Quoted from 55tbird

IMHO, Tony revved his engine not to avoid Ward, but to send him a message...Tony was in a right corner on a banked track...any revving would send the rear end around into Ward...not avoiding him...he probably wanted to buzz Ward, but made a gross miscalculation and it ended up being a tragedy. Charges will most likely not happen but Stewart will have to live with it...the question to me is, will it matter to him?

I think the way the rear differential on sprint cars are set up, they are very difficult to turn at slow speeds. Tony may have had to hit the throttle to get the car to turn and avoid Ward.

Quoted from CICERO

I think the way the rear differential on sprint cars are set up, they are very difficult to turn at slow speeds. Tony may have had to hit the throttle to get the car to turn and avoid Ward.

Sounds quite right, and if Ward was still approaching the car, boom.

Quoted from CICERO

He can't run from his reputation.  

Bet that JZ is glad she broke up with him

Quoted from mikechristine1

While my gut feeling says it was an accident, you, DV, of course are NOT taking into account how these cars work.  I doubt that Smoke would ever risk his lucrative NASCAR career over the purse at an ESS race, regardless of the hot head he is known to be.  And since he doesn't tour with them either, points are not an issue either.  However, and you wouldn't know or understand this, the way these cars handle, it could be easy to intentionally hit a driver sanding on a track or another car and proving it was intentional would be very difficult.  


Uh, DV, regarding the dark "outfit" as you ignorantly call it, that is NOT an issue.  There is ample lighting at the tracks, so of course you don't know what you are talking about on that.  Though I think that people will see that as an issue and require fluorescent colored fire suits; , any lame brain would know they are called fire suits, common sense because there is gasoline in the car and crashes happen.  


Car cam at a night race at Canandaigua in a sprint car.   Plenty of light

http://youtu.be/zmfZVxkOlP4

First, your usual UNINFORMED personal attacks.  Implying that I don't know or understand how the cars work.  Apparently, you are an expert on EVERY topic under the sun and everyone else is stupid.  I don't claim to be an expert -- but I am not stupid -- and I am certainly more informed than you can imagine or would ever give me credit for.  

Second, the fire suit is an "outfit" and it was black.  Someone dressed in black is NOT as easily seen at night as someone dressed in lighter colors.

Third, the track was lit but NOT every square inch of the track was well lit.  Anyone can see that the accident occurred on the far side of the track (which is clearly darker than the foreground in the video) and that there were very obvious shadows being cast on the track.  

Fourth, several race car drivers and other race experts interviewed on various radio show and tv show also pointed out that Mr. Ward was dressed in black and that darkness was probably a factor in the incident.

Fifth, I don't believe that Mr. Stewart would put his whole fortune, career, reputation on the line and risk going to prison by intentionally running someone over on the track.  Especially, seeing that the race was a lower stakes dirt track race.

Finally, Mr. Ward does bear responsibility for his own actions.  It was NOT a smart thing to get out of his car and walk TOWARDS the moving cars.  It made no sense.  Yes, he was angry.  Yes, others have gotten out of cars before.  But that doesn't change the FACT that it was an unsafe thing to do.  He put himself in a dangerous position.    ----- very hard to see how anyone can ignore that fact.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Third, the track was lit but NOT every square inch of the track was well lit.  Anyone can see that the accident occurred on the far side of the track (which is clearly darker than the foreground in the video) and that there were very obvious shadows being cast on the track.  

Fourth, several race car drivers and other race experts interviewed on various radio show and tv show also pointed out that Mr. Ward was dressed in black and that darkness was probably a factor in the incident.
.

ROFLMAO

"The Far Side"    You are talking about the Gary Larson comic???????


ONLY YOU would use the term "the far side" (it is called "the backstretch")   However ONLY YOU, DV, would think it happened on that backstretch of the track.

It happened between the first and second turn.

Here are two aerial images of where it happened.   The area colored in yellow is where it happened






And a more close up view (area in red is where it happened):







Contrary to your usual lies, the area of the track where this happened WAS VERY WELL LIT!.   Look through the rock screen (oh, does the boy know what a rock screen is?).  The area that you can see through the screen is where the occurrence to place.  What is "missing" from the still image fro the car cam when you look through the screen is the barrier, (knowing you, you would say "guide rail"), but the video is from 2012.  They have added the barrier, not sure if they put a soft wall in.





Here, unless you have vision problems, you can CLEARLY see VERY WELL LIT that area is.   Of course knowing you, you probably think the gray areas of the  barrier are shadows, just FYI, it's alternating colors.  white and gray.

Quoted from mikechristine1

ROFLMAO

"The Far Side"    You are talking about the Gary Larson comic???????


ONLY YOU would use the term "the far side" (it is called "the backstretch")   However ONLY YOU, DV, would think it happened on that backstretch of the track.

It happened between the first and second turn.

Here are two aerial images of where it happened.   The area colored in yellow is where it happened






And a more close up view (area in red is where it happened):







Contrary to your usual lies, the area of the track where this happened WAS VERY WELL LIT!.   Look through the rock screen (oh, does the boy know what a rock screen is?).  The area that you can see through the screen is where the occurrence to place.  What is "missing" from the still image fro the car cam when you look through the screen is the barrier, (knowing you, you would say "guide rail"), but the video is from 2012.  They have added the barrier, not sure if they put a soft wall in.





Here, unless you have vision problems, you can CLEARLY see VERY WELL LIT that area is.   Of course knowing you, you probably think the gray areas of the  barrier are shadows, just FYI, it's alternating colors.  white and gray.

Not to be argumentative here Mike, but you do understand why the night-time images you posted are so clear even though it's dark right? The images are not a true representation of what you can actually see. In situations like this television and still photographers as well open the apertures on their lenses so as to allow the maximum amount of light. It happened this weekend at the PGA championship, and happens all the time.

I once took a photo of a Birch tree in complete darkness. Using my trusty Canon AE1, I used the slowest shutter speed and the widest F-stop I could as well as a film designed for that type of photography. The resulting photo was amazing. It looked like the middle of the day. You really need to understand, that things are not always what they appear to be.

          First, I don't know anything about race car driving.  If Stewart initiated the contact that spun Ward into the wall knocking him out of the race, then he knew exactly where that contact occurred.  If they were running at a reduced "caution" speed, I would think all of the drivers would be alert and cautious not knowing if there was debris on the track, or what the situation was.  I would be very focused on the crash area, especially if I caused it.  Let's face it, Ward was not going to intentionally step out in front of his car.  I think it's one thing to perish in a catastrophic wreck, but this was a common, benign bump into the wall that developed into a tragedy.  Sad for the families effected, and the sport in general.

A certain person chooses to dodge the actual arguments made AGAINST his/her position by a) making a personal attack and b) launching into a completely irrelevant sideshow over semantics.  Of course, this same person, who criticizes others for copying and pasting from the internet, spent a great deal of time copying and pasting from the internet to give the illusion that his/her attempt to avoid addressing the actual points made.

Back to the actual thread - In my opinion -  Mr. Ward bears a substantial share of the responsibility for what happened by his own actions which placed himself in a dangerous and deadly situation.  

Rest in Peace Kevin Ward........no matter what is decided this is not a win win situation......

Stewart regardless of the outcome, may have learned a good lesson.....his aggressiveness at NASCAR races has led him to violent behavior...

and he has gotten away with it...guess it's good for  ticket sales....at the expense of someone's life???

regardless, no one will ever know the truth to this tragedy......and a law/procedure needs to be put in place and followed with consequences that

NO ONE LEAVES THEIR CAR UNLESS THERE IS FIRE, OR LEAKING GAS.....this is a law that no one follows and has to be enforced......violence or "road rage"

is not acceptable  ....for the fans and their appetite for this behavior???...and it should be acceptable???..

NO WAY>>>>>

  

Where is the evidence that Mr. Stewart was acting violently or engaging in "road rage?"

Mr. Stewart was racing a vehicle.  Mr. Ward was racing a vehicle.  Racing is NOT a pleasant Sunday afternoon drive through the country side.  The "clipping" that caused Mr. Ward's vehicle to spin out is something that happens in dirt racing.  The only evidence of "road rage" was Mr. Ward leaving his car, obviously angry and walking TOWARDS moving racing vehicles.

Some people keep pushing this line that Mr. Stewart was a hot-head who somehow was gunning for Mr. Ward and intentionally ran him over.  Mr. Stewart may have a short fuse but the rest of that narrative is baseless horse poop.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Some people keep pushing this line that Mr. Stewart was a hot-head who somehow was gunning for Mr. Ward and intentionally ran him over.  Mr. Stewart may have a short fuse but the rest of that narrative is baseless horse poop.

NASCAR forced him into Anger Management for race related anger issues.  His prior history for his aggressive behavior will be the evidence for a civil suit.  I don't see a jury blaming the victim.  Especially when Stewart is a multimillionaire.  He will be sued for millions.  

I finally looked at the video of the accident in very close detail... I downloaded it to my PC and put it in a video editor, so I could go frame by frame...
Now, I will make a very BIG assumption.. The revving clearly heard in the video is from Stewarts car...With that assumed, when you stop the video when rev is first heard, Stewarts wheels are turned to the right... which is exactly the WRONG way to turn if you want the rear end to come around in the direction of Ward.
At race speeds, the drivers routinely turn their wheels to the right in a turn to keep from looping around and spinning out.

My only conclusion is that Stewart saw Ward at the last minute, as Ward was still moving down the track, and tried to swing the rear end around and away from him.

I am NOT a Stewart fan by any means, this is just the way I see it when looking at the video.

no intention of pushing TS reputation...it is a KNOWN fact.....and besides...."backstretch" is a term for horse racing....

this happened just before the 4th turn......and these tracks are dangerous to begin with.....speeding down a track that may be 1/2 or 1/4 mile total...

these tracks are also used for flat track motorcycle racing ....and maybe for harness racing (horses)...there are plenty of these tracks all over NYS...and the country...

my problem???.......TS is a pro NASCAR racer......and Kevin is a rookie in a sprint car.....speeds that are maneuvered on
these short tracks are over the limit in most cases......and when there is a caution.....drivers slow down.....not speed up.....
whether or not TS saw KW is subject to question......

until this investigation is  completed......hold it down a bit.

and especially to those who have never been or seen these kind of tracks...the pictures are good.....but analyzing
not so good....

Let the experts continue and solve what they need to know.....TS has done the right thing and taken a back seat until
this is done.....he will have to live with this the rest of his life.....God bless all.

Quoted from Patches

this happened just before the 4th turn......
.

No, it happened between the 1st and 2nd turn

Quoted from CICERO

NASCAR forced him into Anger Management for race related anger issues.  His prior history for his aggressive behavior will be the evidence for a civil suit.  I don't see a jury blaming the victim.  Especially when Stewart is a multimillionaire.  He will be sued for millions.  

First, it would be up to a judge to determine if this prior history is admissible in court.  Depending on who you listen to (legal experts who have spoken on the matter over the past few days), it probably isn't admissible.

Second, I don't see anything in the video to show that Mr. Stewart was displaying "aggressive behavior" or expressing "anger."  He was racing his vehicle.

Third, the only person who seemed to be displaying "aggressive behavior" and expressing "anger" was Mr. Ward who left his car, walked TOWARD moving vehicles and appeared to be yelling angrily while pointing towards Mr. Stewart.

Finally, we still haven't heard a retraction or explanation from the person who started this thread by making the false claim that Mr. Stewart was arrested.

For the record, the definition from a legal dictionary:
Arrest
A seizure or forcible restraint; an exercise of the power to deprive a person of his or her liberty; the taking or keeping of a person in custody by legal authority, especially, in response to a criminal charge.