lol the ambassador. Perhaps he should just let them win every race.
He was doing what every other driver was doing, slowing down.
Again, keeping to the point of this thread, the discussion is about bringing the appropriate amount aggression to the event. This wasn't a thread about the forensics of the incident (where you seem to be stuck), it was about the decisions that were made throughout the event and the relative stakes at hand.
The author made the point that a dirt-track race in a podunk town in upstate New York with 20-something-year-old competitors is possibly not the venue where a 3-time NASCAR champ NEEDS to reinforce his bona fides. Stewart could easily have brought his competitiveness down a notch, and instead used the event to promote racing, to promote good racing practice, to get to know up-and-coming drivers, and perhaps to teach them a thing or two about style and technique.
What Stewart did NOT need to do was bump and flip, and essentially terrorize the track. This Google search (sprint car racing accidents) shows that lots of people are being killed in these races across the country. If anyone would have the experience (should I say "wisdom") to know the dangers of aggressive sprint car driving, it would be Stewart. So why wouldn't he back off a step or two at this, for him, insignificant event and use it to teach the up-and-coming?
That's what the author was trying to say.
-PJ