NASCAR Driver Tony Stewart Runs Over a Guy

[sidewazzz]

You really have to wonder if Tony "knew" he hit the guy or not. If he did (hard to imagine he didn't know) know about running him over... why continue on into the pits?

 

[Phaedrus]

I'm sure the team could and probably has produced the tire and wheel in question for examination. If there was damage there, it would look better for Tony, but I don't think there is. In my mind, this was a hothead making a dumb decision and getting too close to a moving car, and another hothead making a dumb decision to give him the old FU blip and misjudging how hard his rear end would step out when he did so.

I was in a similar situation this year. I got put head first into the wall in Watsonville by some asshole and had to be towed to the pits. As I was getting out of my car, said asshole was also pitting to fix the tire he flattened by slamming me. I walked out into the lane and gave him the good old double bird, and he gave it back and bounced his engine off the limiter...I guess when you're a adrenalined-up race car driver, that's supposed to scare the other guy. The difference is that he pushed in his clutch to do so. Had he not, one possibility would definitely be that the RR of his car could have slid into me and I'd be squarshed, and it would be both our faults because we were both being stupid.

 

[byke]

You really have to wonder if Tony "knew" he hit the guy or not. If he did (hard to imagine he didn't know) know about running him over... why continue on into the pits?

I think one version of the video shows TS pulled over up against the wall just past the accident scene and I believe they cleared the track and stands pretty quick.

 

[greggargubby]

Probably flattened by a compound femur.

That's horrible. I lol'd. arty

 

[Yakoo752]

You really have to wonder if Tony "knew" he hit the guy or not. If he did (hard to imagine he didn't know) know about running him over... why continue on into the pits?

I think one version of the video shows TS pulled over up against the wall just past the accident scene and I believe they cleared the track and stands pretty quick.

I thought I saw that too

The difference is that he pushed in his clutch to do so. Had he not, one possibility would definitely be that the RR of his car could have slid into me and I'd be squarshed, and it would be both our faults because we were both being stupid.

not all 410s have clutches - I do not know what setup TS was running.

 

[greggargubby]

BAM! Called it! Greggar for 2014 Omniscient Accident Investigator BARFie!

'But one friend of Ward's said he and Stewart had butted heads in previous races, leading the notoriously hot-headed NASCAR champion to carry a grudge against his brash young rival.

"Tony Stewart and Kevin have raced against each other and they've always had a thing for each other," Charlie Dorn, 21, told the Daily News.

"Kevin always beats him and Tony has crashed into him a few times and I think every time they race, Kevin saw it as an extra challenge."'

From here.

 

[sanjuro]

I grew up around dirt-track racing, both B cars and Sprint cars. My dad raced. It is not uncommon for people to be on the track when a yellow is flown. I'm not saying it's smart, but it's not uncommon enough that it would be totally unexpected. Usually when the yellows fly, folks will dart from the stands in to the middle of the oval to start prepping for the next race or to return with concessions or whatever.

It's also not uncommon for Sprint cars to go ass-over-teakettle when hit and do some serious flipping, with wings and sometimes body panels flying everywhere. Drivers pretty much expect that and know to keep a watch out. And yes, they can turn without sliding the rear at yellow-flag speeds. You just putt on around until the flagman tells you it's ok to punch it again.

My interpretation is that he gave that little blip as a fuck-you and it went very, very wrong.

It is what I think.

 

[sanjuro]

Another thing:

You have to be a hothead to run into the middle of the track too? What is others' reaction when this happens?

What a jackass? OMG, I need to save his life. Or, I'm going to blip the throttle because he deserves a ride...

 

[Hooli]

Probably flattened by a compound femur.

Oh snap.

 

[Tharkûn]

I haven't read the whole thread, I doubt Tony even saw him. He's pretty close to the 45 and dude is wearing all black at night. Even the 45 jumped as he passed

I file this under 'you brought that on yourself'

 

[GAJ]

Not hear to convince anyone just give my .02. Since i have evaluated hundreds if not thousands of cases most of which involved cars hitting cars or people I think I some basis for an educated opinion.

I, for one, appreciated you educated contribution to the discussion.

 

[}Dragon{]

I haven't read the whole thread, I doubt Tony even saw him. He's pretty close to the 45 and dude is wearing all black at night. Even the 45 jumped as he passed

I file this under 'you brought that on yourself'

99% on the deceased driver. You save that shit for pit lane/after the race, not on a hot track under a yellow.

For all you "blip" theory folks... who's to say that when TS saw the 45 car park and swerve in front of him, he tried to stomp the brake and caught a little bit of throttle?

 

[Holeshot]

less of an issue

I think it's because it's Stewart and the history that Stewart has
I think it's because the driver that ran over the Ward, was the same driver that put Ward into the wall - just so happened to be that it was Stewart.

Would it be less of an issue if putting Ward into the wall, he was killed? Did we talk about Sterling Marlin or Ken Shrader killing Dale Earnhardt? Does anyone even know who those two guys are or what happened with DE? One driver's actions killed another there, just the same as here, intentional or not. Two drivers met, some shit went down and one was killed. For those not versed in the racing world, it's not abnormal for racers to get hurt, sometimes seriously, when in an altercation with another racer. One doesn't have to be out of the car for it happen. Yet the shock of car-on-human contact is what the uninitiated, uninformed public eat up, like a giant shit sandwich. It's really just sensationalism. If you want to be outraged, it's about 12 months too late at the same bat place.

Regarding the video; videos are very hard to watch and determine what actually is going on in a racing situation. I've watched hundreds and even then, there's a bunch of questions and a limited viewing angle that leaves a lot of speculation. Topping that off, it takes a very experienced racer in the particular discipline, vehicle, and track to know what truly can happen and what might have happened. It's very, very hard to figure out some of the more tragic accidents. That's been my experience trying to do so in a racing organization/ environment and the very reason we created the crash analysis forum. For proof, take a look at the CA forum and see how all over much of the analysis can be, especially from the crasher.

What we do know happened: Tony put Ward in the wall, Ward entered a live track on foot. Ward was killed as a result of being put in the wall and then, proceeding to exit his vehicle and walk toward the racing line, not away from it. It was a bad decision and sad deal all around. I know one thing I do when I pile is get up and get away from the impact zone as fast as a fucking can. No way am I hanging out anywhere near where another bike can hit me. Ward did the opposite and the only reason I can think as to why is he wanted to show his hometown he was leading the charge against Tony after the pileup a year earlier.

For those who haven't been involved in the heightened emotions and reactions when in a racing situation, it's like nothing else I've experienced. It causes people to do things they'd not do any other time in their life. That's to speak towards both Tony and Ward's actions, however I don't see that Tony did anything obviously wrong after the contact with the 13 car. It's scary that a "jury of our peers" would be people not versed in racing and worse, this particular discipline of racing….and that's all that keeps any of us from going to jail.

Scary indeed…that's my takeaway. Racing. People get seriously hurt, people die. It happens for the weirdest of reasons, most times. It will never stop so long as we're racing something.

 

[}Dragon{]

Would it be less of an issue if putting Ward into the wall, he was killed? Did we talk about Sterling Marlin or Ken Shrader killing Dale Earnhardt? Does anyone even know who those two guys are or what happened with DE? One driver's actions killed another there, just the same as here, intentional or not. Two drivers met, some shit went down and one was killed. For those not versed in the racing world, it's not abnormal for racers to get hurt, sometimes seriously, when in an altercation with another racer. One doesn't have to be out of the car for it happen. Yet the shock of car-on-human contact is what the uninitiated, uninformed public eat up, like a giant shit sandwich. It's really just sensationalism. If you want to be outraged, it's about 12 months too late at the same bat place.

Regarding the video; videos are very hard to watch and determine what actually is going on in a racing situation. I've watched hundreds and even then, there's a bunch of questions and a limited viewing angle that leaves a lot of speculation. Topping that off, it takes a very experienced racer in the particular discipline, vehicle, and track to know what truly can happen and what might have happened. It's very, very hard to figure out some of the more tragic accidents. That's been my experience trying to do so in a racing organization/ environment and the very reason we created the crash analysis forum. For proof, take a look at the CA forum and see how all over much of the analysis can be, especially from the crasher.

What we do know happened: Tony put Ward in the wall, Ward entered a live track on foot. Ward was killed as a result of being put in the wall and then, proceeding to exit his vehicle and walk toward the racing line, not away from it. It was a bad decision and sad deal all around. I know one thing I do when I pile is get up and get away from the impact zone as fast as a fucking can. No way am I hanging out anywhere near where another bike can hit me. Ward did the opposite and the only reason I can think as to why is he wanted to show his hometown he was leading the charge against Tony after the pileup a year earlier.

For those who haven't been involved in the heightened emotions and reactions when in a racing situation, it's like nothing else I've experienced. It causes people to do things they'd not do any other time in their life. That's to speak towards both Tony and Ward's actions, however I don't see that Tony did anything obviously wrong after the contact with the 13 car. It's scary that a "jury of our peers" would be people not versed in racing and worse, this particular discipline of racing….and that's all that keeps any of us from going to jail.

Scary indeed…that's my takeaway. Racing. People get seriously hurt, people die. It happens for the weirdest of reasons, most times. It will never stop so long as we're racing something.

You and Brad don't know what you are talking about.

 

[Marcoose]

It's scary that a "jury of our peers" would be people not versed in racing and worse, this particular discipline of racing….and that's all that keeps any of us from going to jail.

Perhaps Budman ought to add one more to the TOS, that only vetted experts can post, or STFU. Thankfully there'll always be threads about wiping butts. Everyone's an expert on that.

 

[mikev]

It's scary that a "jury of our peers" would be people not versed in racing and worse, this particular discipline of racing….and that's all that keeps any of us from going to jail.

I thought that's why subject matter experts were brought in.

 

[}Dragon{]

Thankfully there'll always be threads about wiping butts. Everyone's an expert on that.

I'm sure some folks here are glad they helped you master that and your technique.

 

[Marcoose]

I'm sure some folks here are glad they helped you master that and your technique.

Life-changing event, man!

 

[Holeshot]

Perhaps Budman ought to add one more to the TOS, that only vetted experts can post, or STFU. Thankfully there'll always be threads about wiping butts. Everyone's an expert on that.

Haha! Not here I'm worrying about, it's the idea that such a complex and largely undefined action has lots of interpretation that 12 people get to make a yes/no decision on. Sometimes, shit just happens and turns out bad. To always assign criminal or civil blame seems the the bane of our society. Instead, we should look to assign compassion, in the absence of finite blame.

I thought that's why subject matter experts were brought in.

Yeah, but you know how that goes. Who do you believe? that guy sounds credible, but she sounds like she really understands the issue…

 

[GAJ]

Would it be less of an issue if putting Ward into the wall, he was killed? Did we talk about Sterling Marlin or Ken Shrader killing Dale Earnhardt? Does anyone even know who those two guys are or what happened with DE? One driver's actions killed another there, just the same as here, intentional or not. Two drivers met, some shit went down and one was killed. For those not versed in the racing world, it's not abnormal for racers to get hurt, sometimes seriously, when in an altercation with another racer. One doesn't have to be out of the car for it happen. Yet the shock of car-on-human contact is what the uninitiated, uninformed public eat up, like a giant shit sandwich. It's really just sensationalism. If you want to be outraged, it's about 12 months too late at the same bat place.

Regarding the video; videos are very hard to watch and determine what actually is going on in a racing situation. I've watched hundreds and even then, there's a bunch of questions and a limited viewing angle that leaves a lot of speculation. Topping that off, it takes a very experienced racer in the particular discipline, vehicle, and track to know what truly can happen and what might have happened. It's very, very hard to figure out some of the more tragic accidents. That's been my experience trying to do so in a racing organization/ environment and the very reason we created the crash analysis forum. For proof, take a look at the CA forum and see how all over much of the analysis can be, especially from the crasher.

What we do know happened: Tony put Ward in the wall, Ward entered a live track on foot. Ward was killed as a result of being put in the wall and then, proceeding to exit his vehicle and walk toward the racing line, not away from it. It was a bad decision and sad deal all around. I know one thing I do when I pile is get up and get away from the impact zone as fast as a fucking can. No way am I hanging out anywhere near where another bike can hit me. Ward did the opposite and the only reason I can think as to why is he wanted to show his hometown he was leading the charge against Tony after the pileup a year earlier.

For those who haven't been involved in the heightened emotions and reactions when in a racing situation, it's like nothing else I've experienced. It causes people to do things they'd not do any other time in their life. That's to speak towards both Tony and Ward's actions, however I don't see that Tony did anything obviously wrong after the contact with the 13 car. It's scary that a "jury of our peers" would be people not versed in racing and worse, this particular discipline of racing….and that's all that keeps any of us from going to jail.

Scary indeed…that's my takeaway. Racing. People get seriously hurt, people die. It happens for the weirdest of reasons, most times. It will never stop so long as we're racing something.

Very well said.