Posted on 08/09/2014 10:16:55 PM PDT by smokingfrog
The Ontario County (N.Y.) Sheriff's Department is investigating an incident at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park involving NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Tony Stewart which occurred on Saturday evening.
At approximately 11:30 p.m., a spokesman for the department said it had no comment at this time but said a news release would be prepared and available in "two to three hours."
Posts on the social media sites Facebook and Twitter, including photographs, indicate Stewart was involved in an on-track incident with driver Kevin Ward, which left Ward on the track receiving treatment for what were described as serious injuries.
(Excerpt) Read more at islandpacket.com ...
To go back in time, sit in the car and count to 10, take a deep breath, and do it again.
Exactly. I don’t recall any driver in any motorsport accelerate during a caution, at the scene of an accident, and when anyone is outside their vehicle. Drivers still in their vehicles and mobile, yes. But, not an immobilized car.
Can’t claim ignorance on this since he was one of the culpable parties for the caution.
It’s not like this kid was pointing a handgun and he felt endangered.
Law and Order will rip-off an episode of this and throw every stereotype of NASCAR and the other Cirtuits (drivers and fans).
... and as I’ve pointed out previously, even dirt track cars have steering, throttle control and brakes. If as you speculate it was a game of chicken turned fatal and Stewart expected Ward to dive out of the way at the last second, is he any less culpable?
I think that Stewart actually DID expect the kid to jump out of the way as he was clearly trying to “buzz” him...funny ha-ha! Problem is, the “professional driver” lost control of the vehicle and mowed him down instead of brushing past him.
How anyone could come to another conclusion after watching the video is beyond me.
I’m not going to say anyone definitely “did” this or that intentionally, and am speculating based upon personal opinion only. But, to me there is the appearance of something along those lines.
And so have many other NASCAR Drivers. Get off Tony’s ass you Ambulance chaser!
< /DISGUST >
I certainly appreciate your explanation, it makes more sense than the other crap flying around here........
From what I saw in the video Ward was trying to move up the track to get away from Stewart’s car when Stewart gunned it causing it to fishtail into Warn.
Indeed, you would be a peremptory strike in jury selection. This tragic event is a determination of comparative negligience. But, you wouldn’t understand that now would you?
Don’t worry. You’ll eventually make it to the adults table. Good day.
You put it better than did I; of course it is only my personal opinion looking at the video...who knows what is going through someone’s head at the time. The car in front of him was obviously trying to get as far down on the track as possible to avoid both the wrecked car and the driver. I’m sure there are hours and hours of video of him racing under caution during Nascar that will be hauled out for a potential upcoming behemoth of a lawsuit.
My main issue is (still) wondering WHY he would put himself into such a position in the first place. As I said earlier in the thread...I’m from Iowa where he suffered a major injury running a sprint car race in Knoxville.
Until this happened, I hadn’t really thought about the liability of a “professional” race car driver getting involved in something like this. Even if he had flipped his car into the stands and killed someone...he is a huge target given his net worth. The whole thing just seems a bit imprudent and odd to me.
I built those type of cars and have been on dirt tracks many years ago. Saw video, and my conclusion is this.
No driver shall EVER leave vehicle unless safety or circumstances dictate, if they do they face fines and suspensions. He stood in front of Tony. Did he expect Tony to stop on a dime? To cause a chain reaction wreck?
I have watched Tony racing for many years, never would he deliberately hit someone.
Well I spent a year trying to avoid hitting cars on a dirt track in a factory stock car that is way slower and far more controllable than one of these insane 800horsepower rockets.... Another factor that anybody that has never been on a dirt track would never realize is that the track is continually changing, all night long... I raced the same track for a season, and that track was different every time I raced it and it was different each time you got on it a given night...
At practice one weekend, I saw a flagman run out in front of a sprint car coming out of turn 4 because one wrecked in turn 1 and the sprint car driver spun the car and rolled it all the way down the front stretch, still not sure how he missed the flagman to this day... These cars are completely out of control when they are racing, and in reality the driver probably has more control of the car, as far as knowing how its going to react to any given action, than he does at lower speeds.
Here is another posting of videos:
http://deadspin.com/reports-tony-stewart-ran-over-opposing-driver-during-1618893708
If as reported, this should be good for a murder charge. Anger has consequences.
I agree 100%... Unfortunately only 1 driver could have made sure this did not happen tonight and his mistake cost him the ultimate penalty, his life.
Not that it makes any difference to what happened tonight, but one thing I would like to add, as a general statement, to all those saying Tony is just a Hot Head, I will say, Yes he was, in his earlier Nascar days... He was one driver I did not like at the time because they would not race clean... and bitched and whined about everything and everbody, nothing was his fault... Tony was penalized numerous times by Nascar after altercations with Kenseth or Gordon among others... and made some trips to anger management sessions... in the early days.
But more recently, I would have to say, he has grown up and changed his ways a lot over the past years... If he screws up, he’s not afraid to say that’s what happened now... He raced his way into the Championship and I was happy for him at the time. I think he was pretty well respected by his competitors by then too... As far as racing clean, he does it much better now that he is also the car owner and has to pay for all the damage... He is just plainly a racer at heart (which is why he is also racing in a sprint car, a hobby, something he loves doing, that does not pay big money like his career in sprint cup) and pretty descent guy, that gives a good chunk of his winnings to 3 different Kids Charities... also he owns Eldora Speedway and does at least the one big yearly race on pay tv that he gets Nascar stars racing Late Model Stock cars on his dirt track and donates everything to Victory Junction gang...
How hard is it to take a noun, a verb, and an object and make a coherent sentence?
I have to go with the deceased driver is mostly at fault here. You never climb out of the car unless you are in more danger by stayi ng in the car until safety crews arrive. His death was a sad result of his temper getting the better of him.
In the video I saw a driver out of his car and walking with purpose down the slope of the track into the path of oncoming cars. That makes this, for me, more suicide than murder. Just sayin.
If you have any sense, you don’t run down into the middle of a race track like that. You’re putting yourself and the other drivers in danger.
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