Police: Tony Stewart struck, killed driver with sprint car | FOX Sports Clearly horrible and tragic. Thoughts?
Tony Stewart Involved In Incident In Sprint Car Race - NASCAR Sprint Cup News - MRN.com As title... Bizarre this. From the footage it seems the two tangled and Kevin was upset, pointing at Stewart on the next lap, who then proceeded to turn into on him and run him over. Wonder what'll happen next. RIP Kevin Ward.
Just made a thread on this a minute or so before you did but dare I say it, it kinda looked like what he did was almost purposeful. Or at any rate reckless. I don't follow that racing at all. Never even watched an entire race because I find it so boring but hey
Going to be a really tough one to explain under non green flag conditions. Saw the video and seems pretty nasty..although you can't really see if Kevin actually stepped into the path. You do hear the engine gunning..but without seeing the moment from the other side I think it is a little hard to know for absolute certain if if it was because Tony was trying to avoid or hit Kevin. I really hope it was an accident. Apparently, according to the comments at the bottom of a story--so really rumour--their was a go pro attached to Tony's car.
I hope there is a gro pro on board and that footage from that can determine whether it was a mistake or no (although a bizarre mistake to happen to someone with his experience). I doubt these engines have an ECU of any sort so no data logging (IIRC they are carburated engines etc?).
I only saw it from a fan's perspective in the stands. It shows a reckless upset and immature racer walking onto a hot track to do some showboating against TS. It looks like Tony swerved left to avoid but couldn't. Terrible and needless accident.
swerved left to avoid ward? you must have seen a different video? moreover, tony stewart invented the getting out of the car and raising hell or show boating by throwing his helmet at another driver/car. stewart is a hot heat and a bully. watch the video again.
I'm deliberately using the short-link here so as not to embed it. Folks can choose whether they want to see any of it. VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED: DISCRETION ADVISED - NASCAR driver Tony Stewart Hits Kevin Ward, Jr., in Sprint Car Race - YouTube It looks like the collision with the barrier was just a racing incident, and Kevin Ward Jr was full of red mist immediately afterwards - he walks into the path of oncoming cars to try to confront Tony Stewart the next time he comes around the track and gets struck. A very bad decision, for which he paid the ultimate price. All the best, Andrew.
Have to believe he didn't see him until it was too late, then gunned it to get down on the track. Don't know what he was doing up there though. This will hopefully have organizers instituting a one year race suspension for all drivers walking onto the track after they've had a tangle. Race teams have enough concerns making certain their crew is safe to race another day, severe penalties for track violations increase the buffer. I can't believe TS would race today. Deepest condolences to Kevin Ward's family and friends.
yeah, I wasn't there and only saw a 30 second video clip, but it certainly looks like Stewart turned right towards Ward, then turned back left after hitting him. was that his intent? was he screened by the car ahead and didn't see Ward? was Stewart just trying to rattle his cage and a racer's "prank" went wrong? we may never know. but as I see it, a stupid and easily preventable loss of life. whether or not it was malicious or needs to be prosecuted is up to a DA, I guess.
If you've not been to one of these bullring dirt tracks, you have no idea what you are talking about. There is little room, the track is banked. these cars are not designed to turn right. The driver should never have gone down the track. TS sight line may have been hindered by the preceeding car, he MAY have been running higher to check on the other driver, maybe wave an apologetic finger when the kid walks down another step causing TS to have to turn left to avoid, the car will stetp sideways at the back even at slower speeds. Condolences to all. You ever get to Indiana, go watch the guys run Kokomo on a Saturday night. I have for over 30 years now, they are unbelievably quick and exciting. more so than ANY Nascar race EVER.
These cars are designed to handle with high downforce at speed. The tire stagger is immense. Hitting the brakes without much downforce will cause one tire to massively lose traction and pull the vehichle to the right sharply. Hitting the gas is the way to go left. It seems like two hot heads collided, and beyond that, I'm not sure there is much else to say. I have had some one deliberately step into the racing line while I was at speed wanting to fight, a track worker pulled him off barely in time. I had a kart on my right that stupidly didn't give or allow me to move over or dodge at all. This happened in an open session, not even a race. :\
They are going to be looking at this one for a long time. Not a big Ncar fan but I've always liked how TS has driven everything. Gotta hope he didn't go too far here
Tony's rep precedes him. Some people will say no matter he drove in to the young man. I've watched the video, the first car, the 45, almost hit him. The corner has no light the driver was in a black suit. I want to believe it was an accident and not Tony playing around. The driver of the 45 had to swerve to hit miss the driver. The driver behind Tony said he couldn't see anyone on the track. It seems to me if cars 1 and 3 were surprised by the driver in the middle of the track, Tony most likely was as well. I've been reading where some folks say he revv'd the engine because they can hear it on the video. Unfortunately for the people that say that, the engine revving most likely was a car under the camera, not Tony's car on the other side of the track. Again, people wanting the worst. Also people say it looks like he swerved into him, or tried to hit him with the back of the car. Well, MY GUESS IS, he saw the driver, hit the gas to turn away, as we all know sprint cars turn with the gas pedal. The driver should have never gotten out of his car. He then should not have ran down a race track in a dark corner in a dark suit. I would like to think the a professional driver with decades of experience racing on a track for fun, wouldn't feel the need to intimidate an upcoming driver. A professional driver that understands life and death. Only Tony knows for sure, but in my mind, clearly a tragic accident. *Discloser - I'm a Tony Stewart fan since way back.
It's a bad day for racing. And for any of us who care about racing. My thoughts and condolences to all involved, especially Kevin Ward and family.
Condolences to the Ward family and to true racing fans. It looks like the "wiser" more experienced driver showed little to the young developing ones last night. Especially Kevin Ward. Very sad.
I just watched the video a few times. I think it's impossible to tell whether TS jerked at Ward or tried to avoid him and fish tailed. If there is a GoPro video, hopefully it tells more. Mark
Anyone railing on TS has got to be kidding! Is he a hot head? YES! Is he a bulky? YES! Is it possible he tried to pull a prank? YES! Should Ward have been WALKING on the track? NO! This type of BS should be an offense that leads to a suspension or full on ban. It's like the running of the bulls - is the bull the one at fault or the idiot that chooses to run with them? I sat on a petit jury - a case similar in the actions. There is NO way TS should be considered at fault - If Ward walked off as he should have, he would not have been struck and killed. Had another driver hit him, we wouldn't be having this discussion. I feel for Ward's family - it's devastating and tragic. To try and pin this on TS is ridiculous...and I'm NO fan of TS at all. RIP.