Tony Stewart hits and kills fellow racer

I'm thinking the troll just needs typing practice. Maybe teacher told him to use as many BIG words as he could. And in one sentence if possible!

 

Joe Gibbs: Tony Stewart is "a racer's racer" | FOX Sports

as asj predicted...the nascar support mechanism would be firmly and aggressively rolled out. the coach is now the latest to publicly support TS.

asj is not a troll and even if his messaging is not to your liking...he not off base on a good many of his assertions.

 

the situation as I see it...and it remains only my opinion:

1) tony is raced hard by ward...tony races ward hard back
2) ward is punted as he kept his foot in it and tony was last to blink
3) ward gets out to take an opportunity to grandstand and challenge the big champ
4) tony decides he will play and wants to brush ward back...never meaning at any time to hit, hurt or kill ward
5) tony gets too close as does ward...disaster happens for both
6) both drivers acted out and one got the shorter end
7) let's not forget that ward never should have gotten out of his car because on Ferrarichat, no one would ever do something so outlandish at a Saturday night roundy round event/war...
8) Tony has been advised by his lawyers to hunker down and let the nedia campaign run out of Sunoco race fuel
9) nascar lawyers have gone into full court offensive press and will guide the media campaign to help tony and his sponsors weather this very potentially big storm
10) Nascar will direct team owners and drivers to tell the public what a great man tony is and how this horrid accident was a risk we all take when racing but that nascar will be the leader in helping the sport in safety by enacting new rules so this tragedy will never occur again
11) Nascar has "encouraged" tony to settle with the family and make them financially hole
12) stewart's sponsors are watching very closely...there may be fallout dependent on the forensics...but I personally feel stewart walks free and will only feel the pain in his wallet
13) very possible that after ward's family is made financially whole or in some opinions is "paid off", they will tell the world how this was just an unfortunate racing accident and that their sun lost his life doing what he loved
15) last, I doubt tony is grieving...he is hiding out and has been told to remain invisible for now
if I missed anything sorry...I have a day job and have been participating in conference calls.

 

Had Ward been content with grandstand finger pointing or gestures, even getting out of his car, he'd still be alive. Instead - he jumped at Tony Stewart, the folly of youth thinking we are immortal and attacking a moving race car with protrusions.

As for PR/Legal, I really can't say, there will definitely be lawsuits over this with the Ward's mailbox exploding from every lawyer with time on their hands that smell money. No one will really win this but the lawyers.

 

you are not at all incorrect my friend.

edit: I don't agree with your edits to my post however...we remain friends

 

You are a Pentecostal preacher???

 

"made whole"....(.sic)

The average workplace wrongful death settlement is $1.8M.

That said, in arbitration Tony's defense would have been reduced his portion to a partial of that, as Ward's actions were IMO 80% to 90% of the causation...

 

I think Nascar encourages tony to seek a non standard arbitration like path...tony writes a large check.

 

+1

 

I've said before, I *really* hope he doesn't!

It would set a terrible precedent & next thing we'll see bunches of dumb ****ing kids jumping in front of deep pocketed race car drivers.

I have sympathy for the kid & his family, but IMO they're owed zero dollar by anyone - Be it Tony, the sanctioning body, the track or the race car gods.

He ****ed up. Sometimes ****ing up hurts. Badly. Whatever happened to 'personal responsibility'?

Ian

 

I'm with Ian here.

It's a terrible tragedy Ward was killed, but while Stewart may share some of the blame, it's Ward himself that should have taken responsibility for his own personal safety on the track. The price for a hotheaded moment was far too great... but it was mostly Ward's doing.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

The situation would be improved immeasurably if commenters would just stop pretending to be certain about things they cannot know. I would love to see that as that as a criteria for moderation.

 

We do not know what Ward or Tony were thinking. We do not know what either of them saw, noticed, or intended.

There are a few distinct facts that are very odd and out of line to a viewpoint by those that think Tony tried to brush close to Ward causing him to smack Ward with the protruding right rear tire.

This is a Ferrari Forum, and I recognize most names from the F1 section. We've all seen what happens when an open wheeled car's tire makes contact. The tire is spinning - front moving downwards, and the rear upwards. When the front part of a tire makes contact - it applies a force to that object dragging it down, and simultaneously creating lift on the tire. This applies that same force through the suspension to the car. This lifts that corner of the car into the air, often quite violently. If contact is made on the backside of the tire, the tire is forced into the ground, the car, aside from exchanges of horizontal inertia from differences in velocity from the contact, remains fairly stable, aside perhaps from a broken suspension or bodywork from the horizontal contact forces.

If Tony had of hit Ward with his right rear - it would of lifted the right rear of the car, and sucked Ward under. Instead - the right side of Stewarts car - both back and front, compresses. This means the suspension was loaded by a force not applied directly to the tire. The tire being unsprung mass, a hit to the front side of the right rear tire would not pull the right side of the car down at both front and rear axels.

There are two things that would suddenly burden down the springs on the right side.

A: Sudden weight transfer from a massive evasive maneuver to the left.

B: A sudden increase in force from a contact with the sprung mass, and not a contact with the unsprung mass(tire).

The last frames of Ward show him sprinting at Tony, arms following a normal path of leading arm and trailing leg of a sprinter, but right before they collide - you can see a frame with the striping of Ward's left arm next to his right arm - both arms forwards. A moment later Prior to even getting near Tony's rear tire his body blocked from view by the car, but not blocking Ward's helmet from sight, you can see Ward's helmet make a change of direction of travel with a rapid acceleration along the path Tony's car is following. In the physical pose Ward was in - leaning forwards in lunging position, this reversal of direction of his helmet isn't physically possible without an outside force from Tony Stewart's car. There's no way to reverse momentum in an off center position with your feet behind your body/head. The point of contact for Ward and Tony is while Ward is alongside Tony's car, and not at the protruding back tire. The point of contact is not Ward's legs, but his upper body. A knock to the legs would not reverse the momentum of the other end(upper body/head) of Ward like this. Instead it was a force to the upper body that changed the momentum of the upper body of Ward.

Now, if I take it from that point, it becomes conjecture as Ward's arm's and legs are obscured, but the explanation for an upper body force on Ward, although we can't see it, would likely be that it is Ward's hands coming in contact with the wing or nerf bar's of Tony's car, transferring this force through his arms and shoulders to his upper body/head.

The way Tony's car, and Ward's body move, would indicate one of three scenarios.

#1 A sudden oh **** moment triggering a massive evasion by Tony - its not enough, Combined with a sudden oh **** realization by Ward that Ward got too close and was going to make contact, he put his arms out as a natural brace for impact instinct. They both collide into eachother.

#2 Ward intended to make contact with Tony or his car. Tony did not expect this and maintained course of the car in front that had also missed Ward. Ward collides with Tony

#3 Ward intended to make contact with Tony or his car. Tony realized and went oh ****, making a rapid evade, but it wasn't enough. Ward collides with Tony

I cannot say whether its #1, #2, or #3. We do not know what either of them saw, or were thinking. These are the three most likely scenarios that explain the right side suspension of Tony's car compressing, and Ward having both hands outstretched off balance with his feet well behind his upper body.

I've done a lot of karting, and seen a lot of bare tire to other object collisions. Tony's car doesn't follow the physics for an initial contact between Tony's right rear tire, and Ward.

I am not a medical expert, I have no idea what the coroner saw or recorded. I'd be interested to know if there were cuts in his gloves from the wingplate of Tony's car, or any dammage/bending to this area of Tony's car. Steel tends to flex and spring back into shape - especially in sheet metal form so perhaps there wouldn't be anything. Contact to the steel tubing would not likely cut the gloves though.

There is a lot of info we don't have, and don't need either. Just like the police do not post up all the evidence of every single thing else they do either.

I feel like a moron for writing another post or two in this thread but I don't think the compression of the front right and rear of Tony's car has been pointed out in this thread. I also feel like a moron for early posts pointing out the difficulty of Stewart seeing Ward, when I had not viewed any evidence. I have to agree with Asj's conjecture that Tony stopped because he knew His car and ward made contact. You don't stop a sprint car without serious reason, as you know you can't restart it on your own. In order for Tony to know he hit Ward, he'd of had to see Ward to know it was Ward he hit. While its conjecture to know what Tony saw or thought, I'm inclined to believe Tony saw Ward at some point. I dissagree that he stopped to erase a go-pro, as I've never known/seen Tony with a go-pro ever, making it unlikely he had one on or in his car.

 

Very interesting take. It's nice that you explain why your ideas are plausible.
I'd say this is one of the more thought out explanations to what could have happened. Yes, TS stopped after he hit Ward. I'm sure TS felt a good jolt in his car when contact was made. as I'm sure TS saw him out of his car, but didn't figure the idiot was going to try and make contact with his vehicle.
There has been nothing beside that TS stopped that Asj has made any rational sense on.
At this point I think his comments are only to stir the pot.

 

"... toe-knee! Toe-kneeeeee! Is that you, toe-knee?" Remember that Robert de Niro film, about the ex-con, stalking the attorney?

No room for argument, our boy Tony Stewart is in hiding, from the mainstream media. Tony Stewart is curled up in a little ball, hold up in his office, shaking like a leaf on a tree, hiding under his executive desk at Stewart-Haas Racing, while the corporations in tandem with organized motor sport, try to figure out how to push buttons, "lower the volume," make this Kevin Ward thing go away, find a way to wriggle our boy Tony Stewart off the hook.

"... come-out, come-out wherever you are!" -- asj.

 

Correct in one line, TS is avoiding media until next week. Wouldn't anybody? Upset still? Yes, but not your "shaking like a leaf".
He will be in NY early next week, all I can say at this moment.

 

Kevin Harvick had an interesting take on the situation...

Latest news on Tony Stewart incident - Yahoo Sports

 

You bring a new meaning to the term "HATER"
I have to assume you must know TS to have such animosity towards him. Maybe he shunned you when you said hi, or perhaps or maybe you got a lure from Bass pro shops that wouldn't get you a bite, must be TS's fault cause he's sponsored by them. Unless you have information and concrete evidence that TS did such a thing, you might be justified. However, you clearly are coming in with a one sided argument and are completely closed minded to any other outcome. You have shown none or haven given us no additional information to support your claims.
Do i like TS as a driver? Not really. Do I think he is damn good at what he does and more than qualified to be in a race car? Yes. Although I might not like him as a driver, I highly respect his abilities on the track. No, I wouldn't root for him.
You seem very narrow minded in the search for the truth. You've made your decision based on media speculation and some upset parents. Present some facts or truths to your argument and you might have some credibility.

 

Going with the "short bus" mentality again I see.

 

Fixed.

Hopefully, someone can bring the required defamation suit soon.

I think that's probably it!

I hear banjos....

Ian

 

... keep in mind, organized motor sport is a gravy train. Constant inflow of revenue bilked from consumer surplus value of everyday Amercians, is what makes the cars go round-e-round.

Just like the sugar tariff, when consumers awaken to realization added pennies they're paying for their basic necessities of life indirectly subsidize billions, for millionaires and their beloved racing cars? We don't want consumers knowing that. Do we?

We want them in the grandstands, beered and liquored up senseless, wholly oblivious, believing fanciful fallacies and fairy tales how the Grand Prix of Texas makes money; that there's a multiplier effect (e.g., "economic impact"); that it's "good" for the local economy. We don't want the little people knowing how much money organized motor sport bilks from their locales and municipalities. We don't want the little people knowing how the Grand Prix of Elroy sucks US$30 million per annum, out of their local economy. We don't want the little people knowing how Washington DC insiders replay political favors, using America's defense-intelligence complex, to indirectly subsidize Indycar and NASCAR.

Last thing organized motor sport wants is: flashlights of scrutiny shined upon it.

Things are so bad in organized motor sport, sanctioning bodies now perform 24/7-365 intelligence upon their drivers. Motor sport insiders now freely petition their sanctioning bodies, to revoke press credentials of reporters, for asking questions they don't particularly like.

Things are so bad in organized motor sport, professional drivers are no longer free, to speak their minds. In fear of their sanctioning bodies, in fear of the corporations, all professional drivers are effectively muzzled from speaking out, about organized motor sport.

NASCAR's beloved meatball, Tony Stewart, opening cans upon cans of worms, things have gotten so bad in organized motor sport, sanctioning bodies no longer trust their drivers to resist temptation, of running down rival drivers, on the caution lap! Professional drivers may no longer extricate themselves from crashed vehicles, without permission from their sanctioning body.

Professional drivers, ever-conscious what side their bread's buttered, under threat of fines, exclusion, loss of championship points, revocation of their competition licenses, not one professional driver dare speak out, against NASCAR's beloved Tony Stewart.

Things have degenerated to such extent in organized motor sport, the corporations arm-twist television cameramen into pointing their cameras down and away, from their empty grandstands -- asj.

 

.. keep in mind, organized motor sport is a gravy train. Constant inflow of revenue bilked from consumer surplus value of everyday Amercians, is what makes the cars go round-e-round.



As of course are things such as the Stock Markets........


Things have degenerated to such extent in organized motor sport, the corporations arm-twist television cameramen into pointing their cameras down and away, from their empty grandstands


Very true, the fans(?) have realised they can stay home, save money and drink.

 

I was racing with Carl Edwards Monday night, he was in town for the driver announcement.

Strangely enough, I bought some cheezeits since then. >_>

Advertising is advertising, be it TV shows, product placement in movies, etc.

Personally, I'll fund those that use race cars to advertise given a choice.

 

that is really not the point, is it? The point is which link in the chain of causality is the one that asignes culpability. As it stand so far, only Wards action of walking into a track on which there is still a race going on, undeniably qualifies as culpable. And Stewart, well, he is innocent untill proven guilty. Don't let some of the comments in this thread fool you.

 

... standard modus operandi of organized motor sport, whensoever there's a fatality is: "... Move! Move! Move! Pack up that gear! Quick! Quick! Quick! Get the heck out of Dodge! Doubletime! And everybody, keep your mouths zipped! Anybody talks to anybody, you will never work in organized motor sport, again! Do not open your doors for process servers. Do not talk to anybody, unless you talk to us, first! We'll tell you want to say; we'll tell you what to do."

Standard operating procedure of organized motor sport insiders, whensoever there's a fatality, shred all evidence (e.g., on-board-video; radio-coms; recordings; telemetry), pack up the gear, flee the circuit and leave the state (country) immediately, disband and immerse all team members into hiding, impose de facto gag orders on team personnel under threat of sanction, from talking to anybody and everybody, outside organized motor sport.

Unofficial world record, fastest in organized motor sport history fleeing the scene of a driver fatality: Frank Williams and Patrick Head; Imola; 1994 (e.g., joke at the time, Patrick Head was of out Italy faster than Senna qualified!).

Unofficial world record, slowest in organized motor sport history to flee the scene of a driver fatality: The IRL 5 (e.g., Randy Bernard; Michael Andretti, Roger Penske; Chip Ganassi; Brian Barnhart); Las Vegas, 2011. So the story goes, biggest fiasco in the history of open wheel racing in North America, gross mismanagement on an unprecedented scale, biggest mess in his career, his million dollar end-of-year PR stunt backfired, several drivers in the hospital, his 2011 Indy 500 winner dead, body yet to be extracted still in his car, a tarp indifferently thrown over him, phone ringing off the hook, the Clabber people calling for his scalp, the IRL circus hopelessly stuck, teams can't pack up and get the heck out of Nevada ahead of local authorities because, all the cars are still fueled! Insufficient siphoning equipment on-hand, when it would have otherwise taken 28 hours, to extract remaining methanol from each car, "EUREKA! I HAVE IT!", in a flash of genus, Randy Bernard gets the bright idea, killing two birds with one stone he ordered-up a quicky-dirty impromptu fake Dan Weldon tribute, for which to fire up engines for a 10 lap fuel burn sufficient, to get the cars back on the trucks, and the heck out of Nevada. Worked like a charm! Everybody bought it! Teams were out of Nevada, by sundown!

World record, by a country mile, longest in-hiding period ex post inducing a driver fatality in organized motor sport history: Tony Stewart; Canandiagua Raceway; 2014.08.09 to present - asj.