Tony Stewart Hits and kills driver at sprint car race

[thunderracing91]

I raced with scca in FF for 8yrs. I started racing a mini sprint in 2012 and I just started racing a 305 sprint car this year. From what I've seen tony did not run ward off track or even touch his car. He did drift up out of T2 wich is normal. Ward wasn't even half way up the side of Tonys car so tony didn't see he even pinched off ward and spun him out to bring out the yellow. Tony probably didn't expect to see someone charge after his car coming back around to T-2. Vision is limited especially on the right side. Like the rest of you I have raced in the pouring down rain in a formula car and getting sprayed by the car in front of you. At this point I would say visibility is better in a sprint compared to rain racing in a formula. Even with mud flying at you in the dirt scene. Fact of the matter is ward should have stayed in his car. It goes to show the maturity level that was shown that night. If it was just the "Joe Schmo" that did that to ward I doubt he would have charged his car and be alive today.

[glenn cooper]

I like this Marcinski fella!

[TimH]

I like this Marcinski fella!

Someone once asked me if I'd ever seen a newspaper article about anything I'd seen with my own eyes, even a high school football game. The followup question: "If they can't even get that right, why would they ever get important stuff right?"

[ghickman]

Marcinski for President

[veefan]

All of us, in any class, in any group of racing, at any age, put on our safety equipment and try not to read everyone one of them dam tags in our racing equipment, tags that state,,, how dangerous racing is..... injury ... death from racing... etc... and we all STILL put on our stuff, jump the car and do OUR thing!

WE RACE!

Racing is Racing and this situation is sad. BUT, The blood sucking lawyers, prosecutors and law enforcement guys (non racers) need to stay out of it, they have no comprehension of what racing is unless they have been racing!

Tony had no intent of killing Kevin and Kevin felt Tony did him wrong and felt his protest was justified (In the current racing "world"). That's it, period!

Both these guys we're pumped with adrenaline from what we all LOVE to do, no ones right, no ones wrong. If you've been on track you know the feeling! NO one has the right to an opinion UNLESS you've been racing!

We need to stand TOGETHER
We need to ALL SUPPORT the sport we love,,, RACING!

God bless Kevin and Tony!

Sloffie

[RobLav]

Agree!... Post #80 is perfectly said.

[racerdad2]

Just thinking of all the racers who've lost their lives to this sport. We've seen it on TV. Some have witnessed it first-hand. I have. It's always sad. It always hurts. Yet, we continue to race.

There is something about racing that only racers understand. The risks to life, limb & property are very real. Our family & friends who don't race, just shake their heads & wonder about our sanity. Many consider it irresponsible. Tempting fate. They do not, can not understand why one would do something so 'foolish'.

We Racers understand....

Godspeed Kevin ! Carry on Tony !

[Max Power]

If a driver showed up without a helmet, belts, HANS, or fuel cell, his car wouldn't even get on the track. But when you build a culture that allows/embraces a driver to jump out of the car waving his fists on a hot track, WITHOUT penalty, you circumvent all other safety measures and put a whole bunch of people at risk (yourself, safety crews, and drivers (Tony in this case). All other sports penalize for poor behavior. Emotions is not an excuse.

[DaveW]

Anyone who has been falsely accused of something knows what Tony is going through. Even though it is really sad that Kevin Ward was killed, it is also very depressing to me to think of what Tony is feeling - a mixture of guilt (even though, IMO, he was not guilty of anything except aggressive driving during the race), sorrow, and feeling that he is being judged guilty until proven innocent.

I had a situation in childhood that ever since, has caused me to try to understand what the "other guy" was thinking, why he did what he did, and see any situation from his point of view.

As many here have said, Tony likely never had ANY bad feelings against Kevin, and was totally surprised to see someone in his path on the track. What followed was a tragic accident.

IMO, both Kevin and Tony were victims of the circumstances.

[John Merriman]

Here's a link to a really exceptional article about young people racing karts in update New York with a little about Ward's racing and also about the inner spirit of our sport.

"Once they climb into the racecar seat, young drivers say, the bite of recent breakups or school struggles falls away. They enter a meditative state, feeling the racecar for feedback, pushing the gas pedal until they begin losing traction. “It’s more like a dance than a struggle to stay on the track,” Mr. Thiel said."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/ny...A18%22%7D&_r=0

[rickb99]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tqj8DcwZk8

Slow-mo of the incident Terrible tragedy.

I just watched this slo-mo What I take away from it is.....

Everybody talks about how Tony's right rear slides sideways like 'maybe' he was trying to hit MR. Ward. But what I see is, a stable car up until the moment Mr. Ward ends up UNDER Tony's right rear tire then, the car slides to the right as though the right rear wheel has no traction.

[swiftdrivr]

That looks closer to suicide than murder! Hate to disrespect the dead, but that was juust an incredibly stupid move, for which he, and his family, have paid a horrible price. Sad, tragic, and stupid, but I see nothing that places the blame anywhere but on Ward.

[BLS]

I see the same thing Rick. The new dimension that could not be seen in the earlier video is the young man grabbing the car. For what reason we will never know...

It is a terrible tragedy for everyone involved. I see no way anyone can blame Stewart for this accident. I'm still of the opinion that the car in front of Stewart barely missed the young man, and Stewart likely only saw him at the last moment, with only about 1 second to react as the young man came into view.

[racerdad2]

Perhaps the young man was just as surprised as Tony & tried to jump up & over the rear tire by using the rear wing for leverage ? He was nearly hit by the first car. I don't think he realized just how far down the track he was. When Tony came around it was too late. Mr.Ward let his emotions get the best of him, made a big mistake & paid dearly for it.

[chrisw52]

well it's about time.. NASCRAP has spoken..

the official rule from NASCAR is "stay in your car unless it's on fire"

https://twitter.com/MartySmithESPN/s...022144/photo/1

[allof6]

Rumor around Michigan is that he is considering retiring and selling his half of the team.

No one know the truth to this until it comes from Tony's mouth one way or another.

[problemchild]

Rumor around Michigan is that he is considering retiring and selling his half of the team.

No one know the truth to this until it comes from Tony's mouth one way or another.

There was a retirement announcement on the satirical Empire News site which features DIY fake articles.

[Doug FST 5]

I saw this link on Facebook claiming Tony was going to retire:

http://empirenews.net/nascar-tony-st...peting-driver/

You need to also look at this link:

http://empirenews.net/about-disclaimer/

empirenews.net is an entertainment site full of satirical 'news stories' following the events of the day. As for me, I'm in no mood to chuckle at this situation.

Doug FST 5

[Josh Pitt]

moving forward and past the track incident and death that this thread is about, I was shocked to hear more than one poster in this thread saying how they would not stay in the car and feel unbuckling and exiting the car prior to the safety crews arrival is the correct thing to do for safety reasons.



reading this thread, and experiencing guys who have exited their cars during my race as suggested ( the race got red flagged because of this; thanks buddy for ruining everyone race) I am seeing a real issue in lack of a uniform rule and basic knowledge of "what to do when..........happens".

I have sat on track in the tires after a good shunt and waited several laps to be assisted. It was really uncomfortable to do so, made me see how fast the car are really going. even our little tube frame and fiberglass shells are better protection when the belts remain buckled, than simply my "fire suit and ability to run away to a safe area".

sounds to me like the scca better get their ruling on this as well, since we are all NOT on the same page on this. seems like a potential big liability if left unaddressed, especially given the current situation.

years ago while road racing motorcycles, I had a guy run across the tower turn at firebird raceway, az. it was so dangerous. I saw what was happeningwhen he starterd his dash but could not do anything; i was going so fast I really had no time no time to react.
I missed him by < 2 steps , I never hit the brakes and was hauling ass. this was because i didn't know how to react since i didn't know what he, the runner, was going to do, like stop or jump or whatever.
I just kept racing................... my point is that not only is the car the safest place to remain after the shunt , but also if this rule is followed, everyone on the live racetrack know WHAT the guy in the stranded car is going to do. be predictable and we are all better off for it
we all need to be on the same page for this sport to be as safe as it should be.




I hope this adds a bit to the idea of thinking how our actions even after a crash effect everyone else on the track.

[Rick Kirchner]

I think it depends. If I were disabled, on-track, and in my 1972 super vee, I'd probably get the hell out as fast as possible. .060 aluminum that only comes up to your hips, no side bars and a riveted on roll hoop is not sufficient protection.

Modern cars - sit and wait.

[R. Pare]

But what I see is, a stable car up until the moment Mr. Ward ends up UNDER Tony's right rear tire then, the car slides to the right as though the right rear wheel has no traction.

Actually, the front of the car is the first to move to the right from the impact, then the rear.

I doubt highly that Tony ever saw him until it was too late - right up until the other car cleared him, he would have been blocked from Tony's view.

It also looks like Ward saw that Tony was going to be too close to him and tried to scramble back up the track a bit, but slipped and almost fell. After that, our view of him is blocked until you see his hand (what looks like) wrapped over the top edge of the wing endplate.

[TimH]

I had a relevant experience last month at Mont Tremblant. I learned in the drivers' meeting that the track is so fast they wanted us up, out of the cars, and over the wall as quickly as possible. Unfortunately the drivers' meeting happened the day *after* my practice blunder, in which I sat waiting for help (and cursing myself for a fool). The EMTs came rushing up thinking I was unconscious!

I guess there's no consistent rule..

[David Locke]

I think the reason there is no hard and fast rule about what to do after an "off" is that every situation is different. There are times I would stay in the car (belted) until corner workers arrive, but, if I go off due to oil being down or an unexpected rain shower at a particular corner, my assumption is that someone else is going to be coming off there soon and following the same basic trajectory. In that situation, if I can see the track I'm getting the hell out of the car and over the barrier as quickly as possible, whether there are corner workers there or not. But the key in that situation is to make sure there isn't going to be another car coming in during the time between releasing the buckle and getting over the barrier. In my opinion it's a judgment call in each situation.

[Matt King]

Maybe the rule should say "once a driver is out of the car, you must be headed behind the barrier, not the middle of the race track to confront the driver who wronged you the next time he comes around."

[rickb99]

....... In my opinion it's a judgment call in each situation.

It is for the corner workers to, David. I've worked one particular corner at Pacific Raceways a LOT over the years. T-5 specifically and it's the most unusual corner you'll ever run in SCCA or any clubs racing. You enter the corner going to the right and starting up hill then it goes pretty hard left and just as your reach the apex, the hill levels out! It can do all kinds of strange things to the car. But one thing you DO NOT want to do is be 'off' the gas at the apex because you're at close to 100 MPH going through the apex and the car gets very, very light!

Without writing a book about this, there are basically 6 or 7 possible positions your car can end up in if you do it wrong. Any one of them might (depending) require a different action. One might require you get out of the car as fast as possible and to a safe location before the pack comes around again. Others you might want to stay in the car and wait for the safety crew.

It just depends, there is no ONE ANSWER to all outcomes.

[BLS]

Frankly, with the restricted vision of most formula cars, unless you happen to end up pointing in the direction with the right view, you cannot know when it is safe to exit without a worker to direct you.

[formulasuper]

Obviously a short circle track with cars continuously going by is going to be a different situation than road racing on a 2+ mile long track where the cars are either still in a group at the beginning or spread out later in the race. If it's early in the race I know it'll be a while before they come around again & I can hear, once the pack has departed the area and the crowd has stopped cheering my survival, if a straggler may be approaching and I probably will get out & away. It also depends on where my car is; sitting backwards in the middle of the track just over the top of the hill at the exit of turn 5 at Road Atlanta where the approaching drivers can't see you until they are 50 feet away is not a good feeling. Several cars had to take evasive action to miss me by inches and I was glad I was in my buddy's tall IT sedan instead of my much lower Formula S car which would have given them even less time to react. Since that was near the beginning of the race with lots of cars on track I had to sit it out. Took another 2 laps with a local yellow (Miata drivers don't slow much for a yellow) before the tow truck arrived to block the traffic. So considering all the facts, IMO road racing rules probably would be different from what happens on a circle track.

[rickb99]

Tony is going to race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday. It just has to be interesting and I for one wish him the best.

[racerdad2]

Glad to hear he's back to racing. That was a sad situation. Hopefully, he will have a good day.

[David Locke]

Kevin Ward's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tony Stewart today.

[BeerBudgetRacing]

Kevin Ward's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tony Stewart today.

Of course they did.

[swiftdrivr]

I hate to speak ill of the dead, but it isn't Stewart's fault the kid did something really, really stupid.

[BeerBudgetRacing]

I hate to speak ill of the dead, but it isn't Stewart's fault the kid did something really, really stupid.

They are going to beat him up over contributory negligence. Say 10%.
So 10% of the kids lifetime earnings?

I'm sure Stewart has some insurance that's going to pay (and probably force a settlement).

[EYERACE]

I say this post gets renamed: Idiot, who could have decided to get the heck off the track, walks towards oncoming cars and ends up dying because of his own stupidity............not > Tony hits and kills