[ajprice]

BBC Sport - American racing driver dies after being hit by Tony Stewart's car

Tony Stewart, the NASCAR driver, and Kevin Ward Jr. have been in an incident at a oval dirt track track race. The cars collided, and Ward's car was spun out. Ward got out of the car and walked onto the track to confront Stewart while the race was on yellow flags. Stewart floored it as he came around again. The back end went out and the car hit Ward, killing him.

There are videos going around the news sites and Youtube on this, if you want to watch a guy die. I won't post them here.

It was stupid on both sides, walking out onto the racetrack, arms waving and pointing, yellow flags or not, is stupid. Flooring the throttle past a guy on the track is stupid, whatever the intention was, to buzz past him, kick up dirt at him, whatever.

A lot of reports are headlining "Tony Stewart kills driver" and similar. That's out of order, the facts aren't known yet apart from the spectator videos. I don't follow the American motorsports too much, but apparently Stewart has a history of losing it with other drivers, throwing his helmet around etc.

2 guys crashed, one got angry and went to confront him. Car hit guy.

R.I.P.

[BadKosh]

Throwing the tantrum and getting out of the car to 'confront' the other driver = FAIL!
Wearing a black outfit on a dimly lit track =FAIL!

Wasting your time watching cars go around in circles = FAIL....

[ebuddy]

I don't follow racing, but I used my internet connection:

Yellow flag
The yellow flag means caution. The solid yellow flag, or caution flag, universally requires drivers to slow down due to a hazard on the track, typically an accident, a stopped car, debris or light rain.

Did Stewart slow down? If not, he's culpable. While I don't see him getting charged for straight murder, he's in big trouble and should be for being negligent at best. And he will likely never be welcomed onto another race track for the rest of his life.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by BadKosh 

Wasting your time watching cars go around in circles = FAIL....

^^^

[unicast reversepath]

I just watched one of the clips - Stewart was not going any faster than the car that passed the idiot pointing his finger and running onto the track and into the paths of speeding cars...

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by unicast reversepath 

I just watched one of the clips - Stewart was not going any faster than the car that passed the idiot pointing his finger and running onto the track and into the paths of speeding cars...

So you're saying Stewart wasn't going any faster than the other cars, after Kevin Ward wiped out and had gotten out of the car? I mean correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing the turn of events went as follows;
- cars racing around track
- Kevin's car wipes out
- yellow flag raised
- cars slow down
- Stewart does not
- Kevin Ward running out onto track
- Kevin Ward on foot, hit by Stewart

[Jawbone54]

Stewart did slow down during the caution lap, but he accelerated and turned slightly left when Ward rushed at his car. This caused the right side of Stewart's car to swing out (drifting), which resulted in Ward being dragged under the rear right tire, rolling/yanking him around underneath, then tossing his body 50 feet.

There's a few possible options:

- Stewart was stunned that Ward was actually rushing at him while in motion, so he turned and accelerated in order to speed away. The problems with this idea are Stewart's experience in racing (meaning he'd know the effect an accelerated turn would have on a dirt track) and his longstanding history as a hothead who doesn't always think rationally in the moment.
- Stewart tried to intimidate Ward and "buzz" him, but didn't actually mean to hit him.
- Stewart was only going an estimated 35 mph at the time of impact, so perhaps, in a fit of anger, he meant to graze Ward, but not kill him.

I'm not a NASCAR fan by any stretch of the imagination, so I'm no expert, but considering Stewart's age an experience, I sincerely doubt he had any ill will towards the 20-year-old Ward. I'm inclined to believe option #1 was the most likely, even after having watched the video.

[The Final Dakar]

I haven't watched anything (and I'm not going to), but assuming human nature + known hothead + - Stewart tried to intimidate Ward and "buzz" him, but didn't actually mean to hit him. to me.

[Jawbone54]

A decent CNN opinion peace: Why Stewart Isn't Likely to Face Criminal Charges.

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

I haven't watched anything (and I'm not going to), but assuming human nature + known hothead + - Stewart tried to intimidate Ward and "buzz" him, but didn't actually mean to hit him. to me.

That was my initial impression as well, but I'm starting to come around to the idea that it was just a crazy fluke accident and Stewart was trying to avoid Ward.

A racing fan friend told me last night that these vehicles are infamous for their blind spots. Other NASCAR drivers were emphasizing this, and made it clear that where Ward was standing is almost impossible to see from a sprint car:

[abbaZaba]

It seems really silly to me to speculate what his intentions were without watching the actual video. If you feel the need to weigh in on something like this, you should see the events for yourself.

The spectator video I watched showed Ward walking toward the center of the track and pointing after a spinout. A car in front of Stewart narrowly misses Ward; Ward basically had no fear stepping in front of that car. Then Stewart's car passes and clips/drags Ward. The way it looked to me, Stewart may not have even seen him until the last second because of being screened by the car in front of him, not to mention I have no idea what the visibility is like inside one of those cars.

[Shaddim]

It looks like (I watched it) Stewart saw him at the last instant and panicked, I very much doubt there was any intention to hit (the very stupid) Ward.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by abbaZaba 

It seems really silly to me to speculate what his intentions were without watching the actual video. If you feel the need to weigh in on something like this, you should see the events for yourself.

The spectator video I watched showed Ward walking toward the center of the track and pointing after a spinout. A car in front of Stewart narrowly misses Ward; Ward basically had no fear stepping in front of that car. Then Stewart's car passes and clips/drags Ward. The way it looked to me, Stewart may not have even seen him until the last second because of being screened by the car in front of him, not to mention I have no idea what the visibility is like inside one of those cars.

Seems to me a bunch of people who have seen the event including folks at the event itself are still debating what his intentions were.

[Jawbone54]

Yes, I watched it a few times to try to wrap my mind around it.

Originally Posted by ebuddy 

Seems to me a bunch of people who have seen the event including folks at the event itself are still debating what his intentions were.

I imagine that some of them are likely to be the most biased, because they were the unfortunate ones that watched a 20-year-old die in front of their eyes. In order for it to make sense, they have to blame someone (other than Ward).

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

Yes, I watched it a few times to try to wrap my mind around it.

I imagine that some of them are likely to be the most biased, because they were the unfortunate ones that watched a 20-year-old die in front of their eyes. In order for it to make sense, they have to blame someone (other than Ward).

I saw a brief video when the story first broke and all I could see was the front end of Stewart's car sort of hit Ward and then you see Ward emerge rolling along the ground. I can't tell anything about Stewart's speed or swerving or any of that and like Dakar had no interest in seeing more.

I mean, it's also very possible the folks at the event saw more than we're able. When this thing goes to court, we already know we can't crawl into Stewart's mind, but I firmly believe whether or not Stewart remained at "caution" speed is going to be extremely relevant.

[abbaZaba]

If you don't watch the video, then you'll never see the body language of Ward. He came out of his spun-out car and walked directly into the middle of the track, finger pointing and gesturing the entire time. He showed little to no attempt to avoid the car directly in front of Stewart that managed to swerve out of the way. In fact it looked like a game of chicken. Stewart was then a few feet behind the car and, from what I saw, I really can't see him having any time to do anything except have a kneejerk reaction in pure surprise that a guy would be that brazenly walking in the middle of a race track.

From my best judgement, the car in front wasn't going any faster than Stewart's and there was even some earlier ones that appeared to be going faster. As Jawbone mentioned, apparently these cars have pretty large blindspots.

[unicast reversepath]

Originally Posted by ebuddy 

So you're saying Stewart wasn't going any faster than the other cars, after Kevin Ward wiped out and had gotten out of the car? I mean correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing the turn of events went as follows;
- cars racing around track
- Kevin's car wipes out
- yellow flag raised
- cars slow down
- Stewart does not
- Kevin Ward running out onto track
- Kevin Ward on foot, hit by Stewart

Ok - I am correcting you because you guessed wrong and you are wrong!

Also - Kevin Ward died as a direct result of his own ignorance/stupidity.

Originally Posted by ebuddy

...When this thing goes to court...

It is not going to court - at least, not to a Criminal court,
and filing a lawsuit in civil court would be a pretty big gamble.

[subego]

I have to agree on the court thing. Unless he radioed to his pit crew something like "hey... watch this" right beforehand, Ward would be judged the one responsible.

Meanwhile....

why the hell was Ward stupid enough to run out into oncoming traffic anyway... especially if they're drag racers?

Oh you want to have a word with Stewart, Ward should have waited until Stewart first got out of the friggin car!

[Jawbone54]

NASCAR made it illegal to leave the car immediately after a wreck unless the car is on fire or smoke is in the cockpit.

...about 50 years too late.

[Thorzdad]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

NASCAR made it illegal to leave the car immediately after a wreck unless the car is on fire or smoke is in the cockpit.

...about 50 years too late.

NASCAR is not exactly known for keeping-up with change.