Tony Stewart

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Tragic for sure.. I don't think it was intentional but it is suspicious. Common sense says if a driver is out of his car and coming at you in an irrational manner, you steer clear of the dude, dive low. Then there's a better chance you're clear of all blame. You don't hold your line and hit the gas, c'mon man. I'd like to see Stewart do some jail time, I think his douchebag temper finally got the better of him.
 
Horrible.
I understand that they changed the right rear tire on his car right after it happened. He also had a GoPro camera mounted that should be seized.
 
tony has been known to spin cars out a lot. i think the other drivers should have hammered his hands a LONG time ago.
 
I raced stock cars for 7 years. These local tracks aren't lit up like daylight like you see the big NASCAR events are. I raced at 3 different tracks of which 2 of the 3 were poorly lit at best. Also the way the lights are set up at most small tracks creates a flicker effect that only the drivers see. Its an understatement to say that its distracting. Just paying attention to the other cars on the track with you takes an amazing amount of concentration.

Now take a skinny kid wearing a black fire suit and black helmet walk into the racing surface and he's going to be damn hard to see with all the distractions already there. Nor as a racer do you even think that someone would just storm out into the groove in a huff. It really is the last thing that crosses your mind when racing. Even the guy directly in front of TS had to make a defensive move and only missed the kid by inches.

Don't start crap that TS did this on purpose. That's is idiotic. It was a tragic accident and the result of some really bad decisions made on both parties involved. Had it been just some other small time local racer been in the car, no one would have paid much attention and with the exception of the kids family and friends, the other zillion of us would forget about by tomorrow.

But in this case it involves Tony Stewart. A hot head? yep. A murderer? No. And because of this accident will his career end? Maybe. He is who he is and has huge assets. I would bet that the lawyers are lining up in droves to 'help' the family in their time of need. And even if the accident itself doesn't ruin racing for him, Id bet that the potential lawsuits will.

Anyway as of the moment, the local authorities are treating the whole thing as just a tragic accident and are looking for anyone with video showing the accident.

There can be no good from the final result. A young man is dead that didn't deserve to die and nothing will bring him back. But lets give some thought to what we say when pointing fingers. Its easy to be an armchair quarterback if you've never gotten off the couch.
 
I never said he did it on purpose, just that people who where there said he gunned it by the guy making it fish tail into him. I wouldnt think he would do it on purpose either, especially if he thought something like this would happen. No need to get defensive.
 
No one is calling him a killer, but his hot head attitude might have caught him off guard this time.
According to eye witnesses as well as live video, the first car was able to clear, but Stewart kept his line and spun his tires. He either hoped to scare him with a close call, thump him to REALLY scare him or perhaps spray him with dirt.
He still planned to race in upstate New York later tonight, but someone reminded him that perhaps he should take a break since he just killed someone. His spin doctors are scrambling for ways to save his ass.
Hopefully, his career and his bad boy ways are over. This kind of attitude is NOT needed in an already extremely dangerous sport.
 
Here's a post from a good friend who has raced.

I want to take a little time to shine some light on this whole Tony Stewart incident..for all you people who have never sat in or drove a racecar...There is alot of things such as multiple blind spots in a car...your helmet which is blinded on the sides...The head and neck restraints which doesn't allow your head to turn far....much less a driver who is instructed to never get out of his car on the track...who had a black suit on in the dark..and some tracks do not have the best lighting...This is an accident that is terrible that someone lost their life...My prayer go to Kevin Ward jr. And his family and freinds...and so to Tony Stewart he has to live life now everyday with that thought that Kevin lost his life and what could have been if......
Tony Stewart is not a killer or a criminal here....it was a tragic terrible racing accident...Accident is the key word here people....so for those people who have never experienced the thrill..emotions...and adrenaline or driving a car and how fast things happen...please consider these things before blaming a man who does so many things for the sport of racing and for the fans...
 
This thread got dumb fast. No one here said he did it on purpose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only that others who where actually there have said it looked, to them, since they where there, that he fishtailed towards the guy.
 
I wasn't there. But I have seen the video, over and over and over.

The kid did the worst thing he could have ever done. Got out of his car and marched with purpose out onto the race line. Even though they were under yellow, the track has said that all the competitors were running at a typical yellow speed.

Dirt sprint cars do something really well as part of their inherent handling. The kick out the rear end to allow them to go thru the turns sideways which for them is the fastest way to race the track. From the driver in a well set up car, this can be done with just 1 finger on the wheel and just a tad of throttle control.

Now the cat in front of Tony barley missed the kid as the kid walked out of the dark. Tony is right there quick behind him running the same speed. To me it appeared that he jerked on the wheel hard to the left to avoid the kid and kicked the rear out as the car almost wants to do on its own.

But again, I can't be any more clear. The kid made a couple of huge mistakes. Getting out of his car was the first one. Then he almost trotted out into the track in the heat of the moment. Watch the video. Look at his body language. And I don't care if it was TS or just any Joe Shmoe racer. The guy in that seat didn't have just a thousandth of a second to try and not hit the kid, but the kid kept walking.

All in all just a horrible circumstance.
 
Read this and understand how dirt track racing and sprint cars work before you pass judgement please.

As a part of the dirt track racing community, I do know a considerable amount about this, and to vilify Tony Stewart for this is wrong.

http://www.motorsport.com/sprint/ne...iver-who-was-killed-but-know-the-whole-story/



Holly crap, I just read that linked article just a moment ago.

Most everything I've read today was people putting TS's head on a pike. I've never driven dirt sprinters, but my years were spent in asphalt stock cars. but yeah, from a drivers perspective, people trying to bury "hot head" TS have no clue. Everyone thinks their experts from watching on tv and playing XBox360 NASCAR games. What the driver can't see would floor most people.
 
What the driver can't see would floor most people.

Right there. I read another comment from a sprint car racer just now. On a winged sprint, you're lucky if you can see anything to the right because of the right side panel.

---------- Post added at 5:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 5:56 PM ----------

I know late model and modified drivers who count light poles while going around corners because they can't see when the left front is hiked up.
 
I think it was hype because of a slow news day, call it "Dirty Laundry."

 
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Didn't his mama ever tell him not to play in traffic?

I feel for his family but, you DO NOT run down the slick dirt track into oncoming race cars, I don't care how pissed you may be after being spun out.
He almost got tagged by the car in front of Stewart, and those cars don't like violent steering corrections.
I am NOT a fan of Stewart, or of his tactics while racing.
After seeing the video, the only at fault here is the guy on foot running down the racing surface.
If he would've stayed near his car he could've given Stewart the one finger salute, thrown his helm it at him, etc, etc and he'd still be alive today.

His in the moment I'm gonna give it to him got himself killed, I'm sorry to see it happen but if I run out traffic mad at a driver and get tagged, theres nobody to blame but me.
 
No one is calling him a killer, but his hot head attitude might have caught him off guard this time.
According to eye witnesses as well as live video, the first car was able to clear, but Stewart kept his line and spun his tires. He either hoped to scare him with a close call, thump him to REALLY scare him or perhaps spray him with dirt.
He still planned to race in upstate New York later tonight, but someone reminded him that perhaps he should take a break since he just killed someone. His spin doctors are scrambling for ways to save his ass.
Hopefully, his career and his bad boy ways are over. This kind of attitude is NOT needed in an already extremely dangerous sport.

Couldn't have said it better myself Rolex..That's exactly what I was thinking.

Nobody with half a brain is claiming Stewart plotted to murder the guy by running him down, I do think he intended to scare the kid and it went horribly wrong. If that's proven to be the case, Stewarts gotta do some jail time IMO.

wwit you make some great points but can you explain why Stewart accelerated briefly at the moment he came up on the kid? Caution flag was out, the other drivers were slowed down including Stewart until the point of impact.


@Nitro4910 you're right, Sadly I think the kid watched too many Nascar highlight reels and thought that was the way to handle things.
Maybe he was looking to get himself on a highlight reel confronting the infamous Tony Stewart. Pretty sad.
 
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Nitrotrout, you steer a sprint car with the throttle. Also, it's quite possible Tony never saw the kid on the track. Google "sprint car" and look at the wing on the right side. At ~40 mph, on a dark, poorly lit track, it's going to be hard enough to see somebody who is wearing a dark suit. Add to that how low the driver sits in the car.

---------- Post added at 8:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 8:16 PM ----------

Lastly, I want to add that clearly the "hot head" is the one who broke the first rule of safety at every race track in America from go karts to nascar: do not leave your car!
 
[/COLOR]Lastly, I want to add that clearly the "hot head" is the one who broke the first rule of safety at every race track in America from go karts to nascar: do not leave your car!

My thoughts exactly.
 
alien13 I get what you're saying, .
And that emphasizes my point...why gun it forcing the ass end kick right slightly at the very moment he's up on the kid? Other than trying to spook him?
 
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