Tony Stewart killed a 20 year old dirt track driver....

[xBiffx]

To "turn" yes, but not to change your line along a straight away or even coming OUT of turn with the car pointed down the straight-away. I think you're confusing (maybe deliberately) "turning" and changing lines. If you are on a two-lane highway @ 40MPH, you want to change lanes from the right lane to the left lane, is this considered a "turn"? You can't "turn" these cars or get them around a bend at speed without a combination of the steering wheel, throttle and sometimes one of the brakes (front or rear). But you can change lines using the steering, especially at slower non-race speeds.

You seem to think this happened under full race conditions, or that the only way these cars can be steered at ANY speed is to get the rear end moving to point the car in the direction you want to go. The driver in front of Stewart changed his line (i.e. toward the inside) just fine without having this excuse that these cars can only be steered from the rear (as though they have NO front steering at all).

Here is an example of a driver who actually swerves AT another driver who got out of his car and was coming at him to confront him on foot, exactly as some are implying Stewart may have been doing. Of course I do not argue that Stewart intended to strike him, but rather an intimidation move that went wrong, same as happens in this video of the driver who swerves his car toward the other guy.

You seem to think that a caution isn't a race condition, it is and its also when a lot of incidents can occur due to the changing track condition. You seem to ignore these are not highway cars and this isn't the highway, or even a pavement track. These are very different than other race cars and the track is also very different. When they have to turn fast at speed, its difficult, and some throttle is needed. They were likely still going upwards of 40 MPH which is too fast on dirt to turn quickly or much at all by just yanking the steering wheel.

 

[KlokWyze]

Eh, I think Tony was experienced enough to KNOW he put that guy into the wall.
I also believe he could see him walking towards him throwing his arms up and he gunned it to scare the kid and accidentally hit him.

My opinion doesn't matter though and is based on near nothing.

Exactly my instincts. We have a 40 year old hot head. We all know how those dudes are. I'm sure he didn't mean to hit him, but saw a adversary out there basically calling him out and probably meant to just pass him really close. His calculations were off and he killed him.

Stewart though.... he gets a Darwin award on this one regardless of everything.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

From what I've been hearing Tony was likely trying to spray the kid with dirt when he did that. That actually would have been funny with the kid with his arms up and Tony rolls by spraying the kid with dirt. Tony miscalculated and the kid got too close.

 

[DrPizza]

To be fair, my opinion doesn't really matter either and I'm definitely speculating.

I don't doubt that Stewart knew he put that guy into the wall especially since they were under caution. What I doubt is whether or not he knew there was a person on the track and further, who that person was. He might not have known whether or not his actions led to other cars hitting the wall and whether there might have been other drivers who exited their cars.

Question for the knowledgeable sprint car fans - don't they have communication headsets in those helmets? Doesn't his pit crew talk to him during the race, alert him to things? If it's allowed, I can't imagine it not being used by a professional. Hell, I've seen some of the better racers on the local motocross circuits using them. If they're allowed, only a fool would believe he didn't already know who wrecked, and who was on the track. And, these guys are racing - under a caution, they're not lolligagging around - they're paying close attention to the track. Hit the wrong piece of debris with your car & you've taken yourself out of the race. So, on both accounts, you'd have to be incredibly gullible to believe he didn't see him until the last second.

 

[KeithTalent]

Stewart though.... he gets a Darwin award on this one regardless of everything.

That's not how Darwin awards work.

KT

 

[KlokWyze]

That's not how Darwin awards work.

KT

No. Think I got it right.

The Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives: by eliminating themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chance of long-term survival. In other words, they are cautionary tales about people who kill themselves in really stupid ways, and in doing so, significantly improve the gene pool by eliminating themselves from the human race.

Well I meant to say Ward .... anyways. lol

Carry on then.

 

[HumblePie]

No. Think I got it right.



Well I meant to say Ward .... anyways. lol

Carry on then.

Tony isn't the Darwin winner, Ward is. Which is what KT was pointing out. Tony hasn't been removed from the human gene pool from this.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Question for the knowledgeable sprint car fans - don't they have communication headsets in those helmets? Doesn't his pit crew talk to him during the race, alert him to things? If it's allowed, I can't imagine it not being used by a professional. Hell, I've seen some of the better racers on the local motocross circuits using them. If they're allowed, only a fool would believe he didn't already know who wrecked, and who was on the track. And, these guys are racing - under a caution, they're not lolligagging around - they're paying close attention to the track. Hit the wrong piece of debris with your car & you've taken yourself out of the race. So, on both accounts, you'd have to be incredibly gullible to believe he didn't see him until the last second.

That's true. I had forgotten about the headsets the drivers were most likely wearing. In that case, it is likely Stewart did know that the driver he put into the wall was on the track and then subsequently seeing the car in front of him swerve suddenly he would have known where the driver was.

 

[Drako]

That's not how Darwin awards work.

KT

That's not how any of this works.

 

[Oyeve]

idiot dies by car of idiot because he was being an idiot ..... Nascar and it's fans are idiots.

Amen brother, amen.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

stupid to be running anywhere on a live track.

 

[xBiffx]

Question for the knowledgeable sprint car fans - don't they have communication headsets in those helmets? Doesn't his pit crew talk to him during the race, alert him to things? If it's allowed, I can't imagine it not being used by a professional. Hell, I've seen some of the better racers on the local motocross circuits using them. If they're allowed, only a fool would believe he didn't already know who wrecked, and who was on the track. And, these guys are racing - under a caution, they're not lolligagging around - they're paying close attention to the track. Hit the wrong piece of debris with your car & you've taken yourself out of the race. So, on both accounts, you'd have to be incredibly gullible to believe he didn't see him until the last second.

Sure some have headsets and communications to a crew chief, but its often times useless because the pit person doesn't have full view of the track and its conditions. Very possible that Tony had no idea he caused the original crash until he went all the way around. Its a very short track and doesn't take long to get around so communications are often worthless because its too slow.

These types of tracks are very poorly lit for the most part. Couple that with the fact that the driver was in a BLACK fire suit with a BLACK car as his background. Also, consider that another car just barely avoided which also cuts down on visibility (the car blocking view plus dirt being tossed up).

 

[LTC8K6]

idiot dies by car of idiot because he was being an idiot ..... Nascar and it's fans are idiots.

That's cool and all, but this wasn't Nascar...

 

[xBiffx]

That's cool and all, but this wasn't Nascar...

Even though you are correct.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I take it none of you have ever had that holy fuck shit your pants moment where you come over a hill or around a corner and something is directly in your way while you are driving. It's far more likely that going into a left turn the car in front of stewart was blocking his vision of ward because being off the to the right side of the car in front completely obscured him in that left turn. Last second stewart see ward and shits his fucking pants because all the sudden there is some idiot in front of his car and panics. He may have tried to break and turn see that he was skidding, say holy shit, try the gas or anything to avoid the person that is now suddenly in front of him all in a few seconds.

I've had this happen on numerous occasions whether it was something a practical joker put in the road (nearly killing me, and yes this happened), a deer leaping out in front of me suddenly, or just randomly having someone slam on their breaks in front of me. In that moment of panic when you realize you're about to get fucked you don't have much control over what your mind decides to do.

I feel awful for Stewart regardless because no matter what internet trolls say about this he had no intention of hitting the kid.

 

[Miramonti]

I take it none of you have ever had that holy fuck shit your pants moment where you come over a hill or around a corner and something is directly in your way while you are driving. It's far more likely that going into a left turn the car in front of stewart was blocking his vision of ward because being off the to the right side of the car in front completely obscured him in that left turn. Last second stewart see ward and shits his fucking pants because all the sudden there is some idiot in front of his car and panics. He may have tried to break and turn see that he was skidding, say holy shit, try the gas or anything to avoid the person that is now suddenly in front of him all in a few seconds.

I've had this happen on numerous occasions whether it was something a practical joker put in the road (nearly killing me, and yes this happened), a deer leaping out in front of me suddenly, or just randomly having someone slam on their breaks in front of me. In that moment of panic when you realize you're about to get fucked you don't have much control over what your mind decides to do.

I feel awful for Stewart regardless because no matter what internet trolls say about this he had no intention of hitting the kid.

Yeah, deer are just like sending someone in the wall on a dirt track, knowing his car is coming up shortly, seeing a car in front of you swerve to avoid someone, and wow suddenly 'I had know idea, it was like a deer jumping in front of me...', LOL. Granted I don't know this either, but your post fits quite perfectly into the "troll" category where you're suggesting the others belong.

 

[xBiffx]

Yeah, deer are just like sending someone in the wall on a dirt track, knowing his car is coming up shortly, seeing a car in front of you swerve to avoid someone, and wow suddenly 'I had know idea, it was like a deer jumping in front of me...', LOL. Granted I don't know this either, but your post fits quite perfectly into the "troll" category where you're suggesting the others belong.

Actually, you'd be the one trolling considering its quite apparent you have no idea what you are talking about.

When was Stewart "sending someone in the wall"?

How do you know Stewart was "knowing his car is coming up shortly"?

How do you know Stewart knew that the car in front of him "swerve to avoid someone"?

 

[LTC8K6]

Even if he was negligent, and revved his engine, causing the back end to hit the kid, you'd still have to be able to prove that to a jury. There were no cameras mounted on either car.

Unless some more fan video is released, I can't see any proof of negligence for a criminal charge.

Keep in mind also that these cars have no starters, and are push started, and they must keep moving to keep the engine running. They are direct drive. Go too slow, and you will stall the engine and need to be push started. There is no clutch or gearbox. There is only In or Out of gear.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Yeah, deer are just like sending someone in the wall on a dirt track, knowing his car is coming up shortly, seeing a car in front of you swerve to avoid someone, and wow suddenly 'I had know idea, it was like a deer jumping in front of me...', LOL. Granted I don't know this either, but your post fits quite perfectly into the "troll" category where you're suggesting the others belong.

What are you even talking about?

How am I trolling? I'm relating personal experiences driving where something that should NOT be in your way and you panic.

People have chosen to hate tony stewart simply because he's famous, has more money than them, is an old white guy with money, and he's obviously a redneck because he races cars. All these misconceptions from millions of internet trolls are just based on dislike for him because of their own miserable existence is sad in comparison to his seemingly awesome life, and have nothing to do with who Tony Stewart actually is as a person.

Watch the whole video that shows the initial crash, that doesn't look like he intentionally put the guy into the wall. He probably knew a collision happened but it's simply because the moron tried to pass him up high while he was already too high up the track. Everyone is making this out to be like stewart wrecked the guy trying to kill him then went back around a 200 mph to finish the job. None of that happened.

 

[Brian Stirling]

While I have no opinion on the guilt or innocence of Tony in causing the kids death if it turns out that this was either a warning or an attempt to spray him with dirt it may well have profound consequences not only on Tony but on NASCAR.

One of the marketing aspect of NASCAR is the tough guy thing and it was only a couple days ago I saw a segment about the fistycuffs between drivers with a lot of almost back slapping at it. How many times has a pissed off driver gotten out of his disabled car and thrown his helmet at the offender? Many will argue that this is part of the sport just as fighting is part of Hockey and will fight to ensure nothing happens to stop this from happening. NASCAR officials will likely deny it but when one driver confronts another and a fight breaks out the rating go up.

If, and I want to be clear I said if, if Tony is proven to have tried to scare or intimidate the kid or if there is enough evidence, video or conversations, to suggest the possibility of it, not only will Tony be liable for a huge lawsuit but NASCAR will be under pressure to rein in some of this tough guy stuff.

Too bad as I really appreciate what Tony does for the sport driving multiple disciplines...


Brian

 

[Oyeve]

Too bad as I really appreciate what Tony does for the sport driving multiple disciplines...


Brian

And what, exactly, would that be?

 

[holden j caufield]

I take it none of you have ever had that holy fuck shit your pants moment where you come over a hill or around a corner and something is directly in your way while you are driving. It's far more likely that going into a left turn the car in front of stewart was blocking his vision of ward because being off the to the right side of the car in front completely obscured him in that left turn. Last second stewart see ward and shits his fucking pants because all the sudden there is some idiot in front of his car and panics. He may have tried to break and turn see that he was skidding, say holy shit, try the gas or anything to avoid the person that is now suddenly in front of him all in a few seconds.

I've had this happen on numerous occasions whether it was something a practical joker put in the road (nearly killing me, and yes this happened), a deer leaping out in front of me suddenly, or just randomly having someone slam on their breaks in front of me. In that moment of panic when you realize you're about to get fucked you don't have much control over what your mind decides to do.

I feel awful for Stewart regardless because no matter what internet trolls say about this he had no intention of hitting the kid.

these are professional drivers, what freaks you out he's seen a 50,000 times. He tried to give him the middle finger with some dirt and cut it too close and killed the guy. It's an accident but he's still partially at fault.

 

[moonbogg]

That's not it. You don't know what your talking about. I have experience and I know my shit. You are stupid and have no facts. I am a racing in the dirt turn expert so I know my big daddy stoowart did no wrong cause I'm a pro like him and you are all stupid. Notice my skills of my own awesome racing and expert driving ability overshadow this whole story, so notice my shit cause I'm sick and leet.

 

[It's Not Lupus]

What makes a civil suit possible if there's no criminal charges?

 

[Phynaz]

What makes a civil suit possible if there's no criminal charges?

Fault doesn't imply legality.

He could be at fault for the death without the death being illegal.

Also, legality is determined "without a shadow of doubt". Civil actions are determined with "a preponderance of evidence". The standards are different.