an angry competitor on the track and kills him. I'm out!
What?! Where was he racing?
Saw the video. To me it looks like a terrible accident.
Saw it as soon as I turned on ESPN this morning. I don't think it was deliberate on Tony Stewart's part; the victim, Kevin Ward, ran out onto the live race track in a rage, after he and Stewart hit causing him to spin out. I know it happens all the time, but that is never good. Cars dodged him before he was hit, I don't think Stewart saw him. The police are asking for amateur videos for the investigation.
Twitter is blowing up, most are annoyed that he is racing today in NASCAR Sprint Cup. I've been a racing fan long enough to get it; I don't think it will really affect his race, but frankly I think NASCAR should have him sit out. They won't but Stewart's sponsor might. As I'm typing this, I see an ESPN report that suggests they're (NASCAR? Stewart?) are backpedaling on his racing today. His racing today just looks insensitive. I'd might feel differently if he was in serious contention for the championship, but he isn't.
ESPN is way over reacting to this (I like ESPN but are you surprised?). They've got their Legal Analyst speculating about criminal charges.
Sad day. RIP Kevin Ward.
Mary
Greg Zipadelli just announced that Tony Stewart won't drive today.
Mary
I’m no Tony Stewart fan, but I can’t imagine this being anything more than a tragic accident.
stroker
08-10-14, 11:13 AM
Let's hope it underlines the notion to stay off the m***********g track unless you're in the car.
Andrew Longman
08-10-14, 11:15 AM
A dirt track a few hours north of Watkins Glen. Quite the talk here at the track this morning. From the video it was an accident but very avoidable. My guess is he was trying to spray some dirt on the other driver who was trying to "make a point" as Stewart drove by. Have to say though the other driver was out of control furious. More nuts than just about any angry driver I've ever seen
Regan Smith to sub today
From the video it was an accident but very avoidable. My guess is he was trying to spray some dirt on the other driver who was trying to "make a point" as Stewart drove by. Have to say though the other driver was out of control furious.
That’s an excellent assessment of what happened.
I can’t see how Stewart’s actions were criminal, but I’m sure there will be a civil action.
TKGAngel
08-10-14, 01:16 PM
Let's hope it underlines the notion to stay off the m***********g track unless you're in the car.
From watching the video, it looks like the other driver headed down towards the racing line instead of staying parallel to where his car was. You can still angrily shake your fist from a distance. It's a tragic situation, and I'm glad Stewart took a pass on today's race.
Plenty of drivers have killed someone on the track or in the pitts and gone on to race. I don't see why anyone would make an issue of it.
Greg Zipadelli just announced that Tony Stewart won't drive today.
Mary
Didn't see this before. His choice I guess. It's crazy that anyone thinks he intentionally ran over that young man.
cameraman
08-10-14, 02:18 PM
You don't run out on the damned track after your crash. The car in front of Stewart's just barely missed the idiot. I'm not too happy with all this "Tony Stewart is a hot head" crap in the media either. The hot head was the moron who got himself killed.
Insomniac
08-10-14, 03:29 PM
One accusation is that he kicked the rear wheel out, but it seemed like the rear wheels went toward the inside of the track to me.
Artemus
08-10-14, 03:45 PM
One accusation is that he kicked the rear wheel out, but it seemed like the rear wheels went toward the inside of the track to me.
Watch the video in slow motion. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XvhrPu64Co) All four wheels are locked before and during the impact and all four wheels are sliding up the track. You can see that the lettering on the left rear (near the top, slightly forward) is stationary up to and through the impact and then starts rotating afterward. IMO Stewart hit the brakes hard when he saw Ward (a natural reaction) and that is why he broke loose. The so-called swerving was him gathering it back after the impact.
You can also see that Ward was two-thirds of the way down the track when he was hit. At the risk of being insensitive, what exactly did he expect to happen?
Gopeddle
08-11-14, 08:35 AM
You don't run out on the damned track after your crash. The car in front of Stewart's just barely missed the idiot. I'm not too happy with all this "Tony Stewart is a hot head" crap in the media either. The hot head was the moron who got himself killed.
When I was still shooting racing events for a living a good friend of mine, another photographer, was chased down pit lane by Mr. Stewart after taking his pic. I'm not saying Stewart intentionally hit the other driver, but to say that he's not a hot head I think misses the mark. I have heard that over the years he's mellowed a bit, just sayin'.
That’s an excellent assessment of what happened.
I can’t see how Stewart’s actions were criminal, but I’m sure there will be a civil action.
Sadly, many attorneys will be in touch with Ward's parents in the next few days. It will be interesting to see how they spin it if it goes to court. The tragedy of the kid's death is bad enough. Let's hope it stops there.
opinionated ow
08-11-14, 10:55 AM
Stewart is a hot head and there's no doubt he's not afraid to throw a punch or several...but I don't believe for one minute he would drive at someone.
cameraman
08-11-14, 12:50 PM
Stewart is a hot head and there's no doubt he's not afraid to throw a punch or several...but I don't believe for one minute he would drive at someone.
This.
Let's hope it underlines the notion to stay off the m***********g track unless you're in the car.
Isn't it proper Nascar etiquette to confront the driver that wrecked you as he passes your crippled vehicle?
Has this happened at a dirt track before, or is Tony Stewart the first?
Equal blame?
A Canadian driver who witnessed NASCAR star Tony Stewart strike and kill dirt racer Kevin Ward in a weekend race thinks both men were to blame
The Canadian racer believes Stewart, a three-time NASCAR champion, was trying to scare Ward by spraying dirt on him.
Source (http://www.torontosun.com/2014/08/12/stewart-tried-to-intimidate-ward-canadian-driver-says)
Ted
TKGAngel
09-24-14, 03:49 PM
BUMP
The grand jury determined that there will be no charges pressed against Stewart. Toxicology results also showed that Ward was under the influence of marijuana that night, enough to impact his judgement.
http://racing.ap.org/article/tony-stewart-will-not-face-charges-deadly-crash
BUMP
The grand jury determined that there will be no charges pressed against Stewart. Toxicology results also showed that Ward was under the influence of marijuana that night, enough to impact his judgement.
http://racing.ap.org/article/tony-stewart-will-not-face-charges-deadly-crash
I was happy and relieved to learn this. I hated Tony Stewart at first, mainly because he was the poster boy of why some people thought the IRL was a good idea; a notion that appalled me--still does. Further, his obnoxious early behavior in NASCAR, where you have to be special to be more obnoxious than they can be, was off-putting. Over the years however we've both calmed down a bit. Irrespective of whatever I felt or feel about him as a fan, I never thought for even one second that he ran Kevin Ward down on purpose.
Did Stewart deliberately put him off track while they were racing? Maybe, I am not familiar enough with sprint car racing to ascertain whether it was a racing accident or not. To me, it doesn't matter 'cause that's what they all do there. Obviously, you can see that I don't like sprint car racing; to me it has always felt a bit like bumper cars at an amusement park when you get some wild 12-year-old boy who deliberately knocks the hell out of you while you're circling around waiting for the ride to end.
I can't imagine entering a motor race toked up on weed, but I'm 57 years old. Kevin Ward won't get to be this old and that's a shame no matter what you think of this.
Mary
Andrew Longman
09-25-14, 02:40 AM
I'm pretty aligned with posts here and I think the grand jury findings are correct based on the evidence I've seen. I also think it is probably best for the sport. A lot of people I talked to about this really don't understand racing and this chased away a lot of misconceptions IMO. The NFL has added too many murderers to sport already.
But I am not thrilled with the distraction Ward's pot use has made. Ward's actions by itself were idiotic. Depending on the autopsy test they used he could have smoked a joint a month earlier and it would have showed up. And in many states any THC metabolics in your system is defined legally as impaired.
..."defined as legally impaired"...and this was a legal process. I think the introduction of this new bit of information was far less a distraction than perhaps a confirmation for many, including those on the grand jury, that Ward's death was of his "own idiotic actions"...before AND during. Moving on.
chop456
09-25-14, 12:50 PM
Same thing just happened to a girl in the Chicago suburbs. Ran over and killed a little kid and got extra jail time because she had pot in her system from 2 days before.
So what happens if she lived in Colorado or Washington? If the same law applies, then tens of thousands of traffic stops will/should be DUIs. Metabolism-based punishment Stupid.
Andrew Longman
09-25-14, 05:04 PM
..."defined as legally impaired"...and this was a legal process. I think the introduction of this new bit of information was far less a distraction than perhaps a confirmation for many, including those on the grand jury, that Ward's death was of his "own idiotic actions"...before AND during. Moving on.
Meh. Kinda making and missing my point at the same time. I don't know anyone who didn't think Ward running onto the track wasn't "judgment challenged". But this event brought that POV to the general public. Now they think other drivers drive stoned too. Or that the ones who do/Ward have no one else to blame.
Stewart said sometime in the last few weeks, "People have to remember that a person died" That Ward had THC in his system distracts the public from that.
I also know a good chunk of the nation (Stewart haters mostly) will never believe he didn't hit Ward on purpose. And again and again, probably for the rest of his life people will be coming up to Stewart in public and calling him a murderer. The fact that Ward had THC in his system will convince some, but not others. Others will say they don't know if Stewart did it on purpose, but it was OK because Ward was stoned.
I think what Stewart said was spot on. This was a horrific tragedy. That fact comes first. And a "factoid" that just supports in an unsubstantiated, preconceived POV really isn't helpful unless it is placed/explained properly in the larger context.
I don't know if Ward was high as a kite, but would rather people come up to Ward's parents a express sympathy for Ward poor judgement, than say too bad he was stupid enough to drive stoned... unless he really drove stoned, I guess. ;)
Andrew Longman
09-29-14, 06:12 PM
He showed up pretty well IMO at his presser today. No act, said all the right things authentically, but he is pretty messed up. Doubt he will get into a sprinter again. Why would he? He only did it for fun and it definitely is not fun now.
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