Tony Stewart hits rival driver, kills him in Sprint car race..

[runjmc2]

Originally Posted by ianacole

Sprint Car racers give their take on tragedy and defend Tony Stewart | News | Motorsport.com

The following posted comment on the above link is consistent with what I saw, makes sense, and is from an experienced source:

"I am not a Tony Stewart fan or hater. I spent more than 9 years as a dirt track speedway official so my observations and comments are formulated from more of a black and white viewpoint rather than as an untrained fan. I saw lots of circumstances like this over the years as an official. Thankfully none of them ended up in tragedy, especially the time a sprint driver hit me, on purpose, while on the track with my line up board. I always adhered to a strict policy of white pants, red shirt even when the track did not require it.

I can tell you to start with that if you watch the beginning of the video close, you will see that Tony's sprint car never touched Kevin's. He made a clean pass. Kevin slightly overreacted to being pinched and did not lift soon enough. The terrible dry track conditions allowed his car to slide up into the wall causing the wreck and caution. These guys can see out of their cars good enough to see across the track out the front. I can not prove this, but a lot of car drivers lift their helmet shields during a caution. Whether he did or not, Tony was far enough away and making a left hand corner that he coulod see the events unfolding out the front of his car. It's a pretty safe bet that he saw Kevin exit his car up in front of him.

There is an aspect of this situation that I am not hearing anyone talking about. If Tony knew he made a clean pass on Kevin yet Kevin still hit the wall, seeing Kevin exit his car the way he did would give Tony a feeling of being falsely accused. I have seen many occasions where a racer expresses his feelings with his throttle pedal. If he yells, no one can hear him, but race car engines are loud and blipping the throttle gets attention. If Tony was feeling falsely accused for the caution, then it would not be out of the ordinary for a racer in his position express his emotion with a blip of his throttle and maybe even to shoot some dirt toward Kevin's location. Where we come into the big conflict here the question of whether or not Tony saw Kevin walking on the track. It appears that Kevin first mistook the white and blue 45 car for Tony's and stepped in front of that car to get the driver's attention. Realizing his mistake, he jumped back slightly and refocused on the next car coming down the track which was Tony's. Clearly, the driver of the 45 could see Kevin and his statement to that fact when relayed to the investigator will not work in Tony's favor. You can see that driver react with his steering wheel, not his throttle, to avoid hitting Kevin. Tony could have done the same. I have watched a lot of drivers with throttle steer setups steer around things with their steering wheel. Tony could have done that. He could have also passed by the scene much lower on the track, down by the tires and at a slower pace.

Kevin grabbed Tony's wing if you watch the video real close. I would expect that Tony's heat of the moment reaction was to "Get Kevin Off My Car" and blipped the throttle not realizing that Kevin at that very moment was getting sucked under Tony's tire. I believe it is a safe assumption that Tony never in any way intended to hurt Kevin, however, Tony's track position, speed and history of displays of anger will not play well in to his case. He still may face charges. God be with you, Tony and Kevin's family, friends and fans. "

[Giller]

“Tony Stewart was the best damn driver by far on the track that night. Why he had to go up as high as he did and hog my son, there’s no reason for it.”

“Apparently, Tony Stewart was the only one driving out there who didn’t see him,” Ward told the newspaper.

“The one person that knows what happened that night is possibly facing 10 years in prison. Is he going to say what he done?”

The above quotes were all made by Kevin Ward SR - so they are coming from a very emotional person who is definitely angry at TS. But he does make some very good points.

Again though, I go back to my original statement - there is lots of blame to go around. No one is without guilt here - TS, KW jr, NASCAR, the track itself.....

And believe it or not - we aren't going to solve anything by arguing about it here.

[Perfectlap]

This guy (apparently a dirt track expert, that none of us here are as some have stated) is reading my mind... line by line.

Originally Posted by runjmc2

The following posted comment on the above link is consistent with what I saw, makes sense, and is from an experienced source:

"I am not a Tony Stewart fan or hater. I spent more than 9 years as a dirt track speedway official so my observations and comments are formulated from more of a black and white viewpoint rather than as an untrained fan. I saw lots of circumstances like this over the years as an official. Thankfully none of them ended up in tragedy, especially the time a sprint driver hit me, on purpose, while on the track with my line up board. I always adhered to a strict policy of white pants, red shirt even when the track did not require it.

I can tell you to start with that if you watch the beginning of the video close, you will see that Tony's sprint car never touched Kevin's. He made a clean pass. Kevin slightly overreacted to being pinched and did not lift soon enough. The terrible dry track conditions allowed his car to slide up into the wall causing the wreck and caution. These guys can see out of their cars good enough to see across the track out the front. I can not prove this, but a lot of car drivers lift their helmet shields during a caution. Whether he did or not, Tony was far enough away and making a left hand corner that he coulod see the events unfolding out the front of his car. It's a pretty safe bet that he saw Kevin exit his car up in front of him.

There is an aspect of this situation that I am not hearing anyone talking about. If Tony knew he made a clean pass on Kevin yet Kevin still hit the wall, seeing Kevin exit his car the way he did would give Tony a feeling of being falsely accused. I have seen many occasions where a racer expresses his feelings with his throttle pedal. If he yells, no one can hear him, but race car engines are loud and blipping the throttle gets attention. If Tony was feeling falsely accused for the caution, then it would not be out of the ordinary for a racer in his position express his emotion with a blip of his throttle and maybe even to shoot some dirt toward Kevin's location. Where we come into the big conflict here the question of whether or not Tony saw Kevin walking on the track. It appears that Kevin first mistook the white and blue 45 car for Tony's and stepped in front of that car to get the driver's attention. Realizing his mistake, he jumped back slightly and refocused on the next car coming down the track which was Tony's. Clearly, the driver of the 45 could see Kevin and his statement to that fact when relayed to the investigator will not work in Tony's favor. You can see that driver react with his steering wheel, not his throttle, to avoid hitting Kevin. Tony could have done the same. I have watched a lot of drivers with throttle steer setups steer around things with their steering wheel. Tony could have done that. He could have also passed by the scene much lower on the track, down by the tires and at a slower pace.

Kevin grabbed Tony's wing if you watch the video real close. I would expect that Tony's heat of the moment reaction was to "Get Kevin Off My Car" and blipped the throttle not realizing that Kevin at that very moment was getting sucked under Tony's tire. I believe it is a safe assumption that Tony never in any way intended to hurt Kevin, however, Tony's track position, speed and history of displays of anger will not play well in to his case. He still may face charges. God be with you, Tony and Kevin's family, friends and fans. "

[Porsche Chick]

PL- I don't think the driver killed him deliberately, if that helps any. I think both were playing a stupid game of chicken, and the car won. As it will.

The thing that keeps coming to mind for me is: What part of "don't walk into traffic" did the kid not get? This is a basic concept that 3 year olds are taught.

I've seen a similar thing at my kids' bus stop. There are kids that like to run into the road, mostly to hear their moms scream at them about it. Issue is, the stop is immediately after a blind corner. Then a car comes around the corner and everyone is incensed that the car didn't slow for the kids (which the driver couldn't see 10 seconds ago). No one was hit, but the police were called, speed traps were set up, etc. No one was cited, because the drivers weren't going too fast. And the kids continued to play in the road. This went on for literally years. What part of "keep your kids out of the road" do the mothers not understand?

I think it's tragic, but frankly, if you walk into traffic, you get . . . traffic.

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by Porsche Chick

The thing that keeps coming to mind for me is: What part of "don't walk into traffic" did the kid not get? This is a basic concept that 3 year olds are taught.

The part that involves the science of brain imaging:

Brain maturation doesn’t end in adolescence, though. Imaging studies show the brain is still maturing well into the mid-20s, especially in regions responsible for regulating emotions, controlling impulses, and balancing risk and reward. Psychologists draw a distinction between “cold” cognition (when we are thinking about something that doesn’t have much emotional content, such as how to solve an algebra problem) and “hot” cognition (when we are thinking about something that can make us feel exuberant or excited, angry or depressed, such as whether to go joyriding with friends or throw a punch at someone who insulted a girlfriend). The systems of the brain responsible for cold cognition are mature by age 16. But the systems that control hot cognition aren’t — they are still developing well into the 20s.

[RedTele58]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

they are still developing well into the 20s[/I].

That's why we put up with Jake!

[coreseller]

Originally Posted by runjmc2

The following posted comment on the above link is consistent with what I saw, makes sense, and is from an experienced source:

"I am not a Tony Stewart fan or hater. I spent more than 9 years as a dirt track speedway official so my observations and comments are formulated from more of a black and white viewpoint rather than as an untrained fan. I saw lots of circumstances like this over the years as an official. Thankfully none of them ended up in tragedy, especially the time a sprint driver hit me, on purpose, while on the track with my line up board. I always adhered to a strict policy of white pants, red shirt even when the track did not require it.

I can tell you to start with that if you watch the beginning of the video close, you will see that Tony's sprint car never touched Kevin's. He made a clean pass. Kevin slightly overreacted to being pinched and did not lift soon enough. The terrible dry track conditions allowed his car to slide up into the wall causing the wreck and caution. These guys can see out of their cars good enough to see across the track out the front. I can not prove this, but a lot of car drivers lift their helmet shields during a caution. Whether he did or not, Tony was far enough away and making a left hand corner that he coulod see the events unfolding out the front of his car. It's a pretty safe bet that he saw Kevin exit his car up in front of him.

There is an aspect of this situation that I am not hearing anyone talking about. If Tony knew he made a clean pass on Kevin yet Kevin still hit the wall, seeing Kevin exit his car the way he did would give Tony a feeling of being falsely accused. I have seen many occasions where a racer expresses his feelings with his throttle pedal. If he yells, no one can hear him, but race car engines are loud and blipping the throttle gets attention. If Tony was feeling falsely accused for the caution, then it would not be out of the ordinary for a racer in his position express his emotion with a blip of his throttle and maybe even to shoot some dirt toward Kevin's location. Where we come into the big conflict here the question of whether or not Tony saw Kevin walking on the track. It appears that Kevin first mistook the white and blue 45 car for Tony's and stepped in front of that car to get the driver's attention. Realizing his mistake, he jumped back slightly and refocused on the next car coming down the track which was Tony's. Clearly, the driver of the 45 could see Kevin and his statement to that fact when relayed to the investigator will not work in Tony's favor. You can see that driver react with his steering wheel, not his throttle, to avoid hitting Kevin. Tony could have done the same. I have watched a lot of drivers with throttle steer setups steer around things with their steering wheel. Tony could have done that. He could have also passed by the scene much lower on the track, down by the tires and at a slower pace.

Kevin grabbed Tony's wing if you watch the video real close. I would expect that Tony's heat of the moment reaction was to "Get Kevin Off My Car" and blipped the throttle not realizing that Kevin at that very moment was getting sucked under Tony's tire. I believe it is a safe assumption that Tony never in any way intended to hurt Kevin, however, Tony's track position, speed and history of displays of anger will not play well in to his case. He still may face charges. God be with you, Tony and Kevin's family, friends and fans. "

I've taken my boys to the local sprint track a few times over the years, from what I've seen the above is likely the most plausible description of what really happened. Tony Stewart is without question an incredible driver, that being said he has proven himself repeatedly to be an impetuous child without any ability to keep emotions in-check. No way he meant to harm Kevin intentionally, he simply F'ed up and hit him while meaning to scare / humiliate him with a throttle blip trying to spray / scare him.