Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

[Rules]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

Nascar or any other racing governing body needs to suspend racers for getting out of their cars while on track to challenge other drivers.

It is never good to see drivers get out of their car to physically challenge 1400-3400 pound cars.

[elTodd]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

Damn shame Stewart has every alibi working in his favor right now.

Doesn't matter what any of us think; he's the one who has to live with his actions for the rest of his life.

Is it really "every alibi working in his favor"? Or just all of the facts coming out pointing to him not being at fault?

I have yet to see any evidence that suggests there was any intent by Tony. And the fact that the police are not going to file any charges at this time suggests that there might not be any.

I'm still waiting for someone to explain how the video, which only shows Tony's car a split second before the accident, proves that there was any intent. It's impossible to tell if the engine revving came from his car and we have no idea if he changed course to go closer to Ward.

[TCrouch]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

I've been reading through this in disbelief. The one poster asked for a "legit reason" for gunning the engine...here you go. Judging by the tone through every post he's put here, his mind is made up--I doubt it will help, but I'll try anyway.

I've driven these cars, on tracks much like the one you see there. It's dimly lit, the kid is in an all-black firesuit and helmet, at the end of a corner that is more dimly lit than the rest of the track.

In the kid's mind, it seems that he was all ready to compete against Stewart and Tony got the better of him coming down the front stretch. He turned in too late, as he was already off the cushion on the ENTRY to one, let alone the exit of 2. The 'contact' with Stewart could barely be considered contact in dirt racing. Ward was already out of shape, and once you get to that point, you have two options--keep the hammer down and try to run an outside-in move, or let off the gas and watch the car snap around and wreck. It takes some SERIOUS stones to take option 1, but it looked like he was trying--but Stewart was there still. So he let off, and he just lost it.

At that point, it seems he's all worked up and ready to give Stewart a piece of his mind--like no big superstar is going to come and push around those local boys! But he does the absolutely unthinkable thing--he gets out of the car in the darkest portion of the track, and walks away from his easily-visible vehicle.

What you have to remember is Stewart already would have had mud on his visor (you have a limited number of clear tear-offs that you rip off during a race, and you typically take them off at the END of a caution and not at the beginning, to avoid having a bunch of clods thrown up as you are close to other vehicles on the yellow laps), the view to see out of the car is about 10 inches tall, and you have a wing that hangs down the right front side. You just cannot see that spot to the right. In a sprinter, you drive by hearing more than seeing. You hear cars around you. Considering he was probably following the car in front of him to some extent, and he would have seen the car up in the wall, I cannot even fathom him looking for a driver coming down to the center of the track. What's more, he likely didn't think there was any beef there. The "intentional wreck" line is bogus. That was nothing but taking position and taking away the line Ward wanted. Then he held that inside and didn't let him cut the line on the exit of 2. At MOST, it was a slight tap of a nerf bar, and nowhere near something anybody who's been to more than a handful of dirt races would consider an intentional wreck.

But when he DOES see him, the first instinct is to stab the gas. That's because the Right Rear is much larger than the left rear, so when you do, it shoots the car to the left. When he does that, the second he lets OFF the gas, it's going to snap back to the right as the weight settles. It's exactly what you see in that video. It's not Tony trying to scare somebody or teach him a lesson--it's an "OH SH*T THERE'S SOMEBODY THERE!" and instinct. Plain and simple.

He gunned it, sure. But you gun it to get out of trouble in a sprinter. The fact is it never would have happened if that poor kid just stayed in his car...but at 20 years old, how many of us felt invincible and thought nothing bad could happen? When we look back at this, this incident is what will likely lead to a more globally adopted penalty system to curb this behavior in all series of motorsport, and honestly--it's very needed.

But there was no crime here. Just a tragic, tragic accident when tempers flare on a race track, and poor choices are made.

[Happy29]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

You summed it up perfectly Crouch it's easy for someone who's never been to a racetrack let alone in a racecar to watch a clip on youtube and come to an opinion that this was Tony's fault he was out for blood or whatever people may be saying about Tony in various places, but unless you've been in one of these cars to know how it feels and how limited you visibility really is there isn't much you can say.

I've been reading through this in disbelief. The one poster asked for a "legit reason" for gunning the engine...here you go. Judging by the tone through every post he's put here, his mind is made up--I doubt it will help, but I'll try anyway.

I've driven these cars, on tracks much like the one you see there. It's dimly lit, the kid is in an all-black firesuit and helmet, at the end of a corner that is more dimly lit than the rest of the track.

In the kid's mind, it seems that he was all ready to compete against Stewart and Tony got the better of him coming down the front stretch. He turned in too late, as he was already off the cushion on the ENTRY to one, let alone the exit of 2. The 'contact' with Stewart could barely be considered contact in dirt racing. Ward was already out of shape, and once you get to that point, you have two options--keep the hammer down and try to run an outside-in move, or let off the gas and watch the car snap around and wreck. It takes some SERIOUS stones to take option 1, but it looked like he was trying--but Stewart was there still. So he let off, and he just lost it.

At that point, it seems he's all worked up and ready to give Stewart a piece of his mind--like no big superstar is going to come and push around those local boys! But he does the absolutely unthinkable thing--he gets out of the car in the darkest portion of the track, and walks away from his easily-visible vehicle.

What you have to remember is Stewart already would have had mud on his visor (you have a limited number of clear tear-offs that you rip off during a race, and you typically take them off at the END of a caution and not at the beginning, to avoid having a bunch of clods thrown up as you are close to other vehicles on the yellow laps), the view to see out of the car is about 10 inches tall, and you have a wing that hangs down the right front side. You just cannot see that spot to the right. In a sprinter, you drive by hearing more than seeing. You hear cars around you. Considering he was probably following the car in front of him to some extent, and he would have seen the car up in the wall, I cannot even fathom him looking for a driver coming down to the center of the track. What's more, he likely didn't think there was any beef there. The "intentional wreck" line is bogus. That was nothing but taking position and taking away the line Ward wanted. Then he held that inside and didn't let him cut the line on the exit of 2. At MOST, it was a slight tap of a nerf bar, and nowhere near something anybody who's been to more than a handful of dirt races would consider an intentional wreck.

But when he DOES see him, the first instinct is to stab the gas. That's because the Right Rear is much larger than the left rear, so when you do, it shoots the car to the left. When he does that, the second he lets OFF the gas, it's going to snap back to the right as the weight settles. It's exactly what you see in that video. It's not Tony trying to scare somebody or teach him a lesson--it's an "OH SH*T THERE'S SOMEBODY THERE!" and instinct. Plain and simple.

He gunned it, sure. But you gun it to get out of trouble in a sprinter. The fact is it never would have happened if that poor kid just stayed in his car...but at 20 years old, how many of us felt invincible and thought nothing bad could happen? When we look back at this, this incident is what will likely lead to a more globally adopted penalty system to curb this behavior in all series of motorsport, and honestly--it's very needed.

But there was no crime here. Just a tragic, tragic accident when tempers flare on a race track, and poor choices are made.

[BDKiiing]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

I just don't see Smoke having ran this kid over on purpose. Dirt is hard to turn on, accelerating makes it easier to turn, he could have sped up to get it to whip around to avoid the kid. Ward was wearing all black on a poorly lit track. He got out of his car and walked into on coming traffic. He played real life frogger. Nearly got hit by the car in front of Stewart's. A clearly hot headed kid. A veteran would have been waiting by the drive who they got caught up with's trailer waiting for him after the race. No smart driver confronts a driver on the track by walking into oncoming cars. And even given his attitude issues, I don't see Stewart being a cold blooded murderer. While I could see him getting something like negligent vehicular homicide, I could just as well see him getting nothing.

Also, ThreeKings' persistence is quite comparable to the last guy to vote not guilty in 12 Angry Men.

[Flamehead]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

I've been reading through this in disbelief. The one poster asked for a "legit reason" for gunning the engine...here you go. Judging by the tone through every post he's put here, his mind is made up--I doubt it will help, but I'll try anyway.

I've driven these cars, on tracks much like the one you see there. It's dimly lit, the kid is in an all-black firesuit and helmet, at the end of a corner that is more dimly lit than the rest of the track.

In the kid's mind, it seems that he was all ready to compete against Stewart and Tony got the better of him coming down the front stretch. He turned in too late, as he was already off the cushion on the ENTRY to one, let alone the exit of 2. The 'contact' with Stewart could barely be considered contact in dirt racing. Ward was already out of shape, and once you get to that point, you have two options--keep the hammer down and try to run an outside-in move, or let off the gas and watch the car snap around and wreck. It takes some SERIOUS stones to take option 1, but it looked like he was trying--but Stewart was there still. So he let off, and he just lost it.

At that point, it seems he's all worked up and ready to give Stewart a piece of his mind--like no big superstar is going to come and push around those local boys! But he does the absolutely unthinkable thing--he gets out of the car in the darkest portion of the track, and walks away from his easily-visible vehicle.

What you have to remember is Stewart already would have had mud on his visor (you have a limited number of clear tear-offs that you rip off during a race, and you typically take them off at the END of a caution and not at the beginning, to avoid having a bunch of clods thrown up as you are close to other vehicles on the yellow laps), the view to see out of the car is about 10 inches tall, and you have a wing that hangs down the right front side. You just cannot see that spot to the right. In a sprinter, you drive by hearing more than seeing. You hear cars around you. Considering he was probably following the car in front of him to some extent, and he would have seen the car up in the wall, I cannot even fathom him looking for a driver coming down to the center of the track. What's more, he likely didn't think there was any beef there. The "intentional wreck" line is bogus. That was nothing but taking position and taking away the line Ward wanted. Then he held that inside and didn't let him cut the line on the exit of 2. At MOST, it was a slight tap of a nerf bar, and nowhere near something anybody who's been to more than a handful of dirt races would consider an intentional wreck.

But when he DOES see him, the first instinct is to stab the gas. That's because the Right Rear is much larger than the left rear, so when you do, it shoots the car to the left. When he does that, the second he lets OFF the gas, it's going to snap back to the right as the weight settles. It's exactly what you see in that video. It's not Tony trying to scare somebody or teach him a lesson--it's an "OH SH*T THERE'S SOMEBODY THERE!" and instinct. Plain and simple.

He gunned it, sure. But you gun it to get out of trouble in a sprinter. The fact is it never would have happened if that poor kid just stayed in his car...but at 20 years old, how many of us felt invincible and thought nothing bad could happen? When we look back at this, this incident is what will likely lead to a more globally adopted penalty system to curb this behavior in all series of motorsport, and honestly--it's very needed.

But there was no crime here. Just a tragic, tragic accident when tempers flare on a race track, and poor choices are made.

The trouble with a post like this is there's too much logic and common sense.

[mgoblue]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

I've been reading through this in disbelief. The one poster asked for a "legit reason" for gunning the engine...here you go. Judging by the tone through every post he's put here, his mind is made up--I doubt it will help, but I'll try anyway.

I've driven these cars, on tracks much like the one you see there. It's dimly lit, the kid is in an all-black firesuit and helmet, at the end of a corner that is more dimly lit than the rest of the track.

In the kid's mind, it seems that he was all ready to compete against Stewart and Tony got the better of him coming down the front stretch. He turned in too late, as he was already off the cushion on the ENTRY to one, let alone the exit of 2. The 'contact' with Stewart could barely be considered contact in dirt racing. Ward was already out of shape, and once you get to that point, you have two options--keep the hammer down and try to run an outside-in move, or let off the gas and watch the car snap around and wreck. It takes some SERIOUS stones to take option 1, but it looked like he was trying--but Stewart was there still. So he let off, and he just lost it.

At that point, it seems he's all worked up and ready to give Stewart a piece of his mind--like no big superstar is going to come and push around those local boys! But he does the absolutely unthinkable thing--he gets out of the car in the darkest portion of the track, and walks away from his easily-visible vehicle.

What you have to remember is Stewart already would have had mud on his visor (you have a limited number of clear tear-offs that you rip off during a race, and you typically take them off at the END of a caution and not at the beginning, to avoid having a bunch of clods thrown up as you are close to other vehicles on the yellow laps), the view to see out of the car is about 10 inches tall, and you have a wing that hangs down the right front side. You just cannot see that spot to the right. In a sprinter, you drive by hearing more than seeing. You hear cars around you. Considering he was probably following the car in front of him to some extent, and he would have seen the car up in the wall, I cannot even fathom him looking for a driver coming down to the center of the track. What's more, he likely didn't think there was any beef there. The "intentional wreck" line is bogus. That was nothing but taking position and taking away the line Ward wanted. Then he held that inside and didn't let him cut the line on the exit of 2. At MOST, it was a slight tap of a nerf bar, and nowhere near something anybody who's been to more than a handful of dirt races would consider an intentional wreck.

But when he DOES see him, the first instinct is to stab the gas. That's because the Right Rear is much larger than the left rear, so when you do, it shoots the car to the left. When he does that, the second he lets OFF the gas, it's going to snap back to the right as the weight settles. It's exactly what you see in that video. It's not Tony trying to scare somebody or teach him a lesson--it's an "OH SH*T THERE'S SOMEBODY THERE!" and instinct. Plain and simple.

He gunned it, sure. But you gun it to get out of trouble in a sprinter. The fact is it never would have happened if that poor kid just stayed in his car...but at 20 years old, how many of us felt invincible and thought nothing bad could happen? When we look back at this, this incident is what will likely lead to a more globally adopted penalty system to curb this behavior in all series of motorsport, and honestly--it's very needed.

But there was no crime here. Just a tragic, tragic accident when tempers flare on a race track, and poor choices are made.

This times 1 million.

Kid came way too close to a racecar on a dirt track...you don't get within feet like that on a loose track, so stupid.

Stewart is a hot head, but not a bad guy...he wouldn't want to kill anyone.

I think this'll result in a rule (like you said) where people who get out of the car and/or run at other cars get suspended or something....It's happening too often nowadays and people do it to be "edgy" and "cool"

[TCrouch]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

Exactly--it's like the generation that wants to copy SportsCenter highlights. My kids try to do that in youth football. They see a player make a celebration after a pick, they try to recreate it. They high-step on picks, and it's hard to curb that behavior when they see the pros do it and they want to imitate it.

Same thing here. It's becoming so commonplace that you see drivers in all series getting out and confronting other drivers on track. The time and place for that confrontation is back at the haulers, not out on a race track.

And I know it's shocking that I missed something in that too-long post, but there's also this:

Sprint cars do NOT track "straight" on a track. When you are at speed, natural inertia pulls the car into the track. But when you're under caution, the car wants to slip down the slick surface. So you spend most of your caution laps steering RIGHT, constantly fighting the car's desire to slide down into the pits. So the car is even further angled to the LEFT, as you're steering right just to go straight. And guess what's on that right side? The big wing hanging down. So you're going even slower, you see even less, and there's an obstacle in the track that you do not know is there.

[fishepa]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

I've been reading through this in disbelief. The one poster asked for a "legit reason" for gunning the engine...here you go. Judging by the tone through every post he's put here, his mind is made up--I doubt it will help, but I'll try anyway.

I've driven these cars, on tracks much like the one you see there. It's dimly lit, the kid is in an all-black firesuit and helmet, at the end of a corner that is more dimly lit than the rest of the track.

In the kid's mind, it seems that he was all ready to compete against Stewart and Tony got the better of him coming down the front stretch. He turned in too late, as he was already off the cushion on the ENTRY to one, let alone the exit of 2. The 'contact' with Stewart could barely be considered contact in dirt racing. Ward was already out of shape, and once you get to that point, you have two options--keep the hammer down and try to run an outside-in move, or let off the gas and watch the car snap around and wreck. It takes some SERIOUS stones to take option 1, but it looked like he was trying--but Stewart was there still. So he let off, and he just lost it.

At that point, it seems he's all worked up and ready to give Stewart a piece of his mind--like no big superstar is going to come and push around those local boys! But he does the absolutely unthinkable thing--he gets out of the car in the darkest portion of the track, and walks away from his easily-visible vehicle.

What you have to remember is Stewart already would have had mud on his visor (you have a limited number of clear tear-offs that you rip off during a race, and you typically take them off at the END of a caution and not at the beginning, to avoid having a bunch of clods thrown up as you are close to other vehicles on the yellow laps), the view to see out of the car is about 10 inches tall, and you have a wing that hangs down the right front side. You just cannot see that spot to the right. In a sprinter, you drive by hearing more than seeing. You hear cars around you. Considering he was probably following the car in front of him to some extent, and he would have seen the car up in the wall, I cannot even fathom him looking for a driver coming down to the center of the track. What's more, he likely didn't think there was any beef there. The "intentional wreck" line is bogus. That was nothing but taking position and taking away the line Ward wanted. Then he held that inside and didn't let him cut the line on the exit of 2. At MOST, it was a slight tap of a nerf bar, and nowhere near something anybody who's been to more than a handful of dirt races would consider an intentional wreck.

But when he DOES see him, the first instinct is to stab the gas. That's because the Right Rear is much larger than the left rear, so when you do, it shoots the car to the left. When he does that, the second he lets OFF the gas, it's going to snap back to the right as the weight settles. It's exactly what you see in that video. It's not Tony trying to scare somebody or teach him a lesson--it's an "OH SH*T THERE'S SOMEBODY THERE!" and instinct. Plain and simple.

He gunned it, sure. But you gun it to get out of trouble in a sprinter. The fact is it never would have happened if that poor kid just stayed in his car...but at 20 years old, how many of us felt invincible and thought nothing bad could happen? When we look back at this, this incident is what will likely lead to a more globally adopted penalty system to curb this behavior in all series of motorsport, and honestly--it's very needed.

But there was no crime here. Just a tragic, tragic accident when tempers flare on a race track, and poor choices are made.

Great post, but the bad thing that TS has going for him are his previous actions from many years of acting like a moron. I don't even follow Nascar but one thing I know about it is TS acts like a dbag. The kid NEVER should have gotten out of the car.

[JMD]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

If I, for whatever reason, ever lose my temper behind the wheel of my car and kill a kid, I'll be sure to come to this website so I'll feel better about myself. lol

Hope you guys defend me like you do Tony Stewart.

If that was the case no one would be defending Stewart. You are clearly seeing something that isn't there and that no one else is seeing.

[Seahawk76]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

If that was the case no one would be defending Stewart. You are clearly seeing something that isn't there and that no one else is seeing.

No one seems to be able to explain why Stewart would have been so angry. His car wasn't wrecked or damaged. Hell, the incident didn't even slow him down and it's not clear from the video that the two cars even touched. The race steward didn't think they did. He may not have even known that Ward had spun since it happened behind him. As far as racing incidents go this was nothing, at least from Stewart's perspective.

So why was he allegedly so damned pissed off as he came around on the caution that he wanted to teach the kid a lesson by buzzing him?

[baseballsim]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

Are there other videos of this accident? It's remarkable that in this one raw video this fan was actually following and zooming into Ward's car - even before the accident.

[bigbob]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

Are there other videos of this accident? It's remarkable that in this one raw video this fan was actually following and zooming into Ward's car - even before the accident.

There's apparently a second video, at least according to the Ontario County Police.

It doesn't surprise me if the car was supposedly following Ward's car. Tony was near him. Tony dominates these races so it's a good chance those were the 1-2 cars (assumption). Either that, or it could have been one of Ward's friends.

[JMD]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

No one seems to be able to explain why Stewart would have been so angry. His car wasn't wrecked or damaged. Hell, the incident didn't even slow him down and it's not clear from the video that the two cars even touched. The race steward didn't think they did. He may not have even known that Ward had spun since it happened behind him. As far as racing incidents go this was nothing, at least from Stewart's perspective.

So why was he allegedly so damned pissed off as he came around on the caution that he wanted to teach the kid a lesson by buzzing him?

I agree completely. I don't think he was pissed off and I don't think he tried to buzz the kid.

[Seahawk76]

Re: Tony Stewart Strikes and Kills On-Foot Driver

Another thing no one is talking about for some reason is the fact that Ward obviously mistook the blue and white 45 car for Tony Stewart's black and white 14 car. Not only is this evidence of poor visibility involving a dimly lit portion of the track combined with dirt kicked up in the air and covering visors, but is the reason that Ward came down so low on the track.

He stayed high on the track as other cars went by until he saw the 45 car and then he came charging down towards it and was pointing directly at it as it went by. Unfortunately this put him directly in Stewart's path who was running several feet higher on the track than the 45. By the time that the camera pans back to Ward he is not pointing at Stewart but is bracing himself to jump out of the way. He apparently didn't realize his mistake until it was too late.

In my opinion Ward made two mistakes that night which turned out to be fatal ones: he got angry and left his car to enter a live track and then charged down after the wrong car which inadvertantly put him into Stewart's path. It was a tragic turn of events which isn't made any better by crucifying Stewart for them without any evidence of wrongdoing on his part.