Always remember: Tony Stewart OWNS the track!

[Looselugs]

Absolutely the sprint car drivers want to beat Tony Stewart. Furthermore, Tony isn't the best driver in the field at a race like this. Most guys that run these cars are far from rich and not only want the trophy they need the purse money too. As far as the actual crash, I'd say it happens often. Stewart slid up and pinched the Ward kid in the fence and he crashed. However, those cars do have brake pedals and the kid opted to not use his in this particular incident.

Thats what I thought. So when Tony or a Khane comes to there back yard they roll up there sleeves more as to say he`s not beating me on my turf!

Thanks for you insight.:0008

Do you happen to know in a ball park figure what the purse might have been last night?

 

[PaSprint]

Thats what I thought. So when Tony or a Khane comes to there back yard they roll up there sleeves more as to say he`s not beating me on my turf!

Thanks for you insight.:0008

Do you happen to know in a ball park figure what the purse might have been last night?

If it was a regular show the purse was probably in the neighborhood of $2000 to win and $300 to start the A-Main.

 

[Terryray]

culled and cut and pasted from various articles:


Although it seemed Ward had put himself at grave risk by walking onto the track while racecars were on it, that kind of action is not unheard-of in racing. Drivers will often try to confront other drivers directly on the track. In 2012, Stewart walked onto the track at Bristol Motor Speedway after a wreck with Matt Kenseth and threw his helmet at Kenseth?s racecar in disgust.

Stewart has a long history of confrontations with drivers, news media and officials in Nascar, and was once fined by his former race sponsor, Home Depot, and reportedly sought anger-management counseling after an altercation with a reporter early in his career.

Stewart was involved in a July 2013 accident at Canandaigua that seriously injured a 19-year-old driver. He later took responsibility for his car making contact with another and triggering the 15-car accident that left Alysha Ruggles with a compression fracture in her back.


Stewart only returned to sprint track racing last month, almost a year after breaking his leg in the crash in Iowa. He didn't return to racing in any form until February, when preparation for NASCAR's season-opening Daytona 500 began.

He refused to stop his extracurricular racing despite the injury. The multimillionaire [his estimated net worth is $70 million] is known to participate in races with purses worth less than $3,000 and drive alongside drivers of varying ages and talent levels.

But the broken leg cost him the entire second-half of last season and sidelined him during NASCAR?s important Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Stewart wasn?t cleared to get back in a race car until February, the day the track opened for preparations for NASCAR?s season-opening Daytona 500 began.

??Everybody has hobbies. Everybody has stuff they like to do when they have downtime, and that?s just what it is for me,?? he said last month following his return to sprint car racing. ??That?s what I like to do when I have extra time. I don?t think there is anything wrong with doing it. I feel like there are a lot of other things I could be doing that are a lot more dangerous and a lot bigger waste of time with my time off do than doing that.??

 

[PocketAces]

Did he really rev his engine just as he hit the guy?

 

[PaSprint]

Did he really rev his engine just as he hit the guy?

There is no such thing as "revving the engine" with these cars. When someone says you "revved the engine" it means you either pushed in the clutch (on a standard transmission vehicle) or put the car in neutral (in an automatic transmission vehicle) and revved the engine. These race cars are neither. They are direct drive. Meaning there is no transmission whatsoever. They have to be push started to operate. You can not "rev the engine". Period, Like I stated earlier.... he either burped the throttle to avoid contact with the Ward kid to avoid contact or he did so and horribly misjudged doing so and ran over him.

 

[PaSprint]

If you want a better understanding of sprint car racing....watch this.


<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bst_WS98Lig?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[WhatsHisNuts]

culled and cut and pasted from various articles:


Although it seemed Ward had put himself at grave risk by walking onto the track while racecars were on it, that kind of action is not unheard-of in racing. Drivers will often try to confront other drivers directly on the track. In 2012, Stewart walked onto the track at Bristol Motor Speedway after a wreck with Matt Kenseth and threw his helmet at Kenseth?s racecar in disgust.

That kind of action might not be unheard of, but it no less dangerous/stupid/crazy.

 

[Terryray]

Seems especially dangerous/stupid/crazy when wearing a black outfit, black helmet, against a dark muddy track, in dim light - and continue to do so, in an even more aggressive fashion, after a few cars had to swerve to avoid hitting you.

a sad and terrible tragedy all around, especially for Kevin Ward Jr and his family...

The sheriff renewed a plea for spectators to turn over photos and videos of the crash. Investigators were reconstructing the accident and looking into everything from the dim lighting on a portion of the track to how muddy it was, as well as if Ward's dark firesuit played a role in his death, given the conditions.

Driver Cory Sparks, a friend of Ward's, was a few cars back when Ward was killed.

"The timing was unsafe," he said of Ward's decision to get out of his car to confront Stewart. "When your adrenaline is going, and you're taken out of a race, your emotions flare."

 

[rrc]

PaSprint...thanks for the insight.

 

[Cie]

I lean to the theory that hot headed Stewart tried to spray the guy with mud or maybe clip him, but wound up killing the guy.

 

[Mr. Poon]

Did he really rev his engine just as he hit the guy?

This is what I'm wondering given the initial report/post.

 

[Handi Capper]

see many similarities between what tony did & BICYCLISTS thread

post by smurphy in bicyclist thread- I assume everyone is just like the people in this thread and either won't see me or will intentionally try to take me out.

 

[SixFive]

I think he was trying to throw mud on him too.

Anybody who follows racing even a little knows that from the Beech Ben circle track here in BG to the Indy 500, race car drivers talk shit, get mad, retaliate, and often fight. They fight all the time, and many are incredible hotheads. Tony Stewart, in this group of racing hotheads, is a top-tier hothead. He's also an incredible dickhead, and I have personal knowledge of him telling a local mentally disabled 25 year old, "Leave kid; I don't have time for you!" All that said, he's not a sociopath, and he didn't kill this other driver on purpose. He would have killed somebody long ago if he was.

I can't stand the guy as a driver or person, but it's not his fault the other driver is dead.

 

[smurphy]

see many similarities between what tony did & BICYCLISTS thread

post by smurphy in bicyclist thread- I assume everyone is just like the people in this thread and either won't see me or will intentionally try to take me out.

:shrug: I never provoke the motorist. That would just be stupid. Quite the opposite actually.

 

[saint]

Word is the revving sound was from where the camera was shooting the action- which was completely across the track from where the action went down.

Some facts:

1. There is no way to prove Stewart's intent, everything that is being written and said is pure speculation (hit him on purpose, meant to brush/spray dirt, or completely didn't see him). Only Stewart knows the truth, and he sure as shit 'aint saying a damn thing.

2. The other driver needlessly put himself at risk by breaking protocol. He was supposed to stay put in the car. He got out, and ran into the lower portion of the track. He's wearing black from head to toe. At night. On a dirt track. All of this is clearly documented

Opinions

No way any criminal charges come of this, due to facts 1 and 2.

 

[Mr. Poon]

Out of curiosity, is the guy who shot the video related to the Ward who was hit or part of his ?team?? Thought it was kind of odd that the video was focusing on that particular car/driver and going into that turn/spin out and the ensuing events that unfolded.

 

[PAChicky]

I don't know that he was but when we go to the races some people will sit there with their phones and video every hot lap, heat race, and feature just to have it on video. Most of the times when a caution comes out and there is a wreck people whip out there phones in hopes that a fight will ensue, etc. There have been many nights where cars pull into the pits and drivers jump out and fists start flying and it seems like tons of people catch it on video. I think with the age of technology everyone tries to get as much as they can.

 

[Handi Capper]

:shrug: I never provoke the motorist. That would just be stupid. Quite the opposite actually.

not a shot at u at all, just other replys seemed similar to tony

 

[smurphy]

not a shot at u at all, just other replys seemed similar to tony

yeah, those jerks.

 

[Terryray]

Prosecutor could charge intent if they find damaging evidence from audio transmission to pit crew, or from the GoPro camera lots of these cars have. But word is, there is no such evidence to be examined, and that sounds about right, what with the sheriff pleading with the public to turn in any recordings they have.

Prosecutors could then argue intent from wreckless, depraved driving, but Tony appears to be avoiding the kid as much as the other drivers were, who were also traveling just as fast - so even careless driving would seem out.

The only other way I can see prosecution is if Tony confesses, or they can show he was drunk/on drugs. Of course, don't expect either of that.

you see why about 95% of vehicular deaths are never prosecuted as criminal matters. Very hard to prove intent.

If the prosecutor wanted, he could probably get a grand jury to indict Stewart on negligent homicide, arguing no intention to kill, or even hurt, just a desire to scare that went wrong. But not worth the effort as you'd lose the case, cost a bunch of money, and Tony can hire the best lawyers in the country anyway.

The kid's family has a shot at winning a wrongful death judgment in civil court, with it's lower thresholds of proof. But with that kid running out on the track and nearly getting hit by other drivers - it ain't such an easy thing to show Tony fault is much more than a small one. It is worth pursuing if you want some of Tony's money, but I'm not sure that family would...