So sad for everyone. Hang on a minute and the accident comes on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QJd...ature=youtu.be
Edit: Direct link added
Printable View
So sad for everyone. Hang on a minute and the accident comes on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QJd...ature=youtu.be
Edit: Direct link added
Watched this earlier this morning. If anyone is familiar with dirt track racing and hears Tony's engine throttle up just before Ward was hit, they will be even more saddened with what happened there.
What is truly sad is how many people don't understand how driving those cars works. turning is accomplished more with the throttle than with the front wheels. if you want to get the rear of the car to move left, you have to turn the front wheels to the right and hit the gas hard. it's really a shame that people don't understand that, and jump to the conclusion that Tony must have somehow wanted to hit the kid, which is totally insane. Tony Steward did the best he could to avoid hitting him. the kid had apparently been warned on three different occasions this year about similar stunts. I guess he's listening now. :(
Russ
A different video here show's the guy hitting the wall, it does not look like Tony even touched his car.
So why was the guy so mad he had to get out and run over to the passing cars.
He should have stayed in his car and he would have been safe.
Here is the other video that shows the crash, before the guy gets hit.
Video: Tony Stewart Runs Over Driver During Confrontation, Killing Him
From what I understood (hearsay only) Ward had already been warned three times this season for going out onto the track while the race was being run. Sadly it seems like there were lots of bad choices made in just a few seconds.
I think Kevin Ward Jr. made the bad choices I don't believe for a second that Tony Stewart meant to hit him.
He made the choice to get out of his car and run in to traffic on a race track, It looked to me
like the guy in front of Tony in the 45 car almost hit the guy too. The guy had to jump to the side to keep that
car from hitting him. Then he runs back down the track or out in front of Tony's car.
The guy did it to himself.
It is too bad that tragedies like this bring out the internet trolls who spew their ignorance all over Youtube and other sites. It continues to amaze me how stupid and hateful some of these idiots are. They can say anything you want as they can remain virtually anonymous hiding behind some pseudonym. And you cannot argue with those morons because (as the old adage goes) they will pull you down to their level and beat you with experience.
that is largely what I am reading ..I will wait for tony`s thoughts on what happened ..Quote:
Originally Posted by rumrumm
Not an opinion just passing along FWIW
Tony Stewart's history of rage as charges not been ruled out | Mail Online
I don't think Tony meant for this tragedy to happen as it did, but hitting the throttle just before hitting Kevin was a decision Tony should explain. It is a 1600 pound car, 650 plus hp and a 17" wide right rear tire that can kill as we saw. Any sprint car driver must have known that breaking the tires loose with the throttle would drive the back of the car in Ward's direction. There is as much as 9 inches and more of stagger on the rear of those cars and this forces the car to turn left with no throttle applied. You can't even load one on the trailer without someone forcefully steering the car to the right. The driver ahead of Tony didn't hit his throttle to move down on the track to miss this kid. Why would anyone do so? There must be another reason for hitting the throttle. And no, you don't have to hit the throttle to turn left in a sprint car doing 35 mph under caution. Kevin made a mistake, and lost his life! Sad!
I think a lot of folks are making assumptions based on what the believe they see in a poor quality video taken on a dark race track. As I said on the other thread regarding the same video clip, I believe I'll wait till hearing the rest of the facts before forming an opinion.... As Jack mentioned, are you 100% sure that was Tony's car accelerating? What about that car that was coming on the inside of Stewart, was he looking behind him and just getting out of the way of traffic?? Too many what-ifs and maybes right now. I would expect a statement later this week from SHR regarding the incident. The county sheriff where the dirt track is said that after his initial meeting with the DA, there were no charges pending......
I would hope one thing that does come out of this is some sort of severe penalty for anyone who gets out of their car on the racing surface when they are not in danger of fire. We had an issue like it many years ago at a local dirt track, penalty for getting out of your car was 1 lap, hard to make up in a short race!
Finally, I'm reminded of a very old quote, "Judge not lest you be judged."
If any of this bs were written by someone who actually knew something about racing, it might be significant. Just more of the usual media hype coming from a bunch of know-nothings who like to babble!Quote:
Originally Posted by MelloYello
Dave, I don't have an opinion as to what really happened but don't you think that most Reporters are "told" by the Editor to write the story and then "they" just have to find what data/video/quotes/etc are available and write the story? IMHO, there's no way that Reporters can be authorities or experts on most anything they write about as we see all the time. We, as readers, are left to use that information in whatever context we choose. Just saying OK?
Em
Well, that used to be what reporters did..... Unfortunately now it seems that the more grandiose, slanted, or something meant to create controversy is what is written! The days of the 5 w's in journalism I believe went away with Walter Cronkite!!!!!!!:LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL:
This is a bad deal for sure. I can't imagine anyone thinking it's a good idea to get out of their race car and go walk/run around without a death wish. Pure crazyness. It's a bad deal he was killed for sure. The media has a way of slandering anything anymore...............
Just found this. Here's a link to a very well written piece from a Motorsports writer who knows what he's talking about, as well as knows Tony Stewart quite well. A good read;
Yes, Tony Stewart did run over a fellow driver, who was killed. But know the whole story. | News | Motorsport.com
thank you
The Daily Mail is a Brit rag with articles written by hacks who have no expertise in the areas they cover and editors that can neither write nor spell plain English. Most of their "information" is gathered on-line or from other sources and re-written. (... and using the word "written" is being more than generous."Quote:
Originally Posted by MelloYello
The Brits call this rag "The Daily Fail."
As mentioned by others here this is a very sad story for the family, friends and crew / race team of this young man. Now I have never driven a sprint car or any other form of dirt track race car on a track competitively but have crewed on an A Grade Saloon car so have spend some time pit side of a few race tracks. I have also seen first hand how competitive drivers can be around the pits let alone out on the track so can understand how emotions can run wild but that young man allowed his emotions get in the way of making a sensible decision to remain in his car which sadly cost him the ultimate cost, his life. I too agree with Dave, rules will need to be tightened so that this sort of tragedy is never repeated.
as many times as i`ve just watched the same videos everyone else has all i can say is if the kid had not been killed the first thing out of his mouth would have been " i got too close to tony`s car " .... there is no fault here ...even the rev on the engine and the swerve came after the impact . ...
Well I can tell you this, having raced and owned sprints & midgets for 30 some odd years and having been around and raced Tony, Did he run over that kid on purpose ? ABSOLUTELY NOT ! Will he ruff you up on a race track ? ABSOLUTELY. But in that video I can see no contact, looks like Tony was walking the kid up out of the groove but no contact, Did you notice the kids flat right rear when the car came to a stop ? Regardless the kid or any body for that matter should not come out of the car unless your on fire or being burnt by hot fluids. That rule is in most of the books but until Saturday night was not enforced, It will be now and I've already got emails from the area sanctions stating such. The no enforcement deal reminds me of the track and promoter who said " There will be no fighting in my pits, but if your gonna fight it better be on my front stretch " I'm not sure what to think about Tonys car jumping sideways and only Tony will ever know for sure. I am of the opinion right or wrong that Tony may have blipped the throttle to throw a little go to hell dirt in the kids face. Regardless I know in my heart that Tony did not run him over on purpose and the kid had no business coming out of the car.
Never raced a sprint, but they raced the same night same track as us many times for exhibition /promotion. That was a long time ago, so they may be totally different today. Back then, there was an in & out box, no clutch, push start. Short wheel base, so they're dirt tracks equivalent of an AA/FA in drag racing as far as handling goes.
Who'd be expecting a guy in a black firesuit & black helmet to be running around on a dirt track at night in traffic? Could have been a little blip to scare the kid, or it could have been a reaction to " oh crap there's somebody running around on on the track, where did he come from?" We have to remember we have the luxury of sitting back & analyzing, Tony had a couple seconds at most to react. Car in front of him swerves & boom all of a sudden there's a pedestrian where there shouldn't be a pedestrian.
Quote:"Tony may have blipped the throttle to throw a little go to hell dirt in the kids face. " My opinion also, based on many, many years of racing! A fatal decision for the Ward family. I just hope Tony does what is right here, no matter the consequences. That family is surely struggling to cope with all this.