Tony Stewart

[JMarkJohns]

I doubt that. There is literally nothing here to suggest it was anything but an accident save for the fact Tony Stewart was the one driving. Remove the whole angry past, and I bet hardly a burden of guilt is placed.

How do I know? Because Ward didn't have Tony's past and was by far the most known aggressor in the events leading to the death and he's the undisputed victim despite being the road rage fueled idiot.

[pokinmik]

If it wasn't Stewart that Ward was battling with, and the exact same scenario occurred, I'd still feel the same way judging from the video - that the car Ward was pissed at got close to him on purpose for a drive-by to basically say 'fuck you chump get the fuck off the track'.

Stewart's history obviously plays a part and makes it all the more believable, you can't just dismiss it. And race car drivers as a whole are crazy bastards anyway, confident behind the wheel to a fault sometimes, who are prone to macho road rage. Example A is Ward, he was clearly a hot head and I had never even heard of him a week ago. If two drivers are battling back and forth, I'm guessing they are both gonna be jacked up adrenaline-wise and testosterone-wise. I highly doubt Stewart was completely serene and calm while Ward was angry beyond belief.

I'm in no way saying Stewart meant to hurt him, or that Stewart is more to blame than Ward. Ward made the foolish decision to get on the track, where a life can be taken in an instant, in hundreds of ways. I just don't think Stewart is completely innocent in this, and as said ad nauseam, we'll never know for sure. Tony Stewart will have to live with his horrible tragedy at best, or live with profound guilt at worst.

[Chicat]

Maybe I missed this, but has it been released anywhere what the communication between Stewart and his pit crew was like? Did they see Ward on the track?

[azgreg]

Maybe I missed this, but has it been released anywhere what the communication between Stewart and his pit crew was like? Did they see Ward on the track?

In dirt track racing you are not allowed radio communication with your pit crew. The drivers wear a device called Raceceiver which allows one way communication with the race controller/director.

[JMarkJohns]

Ward got close to the car, not the other way around. He effectively dodged the others and veered right towards Stewarts. Tony stayed somewhat low. Ward sought him out.

Maybe you're right, but there are literally no facts to support the opinion. Other drivers own assertions were that they barely saw Ward, and barely had time to move away, and that was with Ward avoiding them. Stewart didn't get the avoiding Ward. He got the swarming Ward. That's the obvious and likely main difference.

[Alieberman]

JMark, I understand your stance, but there are no facts to support your opinion either. Nothing will ever come of this, nothing could be proven.

Tony Stewart is a hothead ass. Tony Stewart was also the best / most experienced driver on that track. It's just hard for me to not be suspicious

[pokinmik]

Ward got close to the car, not the other way around. He effectively dodged the others and veered right towards Stewarts. Tony stayed somewhat low. Ward sought him out.

Maybe you're right, but there are literally no facts to support the opinion. Other drivers own assertions were that they barely saw Ward, and barely had time to move away, and that was with Ward avoiding them. Stewart didn't get the avoiding Ward. He got the swarming Ward. That's the obvious and likely main difference.

Oh I know my stance on this has the burden of proof. Which is why I don't think Stewart gets in trouble with the law. And there are quotes, many on the first page of this thread and elsewhere online, where other drivers and Ward's family question Tony's actions too.

Your point about the swarming Ward is a good one and I agree. But I'd say what caused this tragedy was the swarming Ward coupled with the aggressive Stewart car. They both underestimated the craziness of eachother basically. Like I said previously, it's all fun and games battling on the track, talking shit/fighting, etc. until someone gets hurt!

I'm not trying to be argumentative or anything, just stating my reasoning. I respect your opinion Jmark and you could very well be correct. I admit it is impossible to prove whether Tony was being an asshole or not. I'm really just trusting my gut on this one.

[JMarkJohns]

On the previous page I posted the view from inside a sprint car, a quote from the immediately preceding cars pit crew saying his car's driver barely saw him, barely had time to move, and every video shows the following two things: Ward staying high to avoid other cars before quickly and sharply veering toward Stewart in the middle of the track, and 2. Stewart already engaged in his dirt-track turn which requires a driver to rev engine, sharply turn, locking back tires.

There's lots of evidence to suggest this was a pedestrian-caused accident and little more.

Ward did something unthinkable and suddenly approached a low visibility car in the middle of a dirt track at night while wearing black. There is no video that suggests Stewart steered to get closer to him.

The only people casting blame on Stewart are the family/friends of Ward, all of whom were in the stands. The other drivers suggest it was entirely likely Stewart was engaged in a rear-wheel-locking turn and was either unable to disengage in time to avoid or, just as likely, never saw or saw too late a suddenly right on top of Ward who ventured into Stewarts turn space.

I'm going to make up my own theory... An angry Ward actively sought out Stewarts car to kick dirt at it, and got his leg caught under the tire.

Of the actions leading up to the accident, this seems plenty logical.

[pokinmik]

“That’s obviously not a racing incident,” he said. “It’s not a good idea to get out of your car and run towards other cars. But nobody can speak for Tony. Only Tony knows exactly what happened. I seen Kevin clear as day. Nobody else ran into him, either.”

This quote from a fellow driver was on the first page of this thread. There are plenty of people that question Tony's actions. You can act like it's unanimous opinion that it was too hard to see Ward, but it just isn't true. And people aren't really going to be lining up to accuse someone of manslaughter or recklesness when there is no way to prove it. The race was well under caution at the time of the accident as well, Tony wasn't, or shouldn't have been, flying around a corner at full-speed.

Your opinion is logical, and so are mine and others!

(Again, not trying to be argumentative haha. I've said my peace, it's pretty clear neither opinion will be swayed, unless Tony himself admits to fault, which will never happen.)

[JMarkJohns]

View from inside a sprint car


And then this as well:

Once again...

You're saying Stewart in the second he was given to avoid a swarming Ward before he was in his turning space had more time than other drivers saying they barely had any, and should have been able to avoid a person aiming right for him better than other drivers who said they barely had time to maneuver.

In summary:

Small, heavily barred Car Window
Low Track Visibility from: Dust, Lighting, Debris, Cars, Night
Pedestrian in Black
Pedestrian suddenly swarming your turn space
Turns requiring a rev up, hard turn, locked rear tires to make said turn
Possible aggressive gesture by pedestrian as it was alongside moving car

Bad boys aren't always villains. It's literally impossible to know for certain, but the obvious and gathered evidence suggests it was far more likely this is entirely on Ward than split, or entirely on Stewart.

[Macho Grande]

According to the driver (Cory Sparks) who was a few cars behind Stewart when the incident occured, Tony "did everything in his power to avoid" Ward.

http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... n-ward-jr/

Lost in all the resulting fallout of the Tony Stewart – Kevin Ward Jr. tragedy is a report by a fellow driver who was also in Saturday night’s fateful race field and witnessed the incident.

“From what I saw, Tony did everything in his power to turn down away from Kevin to avoid him,” sprint car driver Cory Sparks told Rochester.twc.news.com.

Sparks was a few cars behind Stewart on the racetrack but had a clear field of vision of what occurred, and said that videos that have been made public do not tell the whole story.

“People say that they heard the engine rev up and he gassed it,” Sparks said of Stewart. “In a sprint car, the only way to steer is you steer with the rear wheels as much as you do the steering wheel. In my opinion, what he did was he (Stewart) gassed it to turn down away from him (Ward).”

[JMarkJohns]

There's a heirarchy of valued opinions on this, and after Stewart and Ward I would say the opinion of the immediately preceding car on the turn is next. Ward didn't swarm towards any other vehicle. Look at the video. Stewart is much lower on the track than previous turn. Had Ward stayed high, nothing happens. You can tell Stewart, like the preceding 45 car, was engaged in a dirt-drift turn.

Simply put, Stewarts split-second circumstances were not the circumstances of any other driver. Their ability to avoid was not Stewarts ability. Their timing was not Stewart's time. Their space was not Stewart's space. What matters in drivers quotes is when Ward started to make his moves of aggression whether it's plausible or likely Ward was in a blind spot and therefore unseen, or in Stewart's engaged turn space and therefore a living speedbump.

The immediately preceding driver, video and the known facts of a sprint cars window strongly support this scenario:

1. Radio of caution, pedestrian exposed high on track.
2. Stewart hangs lower on track entering turn.
3. Stewart engages turn, steering hard, locking rear wheels.
4. Combination circumstances creates low visibility.
5. Stewart approaches wreck.
6. Ward suddenly approaches known blindside of Stewarts car.
7. Ward suddenly consumes part of Stewart's already engaged turn space.
8. Last second act of aggression leave no time/space to avoid what may not have even been seen in the first place.

I've stated nothing but videoed fact or stated evidence from the immediately preceding driver/crew and created a circumstance where Tony shows caution, but is approached in the exact space/moment where nothing could be done.

This is not improbable at all. Watch the video. Other cars approached the wrech much higher than Stewart. To me, it seemed Stewart had very little say or control in this.

[Jefe]

He was trying to toss mud onto the kid

You don't know that for a fact. Only Stewart himself knows what was going on in his own mind. Everyone else is just guessing.

Obviously its an opinion...

I only say that because Tony knew what he did to Wards car, knew it was a caution flag and just before coming up on the scene he floors it and slides. He was either trying to get around him or trying to toss mud on him. Hitting the throttle to go below Ward doesn't make sense, as it throws the back end out giving Ward even less room. He was less than 15 feet away from him. Trying to go up high doesnt make sense either as he would have crashed into Wards car

Tony is well known for his track antics:

[youtube]9mRY79mat34[/youtube]

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"I checked up twice not to run over him,” Stewart said after the race. “And I learned my lesson there, and I'm going to run over him every chance I got until the end of the year. Every chance I got."

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[youtube]REnIe8q3E4I[/youtube]

"Crew members had to separate the two, as Stewart pushed Logano, unprovoked, and threw a punch at him. "He has that right, he has the choice to do that," Stewart said of Logano’s blocking. "If he ever turns down across in front of me again, I don't care what lap it is, he won't make it through the other end of it."

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http://www.ibtimes.com/tony-stewart-cra ... rd-1655240

Death of Kevin Ward Jr. blamed on rivalry he had with NASCAR champ Tony Stewart
Charlie Dorn, 21, said Stewart and Ward had clashed in previous races. Another racer, Tyler Graves, said Stewart could have avoided mowing down his rival. Stewart, a NASCAR star, has a brash driving style that earned him the nickname Smoke. He also has a long history of burning up the asphalt with his temper.

“Tony Stewart and Kevin have raced against each other and they’ve always had a thing for each other,” said Dorn. “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.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more- ... -1.1898917

[UAEebs86]

Not indicted by the grand jury.

Ward under the influence of marijuana.

[pokinmik]

He could've chonged two weeks prior but yea, a fact is fact I guess.

[Chicat]