It seems one thing is not being discussed when intent is at issue. What was the purpose behind gunning the engine as he approached Ward? All I can think of was he was trying to kick out the rear end to either throw a rooster tail of dirt on him or hit him. It was under caution so there would be absolutely no purpose or need to gun the engine. That being said if he was trying to kick up some dirt on him and it got away from him and ended up running him over then he certainly needs to be charged.
Dang i I have heard some people say that with those cars you use the throttle to try to move down the track. Ever seen them go through turns? The cars are almost completely sideways. Like I said, we need more info at this point.
Soxxx, shut the fuck up and show a modicum of respect for the loss of a human life. The fact that we are here posting on the Internet is a testament to the luck involved in not paying the ultimate price for mistakes make in our teens early 20's. That young man was not so fortunate.
Stewart doesn't give a damn about the kid. He said he was going to race, but then a lot of pressure was put on him. He basically didn't have a choice.
The car in front of Stewart had no problem, never guns the engine, makes it past Ward but you could see Stewart moves higher up on the turn after he guns it and hits Ward. I am not an expert on the subject but I don't see any reason he would need to gun the engine, then the turn to go higher up on the track makes it even more questionable. It's possible a body under the wheels could make him move like that so it once again goes back to gunning the engine, hopefully the truth comes out.
I'm sorry if Tony did no wrong then he should be able to drive. From what I seen it wasn't Tony fault. I could be wrong.
Crazy. From what it looks like Stewart's car fish tailed a little bit and the back wheel was what hit Ward. There's no way to tell if Stewart saw him ahead of time or not. Let's be real here. Getting out of your car and standing in the middle of a dirt race track is not exactly a smart idea. It's really sad what happened, but it looks more to me like Stewart saw him at the last second and tried to avoid him but car fishtailed and got him. They really should just change the rules so that no racer is allowed to exit his vehicle. This is a terrible event and I feel bad for his family but it could have easily been avoided. Hopefully they will honor his memory by taking a close look at the rules about leaving your vehicle when not in immediate danger, and implementing them throughout auto racing as a whole. I know they like that crap for ratings, but it's extremely dangerous.
That's really the key. There was zero reason, in regards to the actual race, to accelerate. The race was under caution, nobody was doing it, yet we are to believe he coincidentally accelerated just as Ward was behind him and yelling at him but it wasn't deliberate?
Good post I agree, can't say for sure he swerved at him, but knowing his track record, I wouldn't put it past him to try to scare the kid by swerving at him, of course not trying to hit him. One other thing after he wrecked him the caution came out and when he went back around he knew the kid was in the fence why wasn't he driving lower towards the apron.
Idk JB, I don't really think the acceleration thing tells us anything. It's possible he accelerated because he didn't see the kid until the last minute and accelerated to try and get out of the way. He wasn't really behind him, the fact that his real wheel hit him doesn't mean the kid was behind him, in real time that would've been so bang bang. Not saying you are making this argument or not, but in general I think it's silly to suggest Stewart would've wanted to show any intent to hit the kid, with all he had to lose.. I suppose one could make the argument that he was trying to get close to scare him and got too close, but even then the kid was getting too close as well. I don't like Stewart at all, but I personally think it was an accident and Stewart didn't see him until the last milli-second. The lighting at that track is crazy poor and this is a guy who is used to the top notch equipment, lighting, spotters, everything, not dimly lit dirt tracks and those cars. I think it's a case of a 20 year old kid making a grave mistake by getting out of his car like that and Stewart shouldn't be charged with anything. BUT - Stewart shouldn't be running in these small events. It's bullshit and not safe for anyone. Hopefully this gets him to stop. He is out there for fun without worrying about his investment, without practice on these courses, against guys in many cases who are putting everything they have into these cars and trying to make a name for themselves. It's a recipe for disaster. He needs to stop. Also, as unfortunate as this event is, hopefully it brings about change in regards to people getting out of their cars, which is happening WAY too much. NASCAR glorifies it when a guy gets out of his car intent on starting fights and in turn it carries on down the pipeline. I attend dirt track races quite a bit and I see this kind of thing happen way too much. So as dumb as it was for that Ward kid to get out of his car, lets not act like what he did wasn't common. It happens all the time, all over the country. An accident like this really isn't that surprising.
There are more videos out there, I did hear people submitted evidence to the the police. (Of course none of us will get to see any videos anytime soon)
Odd how 5 other cars managed to go by without hitting him, then the one guy who ran him into the wall... hits him. There certainly is shared fault, but Stewart wasn't at the bottom of the track where other drivers went past, he was half way up or more, where he knew the accident was.
Go back and look at the video it was not Tony who "guns it" it was the 45 car right in front of Tony. At the same time you hear a engine gunning it the 45 car picks up spend.
Just watched it 5 more times and you hear the engine rev just as the rear end is kicking out on Stewarts car. Unless someone messed with the video I was just watching here, http://deadspin.com/reports-tony-stewart-ran-over-opposing-driver-during-1618893708 , then it was definitely Stewart. Granted it could be the RPMs jumped up because the tire was spinning on top of Ward and he may not have actually hit the gas but I am sure the way these cars are computerized they will be able to download the info and tell if he hit the gas or if it was something else. I may be of the opinion Stewart is in the wrong but I also realize I am going off limited info and he very well could be completely without fault. I am sure more will come out.
I don't see it as shared fault if Stewart accelerates to deliberately tail his car at Ward. Ward is certainly at fault for getting out of his car and putting himself in harms way; but that is common practice in that sport. But if Stewart was intentionally attempting to tail him, either to spray dirt or intimidate him, there is no shared blame. Shared blame has to do with an accident where each part has some fault in the accident. A deliberate act, even if he wasn't intending to hit him, eliminates any claim of an accident or shared blame. I don't think he was trying to hit him, but from what I've read every driver knows what's going to happen in those cars when you accelerate. It tails. That is a huge coincidence that it occurred just at the point that Ward was confronting him if it wasn't deliberate considering there was no reason to be accelerating from a racing stand point. I'm not saying Stewart tried to hit him, just that the possibility that he was being an asshole and trying to harass or intimidate Ward is reasonable to believe based on his history and that it was completely unnecessary to accelerate at that point.
Maybe he saw him at the last second and jerk his car to the left making him tail spin. It was a wet mud track.
The more I look at it I think when he hit Ward that made his car tail spin. I think u maybe right when he was running over Ward body the RPM jump.
