Tony Stewart News

Baez578

Anyone else find the news of Tony Stewart disturbing?

I find it most disturbing that in the court of public opinion, most people are in full support of Tony.

fergie23

At the moment it looks like the other racer was an idiot that didn't realize the danger he was putting himself in. I read in multiple sources that Stewart was blocked by another vehicle who swerved to miss the guy. He saw him too late tried to accelerate and turn and ended up fishtailing.
Maybe in the future racers will think a little bit before trying to confront drivers on the race track after an accident.

Robb

mtcards

I actually find it more disturbing that more people are saying Tony is guilty of something without any fact at all. In America we are all innocent until proven guilty, so at this time, Tony is innocent. I have seen the video and my question would be at what point do you have to say to yourself, "maybe I shouldnt be out here in the middle of a track where cars are driving by"?

LarkinCollector

Disturbing, yes, but one of the dangers of racing. I haven't seen any video that actually shows the hit or what happened beforehand to get him so upset, but walking out around the car onto the racetrack was an incredibly stupid move IMHO.

I think public opinion is based on the portions of video shown to the public now (at least on the major news sources) and the portions left out might sway opinion the other direction if ever released. I haven't tried to find them and really don't want to see it personally, so have no personal opinion on Stewart's culpability or lack thereof.

MrSnuffleupagus

dtkk49a

I just saw it on the news this morning. You could blame Tony's aggressive driving for starting the whole incident, but what the heck was Ward thinking standing out there on the track like an idiot. Because of his history of similar incidents, I do feel you will see them charge Scott with a crime.

jfkheat

...

Downtown1974

It's a tragic loss. Easily could have been prevented if a cooler head prevailed and he remained in his car. My thoughts and prayers go out to the young victims family.

lawnmowerman

While Stewart is a db, hothead, I don't think he intentionally would run somebody down on the track. Especially knowing at those speeds, the most likely outcome would be death.

Nathaniel1960

I read an interesting article which suggested Kevin Ward may have been concussed in the original spin out accident and was impaired when he wandered out into the track.

TNP777

I don't know that Stewart's prior history will come into play, although of course it could.

edit: on further thought, I don't think there's any way that Stewart's past won't come into play should legal or civil action be taken against him.

At this point, all we can do is speculate. Yes, there are blowhards that emphatically state that Stewart did nothing wrong (which could be true) and other blowhards that have already convicted him of premeditated murder (which is ludicrous). Most of us aren't lawyers and even fewer of us (if any) have driven a race car on any kind of track, let alone a dirt track.

Here's what we know:
* Kevin Ward is dead as a result of being struck by Tony Stewart's car.
* Ward would not have been struck by Stewart's car had he remained in his own car.

Here is what we don't know:
* did Stewart see Ward on the track?
* if he did see him, did Stewart intend to send a message or intimidate Ward?
* was the engine rev (if it was Stewart who revved) meant to try to avoid Ward, or to send a message/intimidate, or to accelerate through the turn (which I'm not sure would have been necessary under the caution)
* why Stewart took the higher line under caution.

I feel like I'm missing a couple of "what we don't know's", but those will suffice for now.

Something else we know, though: we can talk all day long about prior instances of people angrily jumping out of their cars and sometimes throwing things - there are probably hundreds and hundreds of those cases. But we know there is no precedent for this particular case. This is the first time a guy has ran into race traffic and been struck and killed.

Knowing that there is no precedent, I believe it is premature for any of us to definitively state what will or won't happen to Stewart. Some feel very strongly that there is no chance he will see criminal charged filed, while others feel quite the opposite. Frankly, that is unknowable right now. It's too early. They could end up with a zealous DA who interprets events to the point where he seeks an indictment - that, or facts will surface that make an indictment necessary. If that happens, we all know a grand jury will indict - even ham sandwiches know that!

On the flip side, the facts or interpretation of available evidence could turn the other way - Stewart is cleared of any wrongdoing.

Whatever the end result, Stewart will live with this the rest of his life and the Ward family will mourn for the rest of theirs. It all could have been avoided had the kid just stayed in his car.

Now for which side of the fence I'm on: I can't get past the way Stewart revved his engine right before Ward was struck, assuming it was Stewart's engine we hear in that video. If it was, I think he meant to send a message and it went horribly wrong. That of course assumes he saw Ward, which I think he did. Please understand that this is what I think, not what I know. I could very well be wrong, and hope I am.

Stingray

Not being the little man inside Tony Stewart's head, I will never know what his intentions were?? It is all assumptions. And those never turn out good.

Anthony555

<< <i>I read an interesting article which suggested Kevin Ward may have been concussed in the original spin out accident and was impaired when he wandered out into the track. >>



I didn't see at any moment Ward wandered out on the track. He was dead set on confronting Stewart and know exactly where Stewart was and what he was doing...

johnny1976

I haven't seen any video of what happened however, I was reading another site and one of the people posting brought up an intresting point about the car rev. They said that from where the video was shot that the rev that was heard on the camera was from another car closer to the person shooting the video.

Like I said I haven't seen the video but it brings up an intresting point.

DanBessette

Most of you are spot on, especially Kyle and Matt. I disagree with the OP. If you walk into oncoming high speed traffic, at night while wearing black, and you will probably get hit by a car. Tony didn't swerve towards him and there's no evidence that he struck him intentionally. Tony is a hothead but I seriously doubt he intended to murder somebody.

VitoCo1972

Good breakdown, Geordie. I think that about sums it up. We know a little but there's way to much that we don't know to pass judgement.

ChiefsFan1st

I just watched the video, and I also cant get past what the he** he thought he was doing walking towards a
moving vehicle waving his finger in the air. What was he hoping to prove? No doubt, he lost his head. And
sadly, it cost him dear

Also, on the concussion rumor, chalk me up as a non-believer. He knew exactly what was up.

Anthony555

<< <i>They said that from where the video was shot that the rev that was heard on the camera was from another car closer to the person shooting the video. >>



I believe this to be factual. I do not believe that rev came from Tony's car. From that far away I highly doubt it would be that audible. Tony Stewart is and always has been an idiot for lack of a better term, but he is not a killer. Race tracks have driver meetings before every race and at any level you are told to "NOT GET OUT OF YOUR CAR" until the safety crew arrives upon wrecking. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Ward family.

Wondo

<< <i>I don't know that Stewart's prior history will come into play, although of course it could.

edit: on further thought, I don't think there's any way that Stewart's past won't come into play should legal or civil action be taken against him.

At this point, all we can do is speculate. Yes, there are blowhards that emphatically state that Stewart did nothing wrong (which could be true) and other blowhards that have already convicted him of premeditated murder (which is ludicrous). Most of us aren't lawyers and even fewer of us (if any) have driven a race car on any kind of track, let alone a dirt track.

Here's what we know:
* Kevin Ward is dead as a result of being struck by Tony Stewart's car.
* Ward would not have been struck by Stewart's car had he remained in his own car.

Here is what we don't know:
* did Stewart see Ward on the track?
* if he did see him, did Stewart intend to send a message or intimidate Ward?
* was the engine rev (if it was Stewart who revved) meant to try to avoid Ward, or to send a message/intimidate, or to accelerate through the turn (which I'm not sure would have been necessary under the caution)
* why Stewart took the higher line under caution.

I feel like I'm missing a couple of "what we don't know's", but those will suffice for now.

Something else we know, though: we can talk all day long about prior instances of people angrily jumping out of their cars and sometimes throwing things - there are probably hundreds and hundreds of those cases. But we know there is no precedent for this particular case. This is the first time a guy has ran into race traffic and been struck and killed.

Knowing that there is no precedent, I believe it is premature for any of us to definitively state what will or won't happen to Stewart. Some feel very strongly that there is no chance he will see criminal charged filed, while others feel quite the opposite. Frankly, that is unknowable right now. It's too early. They could end up with a zealous DA who interprets events to the point where he seeks an indictment - that, or facts will surface that make an indictment necessary. If that happens, we all know a grand jury will indict - even ham sandwiches know that!

On the flip side, the facts or interpretation of available evidence could turn the other way - Stewart is cleared of any wrongdoing.

Whatever the end result, Stewart will live with this the rest of his life and the Ward family will mourn for the rest of theirs. It all could have been avoided had the kid just stayed in his car.

Now for which side of the fence I'm on: I can't get past the way Stewart revved his engine right before Ward was struck, assuming it was Stewart's engine we hear in that video. If it was, I think he meant to send a message and it went horribly wrong. That of course assumes he saw Ward, which I think he did. Please understand that this is what I think, not what I know. I could very well be wrong, and hope I am. >>




WOW! A well-thought out and communicated post. Kudos. What is this forum coming to?

CollectorAtWork

I can't imagine that Tony did this on purpose. I think he probably was surprised, wasn't expecting this, and didn't see him. About Ward getting out of the car, I know as others have said, he shouldn't have done that. However, I seem to remember a lot of Nascar races where other drivers got out of cars and chased after people in cars also, so I don't think that this was a first. It was probably always a trajedy waiting to happen...

byronscott4ever

If any of us went out on a highway and shook our hand at a car and got hit, would we expect that driver who hit someone to be charged? If any of us saw someone doing that, would we intentionally hit the person? I think it's a terrible accident but the blame is on the guy who went out on the track. I heard one small racer raise a great point which is whenever that type of act happens, the driver should be fined and suspended. It would stop 99.9% of people from doing it.

mcolney1

Criminal Court - not guilty
Civil Court - guilty and could cost Stewart a lot of money

Socalguy1967

I think the statement of the first car that drove by Ward will shed a lot on what Stewart saw. If that first driver says it was hard to see Ward (all in black and close to the path of the cars), that will help to believe Stewart if he is saying he didn't see him until it was too late. Yesterday they were reporting that the first car swerved to go low/miss Ward. Maybe Stewart really didn't see him.

mlbfan2

<< <i>If any of us went out on a highway and shook our hand at a car and got hit, would we expect that driver who hit someone to be charged? >>



It depends. The driver could certainly be charged if there is evidence that he swerved in order to hit him on purpose.

Did Tony Stewart do that? I don't know, but I don't see how it can be ruled out yet. He could also have tried to miss him by inches in order to scare him, and ended up accidentally hitting him.

vols1

It looks like from the video Tony swerved to miss him and that's when his car fishtailed and he hit the guy.

Baez578

<< <i>Most of you are spot on, especially Kyle and Matt. I disagree with the OP. If you walk into oncoming high speed traffic, at night while wearing black, and you will probably get hit by a car. Tony didn't swerve towards him and there's no evidence that he struck him intentionally. Tony is a hothead but I seriously doubt he intended to murder somebody. >>



Disagree??? With what?

I was just stating that I find it disturbing that everyone is in full support of Tony without all the facts being thrown on the table.

With that being said, There are some interesting points that have been raised here.

As for MY OPINION, I think that he was looking to intimidate the kid and it backfired horribly.

Interesting facts to consider

- They are under caution and are running at half speed.

- You have another driver who is fully aware of the car and its capabilities claiming that Tony should have seen him.

Linky



We can all agree that Ward was an idiot for going out on the track. Many drivers are guilty of this and unfortunately he lost his life as a result of it.

Downtown1974

Tony Stewart is guilty of walking towards on-coming cars and throwing his helmet at them. I'm surprised this hasn't happened more often where drivers are either severely injured or fatally injured from these antics.

jeffcbay

If this wasn't Tony Stewart involved, not only would most of us not know about the incident, most people wouldn't think it was the driver's fault.

vols1

That's hardly a reliable source, of course Ward's best friend blames Stewart for everything.

Dnice

Ward knew exactly what he was doing. Actually, another vehicle even almost hit him. Ward killed himself. I do not blame Tony.