Tony Stewart

nooshinjohn

I am going to bow out of this one, but I leave with a question. Last year Tony admitted to causing a wreck that ended his season, and nearly paralyzed a 15 year old girl. This year he kills a 20 year old after what looked like he pushed him up and into the wall. The question is.. Why is this 3 time Winston/Sprint Cup champ so desperate for trophies and wins that he takes to rookie events, competing against comparative amateurs and bullying his way around the track?

If Dale Sr. participated in such events, he would have let the kids win, posed for a picture with them afterwards and signed it by giving credit to the kid for his victory.

TS's reputation is such that he would wreck his own mother to move up another position on the track, so I guess other people's kids mean even less to this guy and his ego.

I won't watch another race he participates in. I would rather watch paint dry.

boston1450

Erik Tracy wrote: »

I would not want to be TS - regardless....hindsight is a **** to live with...

trust me-you do not forget

shawn474

This is a tragedy to be sure. But regardless of his past "hot headedness", anyone who speculates that this could have been intentional from some grainy video is simply irresponsible. Say what you want about the guy, all these guys are competitors. They have high egos. But, the mere suggestion that Stewart crossed the line and intentionally hit the driver on the track is pretty short sighted and ridiculous. It was a bad idea for that kid to get out of the car and walk across the track. What happened was terrible plain and simple, but not malicious or intentional in my opinion.

Dennis Gardner

The grainy video was enough for me to see that Tony killed him.....I don't need intent, to determine that.

F1nut

Something very important that no one here yet seems to understand about these dirt track cars, you steer them by hitting the gas, which is exactly what TS did to try and avoid the moron standing on the track. He wasn't trying to throw dirt in his face. If anything comes out of this I believe Ward will win the Darwin award this year.

shawn474

Dennis Gardner wrote: »

The grainy video was enough for me to see that Tony killed him.....I don't need intent, to determine that.

Not sure what you are saying here. The young man died as a result of being hit by the car driven by tony stewart. Some would argue that the young man contributed to the ACCIDENT by exting his car on a dark track. You seem to miss that key point and want to place the blame on stewart when it was a tragic ACCIDENT

exalted512

lol @ these comments. What motivation does Tony have for even trying to scare the guy? Does anyone here have any experience on dirt, more specifically, these sprint cars?

Some of you guys crack me up. Unfortunately, a hot headed 20 year old made a mistake that cost him his life. A lot of this is the equivalent of someone stealing something and then complaining about getting shot.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
-Coy

krabby5

nooshinjohn wrote: »

I guess I want to see everyone held to the same standard regardless of their money or fame.

We all know that isn't possible anymore. In ANY situation.

jeremymarcinko

Looks to me like TS, accelerated in an attempt to kick the rear away from Kevin Ward Jr., not into him. If he wanted to hit him he would have spun the rear of the vehicle to the outside, as he would have going around the corner. The fact that TS immediately stopped after the impact/engine rev, indicates that this was merely an accident. It doesn't make any make sense for TS to try and roost Kevin by spinning to to the right. It is important not to let Tony's aggressive reputation interfere with the perception of this tragedy.

Danny Tse

Accident? yes. Intentionally done? No.

dkg999

It looks like a tragic accident from the video I have seen. I think TS was just trying to get by the crazy guy out on the track, that no driver would of expected. As far as the kid who got out of his car, the rule to live by doesn't change and is a harsh teacher ..... "you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes".

pitdogg2

nooshinjohn wrote: »

The dead driver really has nobody to blame but himself IMHO, for walking away from his car and onto the track, into oncoming cars.

I agree here, But I must say that ever since Tony got out of his car and threw his helmet at the driver a few years ago we have seen more of the getting out of the cars. EFFIN CRAZY especially since it is dark and he is wearing BLACK !!

nooshinjohn wrote: »

but I also think it is time for Tony to walk away from the sport...

I can't agree with this, tragic for sure but unless I'm missing something here I do not see why he should quit racing.

jflail2

Intentional? I don't think so. An accident caused by his hot-headedness/anger? I suspect so. That'll be enough for him to at very least lose a civil suit.

pitdogg2

F1nut wrote: »

Something very important that no one here yet seems to understand about these dirt track cars, you steer them by hitting the gas, which is exactly what TS did to try and avoid the moron standing on the track. He wasn't trying to throw dirt in his face. If anything comes out of this I believe Ward will win the Darwin award this year.

Correct they are squirrely on the best days as your whole game is to slide around a small dirt track sideways.

Dennis Gardner

My understanding of sprint car tire stagger puts the largest tire on the outside or right side of the car and thus makes giving it the gas squirt the back of the car to the right due to the further distance the tire must travel.

I guess it could be seen and trying to turn left too, depending on your take.

Reports on scene have Stewart's camp replacing the right side tire with a new even sized left side tire immediately upon entering the pits. I can't confirm whether this is normal, or why they would do this, or even if it is true, but pics are out there.


File photo of Stewart's tire stagger.......right side tires are way bigger.

Tornado Red

We sure enough watch Sprint cars "steer" using the gas during the race, but they were at caution speeds by the time the Stewart part of the field came around to the original crash scene. I would think the steering wheel should work fine at this point.

shawn474

jflail2 wrote: »

Intentional? I don't think so. An accident caused by his hot-headedness/anger? I suspect so. That'll be enough for him to at very least lose a civil suit.

Won't get that far in my opinion. They will settle for a large sum of money and be done with it. I an sure he feels terrible for the family and may not ever be the same again. Tragic accident with tons if consequences for all involved.

PaulW

Very sad accident.

unc2701

Tornado Red wrote: »

We sure enough watch Sprint cars "steer" using the gas during the race, but they were at caution speeds by the time the Stewart part of the field came around to the original crash scene. I would think the steering wheel should work fine at this point.

Actually, the opposite. (Hint: look at the roof)

Tornado Red

unc2701 wrote: »

Actually, the opposite. (Hint: look at the roof)

Yes, the roof creates down force and with the raised side helping the car to corner, along with how the right foot manipulates the gas. The power to weight ratio is crazy on these things. My point is that at caution speeds, these things don't come into play much and the car should be able to be steered fairly normally.

unc2701

From a driver a few cars back:

http://rochester.twcnews.com/content/news/760185/witness-to-tony-stewart-crash-says-driver-could-not-have-avoided-hitting-other-driver/

Toolfan66

Tornado Red wrote: »

and the car should be able to be steered fairly normally.

Nope, not the case when you are on the track, and at an incline to boot. And look at the roof there is very little room to see around you..

Tornado Red

I'm not saying it's smooth like a street car. At caution speeds they follow each other around the track, go into the pits etc without having to shoot the rear sideways with the throttle. The driver in front of TS appeared to steer out of the way.

Gatecrasher

Tony Stewart is an idiot. Always has been. I don't think anyone believes he intentionally tried to kill Ward but he was definitely being "Tony" and was trying to send the kid a message as he hit the throttle under the yellow flag causing his car to fishtail into Ward. Tony crossed the line and everyone who isn't a blindly partisan Tony Stewart fan knows it.

Kevin Ward Jr. was well-liked and a pretty talented 20 year old up and coming driver. Everyone saw him on the track and none of the other drivers felt the need to gun it and set their tires as they passed by him. Tony was playing games and let his temper get the best of him.

Indigo

I'm not the biggest Tony Stewart fan and he is hot-headed and impulsive. But however arrogant and impulsive he is he would not intentionally kill someone in a public place like that, why on earth would he? What would he gain by that? He's well known in his field and like him or not, he's good at what he does, he wouldn't end his career by doing something like that.
I normally can't stand the guy and I can't believe I'm sticking up for him.

Polkie2009

I just wished that the young man (Kevin Ward Jr.) hadn't gotten out of his car and walk out on the racetrack close to where the racers were. The one car in front of Tony Stewart's car almost hit Kevin, just a sad accident that could have been avoided had cooler heads prevailed.

Toolfan66

Gatecrasher wrote: »

Tony Stewart is an idiot. Always has been. I don't think anyone believes he intentionally tried to kill Ward but he was definitely being "Tony" and was trying to send the kid a message as he hit the throttle under the yellow flag causing his car to fishtail into Ward. Tony crossed the line and everyone who isn't a blindly partisan Tony Stewart fan knows it.

Kevin Ward Jr. was well-liked and a pretty talented 20 year old up and coming driver. Everyone saw him on the track and none of the other drivers felt the need to gun it and set their tires as they passed by him. Tony was playing games and let his temper get the best of him.

No, getting out of your car and trying to confront someone in a moving vehicle is being an idiot!!

AsSiMiLaTeD

Toolfan66 wrote: »

No, getting out of your car and trying to confront someone in a moving vehicle is being an idiot!!

I don't think anyone is disputing that, both guys were idiots.

F1nut

Tony crossed the line and everyone who isn't a blindly partisan Tony Stewart fan knows it.

I'm far from blindly partisan and still don't think TS crossed the line. However, Ward sure as hell did.

steveinaz

Right or wrong, I have a feeling that this is the beginning of the end of Stewart. Personally, knowing Stewart--he probably was trying to spit some dirt up on the kid, and things went bad. I don't believe he intentionally hit him, but I do believe his track rage cost a kid his life. Just my personal opinion.