Tony Stewart has always had a temper on the track.

[jmcrawf1]

Apparently from witnesses, and from the audio in the video
Tony Stewart gassed his Car(as you can hear) right as he approached Kevin Ward
to fish tail in Wards direction.

Which he did.

Just so happened that it was too close for intimidation
and he actually clipped him.

Negligence.

It would be negligent if Ward was on a sidewalk and Tony Stewart was on the street. On a race track? Who knows.

In a race, what's more negligent? Applying throttle in a turn or walking amongst the field of racers. In the course of a race, a reasonable driver does not expect to encounter a pedestrian.

At least i'm sure that's what Stewart's defense attorney will say.

 

[NickelPython357]

Apparently from witnesses, and from the audio in the video
Tony Stewart gassed his Car(as you can hear) right as he approached Kevin Ward
to fish tail in Wards direction.

Which he did.

Just so happened that it was too close for intimidation
and he actually clipped him.

Negligence.

If you know anything about racing a car on dirt you would know you have to hit the gas instead of braking and cut the wheel to make the car turn in faster (as in to avoid something ahead of you especially at the last second) or the car just understeers straight into what you were trying to avoid in the first place. Race drivers often have to hit the gas to avoid collisions, sometimes while traveling backwards and it is part of the skill set so you cannot assume it was done to "intimidate" anyone but much more likely as an avoidance manuever. It is a tragedy that was avoidable. There are rules that prohibit drivers from leaving the car until safety officials arrive for a reason and this is it. The safety officials can restrain drivers from doing something dangerous to themselves or others. Give a thought to Tony Stewart who now has to live with the fact of killing another driver accidentally (purely or negligently) still accidentally.

 

[mikepizz]

play stupid games, win stupid prizes

 

[Hitman]

In the course of a race,
a reasonable driver does not expect to encounter a pedestrian.

Then I'd be forced to tell the lawyer,
"You don't watch much racing do you"?

In fact Tony Stewart himself has walked across a track or two in his day

Drivers who've been wrecked, getting pissed off and walking across tracks
is nothing new. I'd also wager that Stewart damn well knew he was on the track
from the SPEAKERS IN HIS HELMET telling him so.

Under a yellow flag drivers are told why and WHERE the wreck was.
Not like Tony didn't know he was part of the wreck which was indeed 'just racing' IMO.

So on his way back around, after undoubtedly being told by the pit crew
that Ward was out of his car and on the track, where was Tony?
In the Middle of the track....
Why wasn't he hugging the INSIDE of the track?

All questions of course that will be answered I'm sure.

But those are the reasons that I suspect Tony was merely attempting to
intimidate him(Something else that ALWAYS GOES ON at racing.)

...and instead cut it too close.

Nothing intentional, just a mistake on Tony Stewart's part I think.

 

[sandman7925]

Sprint cars are direct drive so they are constantly having to hit the gas. Even when the caution is out and they are going slow they can be heard revving the engine. Also it is important to note that the visiblililty out of the right side of a sprint car is very limited supposedly. That and considering up until the last moment there was a car right in front of Tony I don't think he saw the guy at all.

 

[Hitman]

If you know anything about racing a car on dirt you would know you have to hit the gas instead of braking and cut the wheel to make the car turn in faster (as in to avoid something ahead of you especially at the last second) or the car just understeers straight into what you were trying to avoid in the first place.

Yea but at what speeds? They were under caution.

and according to an actual Sprint Car Driver;

When you hit a throttle on a sprint car, the car sets sideways

However, your post is also true.
In fact, THAT FACT my very well have been the reason
for the throttle response.

so you cannot assume it was done to "intimidate" anyone but much more likely as an avoidance manuever.

Are you saying you've never seen a driver
swerve towards another driver on purpose?
it's clearly not out of the realm of possibilities.

We all know that's happen and continues to.
Heck it happen in MotoGp the other day.

It's just racing...

Also if you'll note the top of my first post;

Apparently from witnesses,

Just repeating what folks there said they heard and saw.

 

[Dave328]

Amazing the hatred out there for Tony Stewart. I feel for him, I really do. You realize how difficult it is going to be to clean the dipshit stain off the side of his car???

And "witnesses"? Yeah, right. I've been to a small local track that had a HUGE name driver running. The crowd around me was absolutely venomous towards him. He was a "rich ******* showing off" on the track, and more. I'd wager a vast majority of that crowd were of the same mind against TS.

 

[CharleyR1]

It sucks when a racing accident happens and it results in the worst outcome. Kevin was an up and coming racer who had a bright future. Theres rules for safety reasons as in exiting a vehicle before safety crews arrive. Clearly in the video the car infront of tony nearly misses him, by also hitting the throttle at the very last second. Sprint cars are designed to see forward not side to side. Strapped in with a hans device on, you cannot move your head. Also dirt track cars are not like ashphault cars they cant just turn on a dime. They need some throttle to turn as in both cars did. Its the law of physics in how these cars are designed. Im not a Stewart fan never was, personally I believe because of his past people are jumping the gun. Some say he was "retaliating". But what would he retaliate for when nothing was done prior besides a spinout caused by a "rubbing is racing" nudge. The car infront of Stewart had the exact same line.

 

[Hitman]

Good post. I don't think he was retaliating btw. We'll likely never know but no way it was intentional.

 

[FORman]

IMHO You hear a slight throttle increase in the soundtrack of the video, the type to get past an obstacle faster, not the type to break the car sideways. He would turn left to avoid or break the car loose. I still believe his last second actions were to avoid an impact.

 

[oleheat]

I agree- a bad temper cost this man his life. But not Tony Stewart's; it was his own bad temper that led to his death. Keep your dumb ass out of harm's way. There is no such thing as Superman.

Smoke may have the reputation of being a hothead- but he isn't a homicidal maniac. This fool would be alive RIGHT NOW if he'd hadn't made the stupid decision to play in traffic.

Prayers for his family....it's really sad that this happened. It didn't have to. Others should take note. This was bound to happen.

 

[Request Dust Off]

Most accounts of what happened seem off compared to what the video shows.

I would argue the the throttle response could be from another car and not necessarily #14. In the rest of the video you can't reliably attribute any sound to any particular car.

The video also does not off very much in the way of a wide angle view. About all you see is the hit and not a very good shot of it. #13 driver is also wearing a black suit on a dark not so well lit track. Most sanctioning bodies & tracks say stay in car unless you have to get out. I always try to keep something between myself and oncoming traffic.

Tony Stewart arguably could have done one or 2 things differently. The guy in the black suit who is now deceased made the worst moves.

This give a much better idea of the visibility and other aspects of a sprint car, including the sound from different directions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEnR7QX-O4k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhuau1B2iyE

Sprint cars only have 2 brakes. One in the rear and one on the left front. They turn in by applying brakes. You can see in the video he is off the throttle on turn in. If between apex and exit you are under steering you jump off the throttle to get it to rotate (turn more) not give it throttle.

 

[radney]

Anybody here actually race dirt tracks?

 

[CEHollier]

Anybody here actually race dirt tracks?

Yes. But on a dirt bike.

 

[323MAR]

This is like running past the firing line while it is hot. It is unsafe and everyone knows why.
It is also like running across the interstate. It is not allowed for obvious reasons.
I see a Darwin Award.

 

[buttanic]

Anybody here actually race dirt tracks?

I did for about 10 years but not sprint cars. Track rules were do not get out of the car on the track unless it is on fire. Most dirt tracks are not well lighted plus you get dirt constantly thrown on your face shield. You have tear off sheet of thin clear cellophane that can be removed when they get so much dirt you can barely see but not an unlimited number and sometimes you run out. As others have said you turn on dirt using the throttle.
You tend to look to the left because that is the direction you are always turning. The gunning of the throttle sound could be another car closer to the camera. The accident happen on the backstretch and the camera was on the frontstretch with cars circulating the whole track. It's normal even under caution to blip the throttle to keep the engine from loading up with excess fuel. Sprint cars can reach 110 to 130 mph depending on size of the track. Under caution they are still moving 50 to 60 mph and brakes don't work worth a dam on dirt. There isn't any brake at all on the right front wheel. To turn a driver does a quick jab to the brakes, without a right front the car pulls left and at the same time hits the throttle to set up the slide around the turn. These cars have 5 and 6 to 1 rear axle ratios and mostly engine braking is used. I could go a whole race and never use the brake except to kick the car into the slide, engine braking slows the car.

 

[Hitman]

I have to say after watching it again and again
I think Tony Stewart was trying to avoid contact with him
at the last second.

I've watched the 720p Version and the #45 Car also
came VERY close to hitting Ward and itself was (side-ways)
to avoid contact. Right behind that car was Stewart.

Both Cars sure look like they did not know Ward
was on the track before seeing him abruptly and
both seem to perform the exact same procedure
to avoid hitting Ward.

Tony just so happen to be higher up on the track
when he attempted to do the same.

Also if you look at that track. No fans could have seen the same angle
as the Drivers. Not unless they were walking around the West side of the track
in the grass. The stands are on the opposite side.

 

[Vsotok10]

play stupid games, win stupid prizes

Beat me to it!

Even if Stewart is cleared of all wrong doing, he will still suffer because some idiot acted in an unsafe/unreasonable manner.

 

[spec50trout]

Whatever happened to settling things the old fashioned way...with knuckles in the pits? Sad situation on all accounts.

 

[Old_Demon]

Smoke is supposedly going to leave racing, both driving and ownership.

http://empirenews.net/nascar-tony-s...g-after-accident-that-kills-competing-driver/