Tonight's Tony Stewart/Kevin Ward Jr. incident

I just saw Twitter explode with news regarding Tony Stewart--in that he might have just hit another driver who at the time was out of his car. The other driver, Kevin Ward Jr., had just been in a wreck with Stewart.

Here's a link to some info:

http://www.sbnation.com/nascar/2014/8/10/5987385/tony-stewart-kevin-ward-dirt-track-incident

http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2014-08-10/tony-stewart-sprint-car-hits-driver-fight-incident-trouble-investigation-new-york-watkins-glen-kevin-ward

I need to call it a night, but just asking that everyone here keep things respectful for all involved. Whether or not you like NASCAR, to the general public racing is racing.

Thanks.

Jesus.....from what I've read it seems like he meant to rev or spin the tires near him and clipped him (by accident hopefully). I don't want to think this would be intentional but he has thrown a helemt or two at cars before.

Regardless its awful and I hope the driver that was struck out of his car is ok and recovers fully.

An avoidable accident.

I read the article. It sounds like a lot of dirt track BS which ended particularly badly. I kinda hope the local authorities press charges of assault and battery.

Edit: after reviewing all available footage, my opinion is Stewart not at fault.

Oh, crap. As of 6AM Eastern 8/10 they are reporting that the other driver died. Damn. Just damn.

Horrible news when an avoidable incident like that takes a life. After seeing the video, both we're likely at fault. Very sad...

Yahoo sports report says that there was contact (racing incident) and Ward's car crashed … then under yellow Ward stayed on the track to confront Stewart …

as Ward approached Stewart, it appeared as though Stewart gun the car, and the rear end stepped out ..striking Ward

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/tony-stewart-reportedly-involved-in-incident-under-investigation-at-new-york-dirt-track-042049206.html

One hothead had a disagreement with another hothead. One was in a moving race car on a slick surface. The other was standing too close to a moving race car on a slick surface.

Sometimes, testosterone goes bad.

I've watched the video several times and it looks like Tony hit the throttle as he went by the kid .Whether it was intended to hit him or not I can't say, but it doesn't look as accidental as I would like it to be. This wouldn't be news had the young man stayed in his car. Sad, just sad.

Avoidable tragedy you gotta feel for the kids family very sad

Yeah, it looks to me like there's blame for both sides. Ward should never have gotten out of the car in the first place, doesn't matter if there's a caution. He never should have approached the race line on foot, again regardless of caution flags etc. And Stewart should never have decided to be a billy badass by goosing the throttle. Dumb, dumb, dumb all the way around.

http://www.motorsport.com/sprint/news/yes-tony-stewart-did-run-over-a-fellow-driver-who-was-killed-but-know-the-whole-story

I'm not familiar with this type of racing, is it normal for the driver to get out of his car at night, wearing a black suit and black helmet, and charge down the racing line (even at caution) which is made up of dirt (ie inherently unstable) chasing down another car in anger?

Watched the video several times even at 1/4 speed. Based on the video, I didn't see anything in frame that would indicate Stewart hit the throttle or turned purposely outside. With the amount of stagger these cars run if he did goose the throttle the rear would wanna step out to the right, to me it never appeared to. Stewart's car was in line w/ the purple/ white car in front of him. The car didn't appear to move right at all until Ward was even w/ the side of Stewart's car when the car suddenly veered right, indicating to me at least Ward's contact w/ the rear tire made the car turn. The front wheels never appeared to turn right, only steering input appeared to be a correction after contact.

Bad scene all together. Anger and antics should never play out on any race track. Ward, suited in all black should have never left his car. He came down the track from his car probably up to 15' by the looks of it.

Not sticking up for Stewart at all (not that he hasn't been a jerk) , just based on the video I didn't see anything intimidating or intentional.

hard to say exactly how it went down from this clip, but it's possible that Tony didn't even see the guy out on the track until the last second:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QJdBd0437U&feature=youtu.be

In reply to Tom Suddard:
Good article.

In reply to N Sperlo:

Totally.
Geez, drivers need to stay in their cars when the track is hot!

Wow. I watched it a few times, not sure if he ever saw him until he made contact.

XLR99 wrote: Wow. I watched it a few times, not sure if he ever saw him until he made contact.

x2. that kid charged down like an angry person pointing and dodging cars, and it didn't look like it could have been avoided. plus he missed him with the front, and those rears stick out way more.

i thought rule #1 of racing was if the car isn't on fire, stay in it until emergency crew shows up

novaderrik wrote: hard to say exactly how it went down from this clip, but it's possible that Tony didn't even see the guy out on the track until the last second: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QJdBd0437U&feature=youtu.be

I agree that its totally possible that Tony couldn't even see Ward untilled the last second based on this video angle. The swerve could have been from the initial contact, or an OH S#@%! reflex.

I wonder if Tony, or any other racers have an in car video that can offer more insight from the racing line POV.

Likely, in the end, both will be found at fault.

As for me, I can think of hundreds of less dangerous, dangerous things to do than walk out on a live dirt track with sprint cars, like base jumping or jousting.

Stewart won't compete at the Glen today per SHR

Just turned Sportscenter on and saw that Ward has passed. Just sad....

Wow Tony is getting tarred and feathered this morning online.

Whether his path was intended to avoid the man on foot (inconclusive by video).. to roost the him with dirt (probable IMHO).. or something way more deadly (so unlikely).. He hit him.

Tony will relive that moment over and over again, forever.

Tony didn't ask for the situation to get instantly hot, but he sure didn't create a safe distance either.

Stewart is alive to regret it and Ward is dead. Thoughts and prayers to the dead man's loved ones. hopefully some hindsight on this will result in more common sense safety measures that prevent from repeating.