Tony Stewart hits and kills fellow racer

Death of Kevin Ward Jr. blamed on rivalry he had with NASCAR champ Tony Stewart - NY Daily News

....more stories are leaking out about the pairing of Smoke and Speed Bump.....

 

Exactly...instead of the headlines saying angry driver runs into traffic and is killed..the media spins it into TS kills driver..this was 100% preventable by Ward...

 

Outside of your car being on fire of course. ^^

Danica's finger pointing was with an ambulance parked sideways next to her. Tony threw his helmet from next to a pit wall + ambulance. While I have never gotten out of a race vehicle to gesture at anyone, I can understand it being done, just don't do it in stupid places, or at stupid times. The outside of a short track is a massively stupid place to hang around on foot.(Martinsville, Bristol, dirt tracks). The inside of a steeply banked track is also a stupid place to stand around(Talledega, Bristol, Charlotte, etc)

Safety crews went after Kyle Busch and made him get off the track when he walking back to pits on the apron at the all star race.

 

Is the engine revving up actually TS car? The POV and therefore the mic are far away. Could that be the sound of a car passing closer to the camera?

Assuming it is TS car we hear. Hard to say but does does Ward go underneath the car even if slightly so the engine overrevs due to less traction??

Was a yellow but TS seems to be maintaining the same pace as others.

 

The police will get video footage that the news/media probably (and hopefully) won't. I don't like how news media dances on people's graves for money.

Until the Police close the case, there is no point in speculation one way or the other. A little input from people who drive/race helps balance the emotional reaction from those who don't, but in neither case were any of us in an omnipresent view point to know what all happened.

It is obvious that walking into the path of oncoming cars in the process of woe-ing up is not exactly a good way for a long life.

As for rubbing him into the wall - in dirt racing, if you've *mostly* cleared someone and they go into the outside wall - the fault lies on the guy on the outside. The guy in front can no longer see you. If you were significantly slower - the guy in front probably expected you to lift and make room. Its very different from kart racing where visibility, precision, and control are all at much higher levels. Whenever I race with dirt racers, I always expect a different form of "acceptable contact". Dirt racers going for a championship will generally have a little more give and take with eachother, but not much. The driver on the outside has a better view of the driver on the inside, its on them to decide to stay there, or back out of it it.

 

A still from this video of Tony throwing gloves at a driver while standing on track during caution: Tony Stewart is mad with Kenny Irwin (Matinsville 1999) - YouTube
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Nope. What killed him was an avoidable collision with TS' car. Avoidable by BOTH.

CW

 

With respect, a totally ignorant opinion of the person Stewart is. I have met him on several occasions at dirt tracks locally, driving and spectating. He intermingles with drivers and crews of other teams, nothing like you would seem to infer. He races as an equal, if the other drivers want to place a target on him, that's their choice and he is the first to congratulate those who beat him. Several friends are employed within his organisation and have never said any bad of him to me at least FWIW.

 

I met Tony once, he held the door open for me at IMS. nodded, we said hello, off we went. seemed nice enough... (Larry Curry was with him, this was 98 or 99)

I think he's an intense competitor and lets emotion get the best of him when competing but I've heard many people say great things about him. he also seems to get employees willing to follow him (Zippy from JGR to SHR, for example), I doubt that would happen if he was a complete ass.

 

5 second loop of the wreck: InfiniteLooper - DISCRETION ADVISED - NASCAR driver Tony Stewart Hits Kevin Ward, Jr., in Sprint Car Race

 

Yup. This is the shame of the whole thing.

Walking onto a live racetrack is always a terrible idea. The media's spin on these articles should reflect that notion.

Tony now looks like a crook. It's ridiculous.

 

That was my post in the Silver thread..

He did in fact start the tradition, and then Track owners tolerated and promoted it for the "drama"...

 

Wrong, he survived the collision without a scratch. It was what HE did after the collision, not the collision that killed him. He walked on to a live track and into the path of a car, he gets killed no matter what happened before or after, that was the decision that killed him, none of the other decisions mattered.

 

Its relatively new that top tier drivers don't also compete in lesser formulae.
Personally I wish that more would but they have busy promotional schedules now and frankly don't need the money as the once did.

 

Porsche factory sports car driver Vic Elford drove in NASCAR for the Daytona 500, he also drove prototypes at Le Mans, and F1. He won Porsche the Monte Carlo rally, and IIRC World Rally title as well. Finished 4th in the F1 race at Monaco, 10th in the Daytona 500, 6th overall at Le Mans.

As you say, the top series in racing now pay enough that no other income is needed, and the schedule can be quite busy. The risk of racing in other series vs payout is pretty poor, only those with an unconquerable race bug will try to make it happen. I have a lot of respect for those do.(Kubica, Tony Stewart, Kimi Raikkonen).

*less formula* though is perhaps a bit of misnomer when it comes to sprint car racing on dirt. Its the top rung of a ladder, just like F1 is the top of its ladder, the Le Man's 24hr is considered the top rung of sports car racing, etc.

 

I was talking about the collision in which TS ran him over and not the original racing incident.

I think everyone agrees that walking on a hot track is reckless. Maybe I've written that in this thread, now, FIVE times?

What remains in question, however, is TS' actions. Not in the racing incident itself, but in the collision of Ward's person and TS' car.

CW

 

Go back a bit further and you'll find top line GP drivers that needed to take off season work to make ends meet. Some worked in the car industry others went back to the farm.

 

Tragic.

Stay in the car. Stay in the car.

Argue about what happened off track and live to see another day and race.

 

As of now the police have found no grounds on which to bring charges.

 

That is correct. So far.

And, in the end, unless something spectacular is uncovered (such as a radio transmission in which there was an admission against interest by TS), I rather doubt that any criminal charges will be brought.

Even if brought, a conviction is another issue altogether.

CW

 

Prosecutor is going to have to show some form of criminal intent, reckless disregard for human life, or intent to cause great bodily injury to charge TS; perhaps gross criminal negligence.

I don't see it.

What I do see is a foolish kid showboating.

I also see other cars who could have just as easily hit him.

IMO, TS's view looked to be somewhat obscured by the white/blue car in front of him before the collision.

Anyone have any clue how fast these cars are moving when he got out of the car?

 

I don't see gross negligence on the part of TS, either. But I can certainly argue simple negligence. Hitting someone while under a caution? I posted what a yellow means earlier, so everyone can look back, if they like.

CW

 

How fast do you think cars were moving under the yellow?

 

No idea. Art in this thread suggested 40-50mph.

CW

 

If Ward doesn't walk into oncoming traffic, he doesn't get killed, period. It doesn't matter what TS did down on the racing line, he was not passing anyone and was going way slower than racing speed and was far away from the wrecked car or any debris. I'd be willing to bet he was actually looking at the wrecked car as he went by and not at Ward. Ward's decision and his decision alone resulted in his death. He doesn't walk onto the racing line, he doesn't die. I don't see how there's any other interpretation. There was one, and only one, decision that determined whether he lived or died. All of the other decisions are inconsequential if he doesn't walk into traffic.

The only argument that could possibly be made is that they could have red-flagged the race, then he doesn't get killed because the cars are stopped. However, a touch into the wall with no fire or debris is usually not cause for a red flag, and it's very questionable as to whether they could have gotten all of the cars stopped in time based on when he left his car and got to the racing line.