Tony Stewart Apparently Hits Walking Driver With Sprint Car

[HammerDown]

It's going to be interesting to hear more details on this that we might not be aware of but just watching the video, how can anyone accuse Stewart of killing this guy?

I do think it would have been a major mistake to race at Watkin's Glen today.

In the middle of the night twitter blew up with news of this and I expected to wake up hearing that Stewart was downtown getting questioned by the cops and charges were pending but there's no news.

I think this is a non-story.

 

[pitman]

Only Tony Knows what happened. But I and my son have driven sprint cars on dirt. Tony was following the car in front of him that swerved to miss Ward at that time yes Tony STABBED the gas because that is the best way to get a sprint for to turn left. Sprint cars have anywhere from 4-8 inches of stager with the right tire being bigger around, so when you STAB the gas it helps turn the car left. Also the wing on the right side of the driver hangs down so far it is really hard to see anything that is on the right front of the car where Ward was. I hate to hear of any driver losing their life and my heart is heavy to day for the Ward family. My son races almost every weekend some where across the USA and I am always on pins and needles until he calls me and then i know he is ok. I will leave the investigation to the police, but with the understanding I have of sprint cars I think Tony did what he could do not to hit him.

RIP Kevin Ward

 

[#1BostonFan]

To be clear HE DIDN'T HIT HIM. Ward came into his car and was picked up by the rear tires, which stick out well past the car, and was wrapped up in them and ejected out. THAT'S NOT HITTING HIM. That's being dumb and going into a moving vehicle with weird wheels and killing yourself.

I'm watching the video and the Wheel or side of the car hit the guy. Either way it's Tony's car...not sure how the wheels being weird gives you an excuse to hit someone with them lol. The guy was being dumb, but the wheels have nothing to do with it, from what I'm seeing.

 

[WizardHawk]

I'm watching the video and the Wheel or side of the car hit the guy. Either way it's Tony's car...not sure how the wheels being weird gives you an excuse to hit someone with them lol. The guy was being dumb, but the wheels have nothing to do with it, from what I'm seeing.

Read the post above yours. I'll take the experience of someone who has actually driven one of those cars over the observations of us every day of the week.

Hitting him intentionally would mean he turned and drove into him with the front of the car. Even not really meaning too, but just getting too close would mean the contact probably came still toward the front. From what the video shows his first contact with the car was with the right rear wheel, which sticks out past the body of the car. He was wrapped up in that wheel. I don't see how you can hold him accountable for actually hitting him when the guy walked directly into his wheels. That's not striking someone with your car to me, that's someone being stupid and getting very close to a dangerous car and paying the ultimate price for it. It really is clear as day to me.

 

[#1BostonFan]

a.) I don't see how it's possible that Stewart wrecked him. It seems that he could not have made it around the track that fast.

b.) After driving in circles billions of times over however many years, I doubt seriously that in the dark anyone was looking for angry drivers running wild on the track.

I watched the video expecting to see one thing and instead saw nothing but an accident.

No way in hell Stewart purposefully targets and hits a driver in that situation.

It's going to be interesting to see where this goes. First I want to hear from the family. If they don't go after Stewart, my guess is he gives them a fortune out of grief over the accident.

It was Stewart who "pushed" him up into the wall and wreaked him and it was him who came back around and "hit" him. I think it's fair to say, after watching the video, Tony could see the crash coming back around and the kid in the middle of the track. I don't think there's any way he misses the pissed off driver in the middle of the track. I'm not saying he purposely made contact with him, but I bet he saw him.

 

[#1BostonFan]

Read the post above yours. I'll take the experience of someone who has actually driven one of those cars over the observations of us every day of the week.

Hitting him intentionally would mean he turned and drove into him with the front of the car. Even not really meaning too, but just getting too close would mean the contact probably came still toward the front. From what the video shows his first contact with the car was with the right rear wheel, which sticks out past the body of the car. He was wrapped up in that wheel. I don't see how you can hold him accountable for actually hitting him when the guy walked directly into his wheels. That's not striking someone with your car to me, that's someone being stupid and getting very close to a dangerous car and paying the ultimate price for it. It really is clear as day to me.

Read my post below yours. I don't know if it was on purpose...just saying he saw him.

 

[WizardHawk]

It was Stewart who "pushed" him up into the wall and wreaked him and it was him who came back around and "hit" him. I think it's fair to say, after watching the video, Tony could see the crash coming back around and the kid in the middle of the track. I don't think there's any way he misses the pissed off driver in the middle of the track. I'm not saying he purposely made contact with him, but I bet he saw him.

Please read what Pitman wrote and respond to it.

Yes, Stewart is the one that caused his race to be over, or at least the contact with him. The reason it was him that ran him over was because it was him the kid ran toward. That seems pretty obvious doesn't it? Another car just before Stewart had to also maneuver to miss him and the kid wasn't trying to go at him. That may be the most damning thing for the case it was all on Ward. If another car he wasn't trying to run toward had to work hard to miss him, what chance did Stewart have?

 

[HammerDown]

I don't think there's any way he misses the pissed off driver in the middle of the track.

Sure there is.

 

[pabartl787]

Read my post below yours. I don't know if it was on purpose...just saying he saw him.

You dont know that just based on the video

 

[Smart]

I don't think Stewart intentionally hit him, but I do think that there is a good chance Stewart swung wide to intentionally scare him and Ward moved toward him to show anger, leading to a collision. That's what the video I saw looked like to me. It was very short, so I couldn't see Tony until a second before the incident. I do think based on the video that I saw that Tony saw him there and likely swung wide to scare him.

The tort of assault requires one to "cause the reasonable apprehension of an immediate or harmful impact." And while intent is required, the intent is only for the apprehension, not the actual contact. Even today, I think that's enough for a winning case under the "more likely than not" standard. If a better video emerges and shows what the short video seems to indicate, I think it's a slam-dunk civil assault case and a possible criminal case. Right now, there's definitely not near enough for a criminal case.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Looking at that video, IDK if you could charge Stewart with anything unless you could prove he accelerated. Seems like Ward just walked into oncoming traffic. IDK, maybe I missed something

 

[podsox]

not only does he walk through traffic but he takes stutter steps midway through the track.

 

[pabartl787]

I don't think Stewart intentionally hit him, but I do think that there is a good chance Stewart swung wide to intentionally scare him and Ward moved toward him to show anger, leading to a collision. That's what the video I saw looked like to me. It was very short, so I couldn't see Tony until a second before the incident. I do think based on the video that I saw that Tony saw him there and likely swung wide to scare him.

The tort of assault requires one to "cause the reasonable apprehension of an immediate or harmful impact." And while intent is required, the intent is only for the apprehension, not the actual contact. Even today, I think that's enough for a winning case under the "more likely than not" standard. If a better video emerges and shows what the short video seems to indicate, I think it's a slam-dunk civil assault case and a possible criminal case. Right now, there's definitely near enough for a criminal case.

That is asinine,

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

not only does he walk through traffic but he takes stutter steps midway through the track.

That's what it looks like to me too. I could imagine him being hard to avoid at that speed.

 

[The Crimson King]

looks like Ward tried to dive out of the way at the last second

 

[WizardHawk]

No way smart. You cannot make a case for criminal anything from that video. You can't. The part you are ignoring is what he did before Stewart's car reached him. He had to move up and down to avoid the other cars, and the car just before Stewart had to swerve to miss him and the kid wasn't trying to walk into him. If that car had to work to stay away from and he wasn't walking into him, what chance did Stewart have to avoid him when he WAS trying to go into him?

Zero chance of a civil case winning, more or less criminal. He was a volunteer victim engaging in a dangerous and reckless activity in the heat of anger. That FACT will not be missed.

 

[HammerDown]

I don't think Stewart intentionally hit him, but I do think that there is a good chance Stewart swung wide to intentionally scare him and Ward moved toward him to show anger, leading to a collision.

At worst, Stewart wanted to scare him, not hit him. At best, he saw him at the last second and did what he could to avoid him but the kid had tunnel vision on Stewart's car.

 

[pabartl787]

looks like Ward tried to dive out of the way at the last second

Ummm, no

 

[Smart]

That is asinine,

The word "not" should be in there. I added it in and edited, but instead of editing, the stupid bus WiFi double posted. There is nothing to support a criminal charge without a better video.

 

[Wazmankg]

At him or to get away from him? If some crazy fuck ran up on me like that with me in the car I would gas my car too. It didn't look like he was aiming at him to me. It looked like he gassed it to get around him and lost traction because of the dirt. Bad decision in retrospect, but the dumbass shouldn't have gotten out of the car trying to instigate some shit with someone in a race car in the middle of a race.

This is what I saw. I don't follow nascar but I know Stewart is considered an asshole. There's no way he did anything to intentionally hit that kid. Idk what the kid was thinking walking out into the middle of a dirt track.