Tony Stewart running over someone?

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harkin said:
Well, if he was only hit with the front tire he might not be dead.

Regardless here's an eyewitness account:

“Tony came around … the back end slid out, and he definitely caught him – I couldn’t tell if it was with the front or the back of the car… The body made contact with the car and went sliding across the track,”

Got that?

"the back end slid out, and he definitely caught him"

The back end sliding out definitely happened, you can see it in the freeze frame. It certainly could have made a bad situation worse by extending the time and force of a spinning right rear tire in contact with Ward.
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Down and to the left, down and to the left. "The Magic Bullet".
 
The Nature Boy said:
Part of the problem is that people like patterns, it makes us feel like we can stop bad things from happening in the future. Stewart is an easy person to fit into that narrative because there IS a pattern of aggression.
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Yeah, and creating narratives is a dangerous thing for the media to be doing, because then the average person that knows nothing about racing sees it and gets influenced by it because they don't know anything different. Fans can spew whatever nonsense they want, because they're just ordinary people that don't necessary have influence over anybody. I hold the media to a higher standard than that, though, because I feel like they have a responsibility to report the truth, not just tell us an edgy, attention grabbing tale that was based on a true story.

It's like @ChexOrWrex was saying earlier in this thread...we know that most of the media is biased and everyone has an agenda, but events like this bring it to the forefront and make you wonder just how much the other stories that we hear every day are also distorted.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I can't wait until Tony Stewart is feeling well enough, mentally, to speak to the media. I'm sure he'll have some really nice things to say about the mainstream media. LOL.
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He will probably only say what his PR rep tells him to, especially with Stewarts record of mouthiness.
 
Well. I'm pissed about the media honestly because at the end of the day. Most of the populace does not give a flying damn about motorsports, but hell its okay to report when someone dies. Hell, it was not even the fact of someone dying, but it has to be someone relevant. Tony Stewart, a modern day legend essentially. Its pissed me off because networks like CNN, ABC, ESPN, and other equals hardly think about racing. It has to be a spectacle in order for them to report it. Like the wrecks, its not all about the wrecks in NASCAR. Most don't know the history, most don't give a damn about the history.

I was so irritated earlier today, all I could do was shake my head in shame.

The only times legitimately I can remember news being this relevent was Senna's and Earnhardt's deaths.

DEATHS. Not about who won or lost, but to make a man and another man to make a mistake. JR said it best, "If it was not a relevant driver like Tony, no one would care."

Yet injuries are "Too violent" for TV. You can show a man being run over though, very ****** classy.
 
i don't think Tony should be charged with murder, i think it was an accident, i hope so anyway, only Tony knows for sure. but i still think he's guilty of someone's death, in part.
 
After the race I saw a report on the story. They showed the video (with no audio), showed the police investigator saying there were no criminal charges pending, and watched as the broadcasters discussed the incident.

Not once did anyone question why Tony gunned his motor at the moment he got to Ward.

I'd really like to hear Tony explain that. Why did you gun your motor, Tony?
 
mreed said:
After the race I saw a report on the story. They showed the video (with no audio), showed the police investigator saying there were no criminal charges pending, and watched as the broadcasters discussed the incident.

Not once did anyone question why Tony gunned his motor at the moment he got to Ward.

I'd really like to hear Tony explain that. Why did you gun your motor, Tony?
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Watch the video again. Did he really gun his motor?
 
I havent said anything on here regarding this and really my opinion does not matter, but one thing everybody needs to understand is when it comes to what YOU think you saw or could interpret from the video, none of us will ever know the true intent. With all the go pro cameras in the world and all the camera angles and views we just wont know. Everything we think we know is simply conjecture. I know what my opinion is of the incident, but I can also look at it objectively and come to several different conclusions. What I do know is that Ward got out of the car as the race was under caution. We see this all the time in either cup/nationwide/trucks or at your local short track. It is dangerous, but it becomes more dangerous when that driver decides to confront the moving vehicle. Ward was pretty low on the track, it appears that he is in the top of the racing line. From the video I couldnt tell if there was a high and low groove. However he was pretty clearly near if not in the top of the groove. Tony's car was higher then the blue and white car that passed first, but he was definitely not outside of the groove "chasing down Ward."

The idea that he ran him over on purpose is just hard to believe. It would mean that after the contact that caused the yellow and the subsequent :20 that incurr from there to taking the yellow to coming into turn 2 (the site of the caution) that Tony would have had to basically snap when he sawWard gesturing towards him. Plus if he was going to run the guy down on purpose why would he not square him up?

I could invision a scenario where Tony wasnt even aware that he made contact with Ward to cause the yellow. There was very minimal contact between Tony's right rear and Ward's left front. Slight enough that Tony could not have felt anything in the car. If you watch, his car had zero movement from the contact. Coming back around to turn 2 Tony could have been checking his gauges/adjusting his belts/adjusting his gloves/pulling a tear off/looking into the infield/had his view obstructed by a safety vehicle etc. All things that could have taken his attention away from the crash site and led to him not seeing Ward in a black firesuit on the dimly lit track. When you dont think you wrecked someone there would be no reason to expect the kid to approach your car.

I can also invision an instance where Tony and the kid were battling before the caution and a heated Tony sees the kid yelling and gesturing towards him and decides he wants to try and intimidate the kid and toss some dirt his way or even simply speed up to prevent the kid from banging on the car and miscalculating how close Ward was and then the unfortunate happens.

Its just so difficult to know. What I do know is that the drivers peripheal vision in those cars is severly hampered by the safety retraints and head and neck retraints. If Tony saw this kid it may have been too late for him to make any drastic maneuver (which is hard enough to do in these cars) to avoid him.

If I had to form an opinion I would guess that Tony didnt see the kid until it was too late for whatever reason and he burped the throttle to help the car turn left in an attempt to avoid him, but it was too late. Tony is a world class driver and I will trust in his ability to maneuver a car and make the car do what he wants it to do within it's realm of possibilities. At the end of the day it could have been avoided by Ward staying in the car and personal responsibility has to come into play there. Its not fun to say that because its an attack on a dead kid. They will institue some rule regarding getting out of the car before safety personnel gets to the car and it will be a gross overreaction as usual in this world. Getting out of the car under yellow when the car is out of the groove is not that dangerous. When you run into the racing groove and put yourself within reach of a car thats where the inherent danger increases.
 
^^^I don't think anyone believes/has said Tony ran him over on purpose.

Tony is indeed a world class driver. The same world class driver the spun the 24 car out on pit road after a race.

blanston said:
Watch the video again. Did he really gun his motor?
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I watched it several times. Sounded like he gunned the motor to me. From what I've seen people who were there have said the same.
 
Another sad part of this story that hasn't begun yet, is that there will more than likely be a wrongful death civil lawsuit. The media hacks will continue their negative speculation, further damaging Tony's reputation and possibly putting a black eye on NASCAR. This isn't positive publicity. If Tony is found negligent in a civil lawsuit, a jury will have to determine what percentage of responsibility Tony and Ward each played respectively in Ward's death.
Expect to see insurance rates increase for local racetracks.
This will negatively impact motorsports, as a whole.
 
BobbyFord said:
Another sad part of this story that hasn't begun yet, is that there will more than likely be a wrongful death civil lawsuit. The media hacks will continue their negative speculation, further damaging Tony's reputation and possibly putting a black eye on NASCAR. This isn't positive publicity. If Tony is found negligent in a civil lawsuit, a jury will have to determine what percentage of responsibility Tony and Ward each played respectively in Ward's death.
Expect to see insurance rates increase for local racetracks.
This will negatively impact motorsports, as a whole.
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That never crossed my mind...... Bad news all around.
 
What we're not seeing is what led up to this incident. If they had been going at it, Tony, being Tony and having Tony's temper, could have been pretty hot. That's not a stretch to imagine.

I watched the video. I can't make sense of why Stewart is so high on the track, approaching the wreck site he was just involved in, and is sliding. (can't tell if he got on the gas to kick the back out or if he came to the scene too hot and got off-throttle oversteer.)

It appears that he saw Ward, let off, and regained grip right as he hits Ward, and the car them straightens up and rolls away.

I don't think he intended to hit Ward, but instead wanted to be a tough-guy, he effed up, and his actions are the cause of Ward's death. Tragic and stupid.
 
mreed said:
^^^I don't think anyone believes/has said Tony ran him over on purpose.

Tony is indeed a world class driver. The same world class driver the spun the 24 car out on pit road after a race.



I watched it several times. Sounded like he gunned the motor to me. From what I've seen people who were there have said the same.
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Since I replied to you, I went back to youtube to watch the original video. On the one I just saw, there wasn't even the revving sound I'd heard on others.
It's all crazy. Personally, it looks to me like the car flopped around 100 percent due to contact with Ward.
Btw, I wasn't trying to say you were wrong and I wasn't trying to be an a**hole with my comment.
Just a differing opinion I reckon.
 
mreed said:
^^^I don't think anyone believes/has said Tony ran him over on purpose.

Tony is indeed a world class driver. The same world class driver the spun the 24 car out on pit road after a race.



I watched it several times. Sounded like he gunned the motor to me. From what I've seen people who were there have said the same.
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Many media sources have suggested that "hot-headed" Tony Stewart lost his cool and hammered the kid on purpose.

There were 15-20(?) cars on the track, the camera was on the opposite side of the racetrack from where the incident occurred. I think it would be difficult to positively differentiate which specific car's engine can be heard at the moment Ward was struck.

JMO.
 
DUN24 said:
That never crossed my mind...... Bad news all around.
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The Ward family could also sue the racetrack for a number of reasons, including but not limited to, insufficient lighting, insufficient officiating and/or safety response. A grieving family can be very motivated. This has the possibility of being very damaging to local racetracks on limited budgets.
 
no one knows what exactly happen and never will. Everyone has a theory I bet if you ask Toney, he doesn't know exactly what happen either.
 
Nobody wants to see tracks close down, but why would it ever be OK to have insufficient lighting, safety, or emergency response? I'm not challenging you, just asking the question.

And if small tracks can't afford the upgrades, do the larger sanctions, even NASCAR need to pitch in to maintain the feeder series it relies upon?


BobbyFord said:
The Ward family could also sue the racetrack for a number of reasons... insufficient lighting...insufficient ... This has the possibility of being very damaging to local racetracks on limited budgets.
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BobbyFord said:
Many media sources have suggested that "hot-headed" Tony Stewart lost his cool and hammered the kid on purpose.

There were 15-20(?) cars on the track, the camera was on the opposite side of the racetrack from where the incident occurred. I think it would be difficult to positively differentiate which specific car's engine can be heard at the moment Ward was struck.

JMO.
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Absoultely this. I hear the motor people are claiming is Tony's, but there is no way to tell if it was Tony's. As someone who goes to dirt races on a regular basis there have been many times where the sound of a motor seems to be in one direction and its actually coming from another. That many cars on the track its just too hard to tell. I would like to hear from the driver of the first car on just how close Ward was to him and if he was able to see him clearly as he exited the turn. In the video Ward is 8-10 maybe a little more feet away from his car down the track. We also cant see if there are any officials out there to let the drivers know they need to stay low. It was literally one lap after the initial contact.
 
mreed said:
I watched it several times. Sounded like he gunned the motor to me. From what I've seen people who were there have said the same.
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Sure it was Tony's car & not a car closer to the camera that wasnt visible?
 
Moving at 66 feet per second it would be humanly impossible to react even with 10 feet of distance between Smoke and ward, if it were there. A damp racing surface, what has been reported as being poorly lighted and of course finding a pedestrian in the race groove even before safety personnel were present to secure the wreck scene. No big deal, happens to me all the time.
 
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DixonMason said:
Nobody wants to see tracks close down, but why would it ever be OK to have insufficient lighting, safety, or emergency response? I'm not challenging you, just asking the question.

And if small tracks can't afford the upgrades, do the larger sanctions, even NASCAR need to pitch in to maintain the feeder series it relies upon?
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A lot of these tracks are at the county fairgrounds. They are run on a budget and unfortunately sometimes things are pinched that shouldnt be. NASCAR has no responsibility to help support the effort of local short tracks if they are not a NASCAR sanctioned facility so why would they invest money into something they have zero to do with?
 
DixonMason said:
Nobody wants to see tracks close down, but why would it ever be OK to have insufficient lighting, safety, or emergency response? I'm not challenging you, just asking the question.

And if small tracks can't afford the upgrades, do the larger sanctions, even NASCAR need to pitch in to maintain the feeder series it relies upon?
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I'm not suggesting that this track had any of those things, I'm just saying that a grieving family can be very motivated and these could be some possible claims by the family. Litigation can be very costly when you have to pay to defend yourself in a civil lawsuit whether or not you are found negligent.
 
clarkfn2284 said:
Absoultely this. I hear the motor people are claiming is Tony's, but there is no way to tell if it was Tony's. As someone who goes to dirt races on a regular basis there have been many times where the sound of a motor seems to be in one direction and its actually coming from another. That many cars on the track its just too hard to tell. I would like to hear from the driver of the first car on just how close Ward was to him and if he was able to see him clearly as he exited the turn. In the video Ward is 8-10 maybe a little more feet away from his car down the track. We also cant see if there are any officials out there to let the drivers know they need to stay low. It was literally one lap after the initial contact.
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Eg-******-zactly.
 
BobbyFord said:
Many media sources have suggested that "hot-headed" Tony Stewart lost his cool and hammered the kid on purpose.

There were 15-20(?) cars on the track, the camera was on the opposite side of the racetrack from where the incident occurred. I think it would be difficult to positively differentiate which specific car's engine can be heard at the moment Ward was struck.

JMO.
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It's possible that the engine revving sound wasn't from Tony's car. I think once the investigators interview all the drivers they will know who's car it was.
 
As I sit here drinking my ice cold Bud Light aided by my new Eldora Speedway can koozie that I picked up last month, I can't help but wonder if I attended my last NASCAR Truck Series race at that speedway. Regardless of the outcome of all of this there's a certain stigma that will be attached to Tony that NASCAR may end up reconsidering their association with him and his speedway. Just a thought.
 
Marcingak said:
It's possible that the engine revving sound wasn't from Tony's car. I think once the investigators interview all the drivers they will know who's car it was.
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I'm not sure that a driver, with a helmet on, in the ****pit of a running dirt sprint car can hear anything over the sound of his own racecar.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
As I sit here drinking my ice cold Bud Light aided by my new Eldora Speedway can koozie that I picked up last month, I can't help but wonder if I attended my last NASCAR Truck Series race at that speedway. Regardless of the outcome of all of this there's a certain stigma that will be attached to Tony that NASCAR may end up reconsidering their association with him and his speedway. Just a thought.
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This is bad mojo for racing.
 
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