Tony Stewart Apparently Hits Walking Driver With Sprint Car

[NickVT10]

Tony did not intentionally swing the back end out to hit that guy. He isn't an idiot and wouldn't endanger someone like that. I haven't read through all 29 pages of this thread nor am I an expert but from what I have heard from people who have driven these cars is that the steering goes along with the throttle a lot. For Tony to swerve and miss the guy, he probably gave it gas so it would actually move the direction he was steering it. It's a horrible situation but for anyone to think he would purposefully try and hit another person on foot is crazy.

 

[hockey878]

Can't begin to imagine Tony intended to hurt the kid. I don't think anyone would logically think that. However, I don't think that's the relative question.

The sole issue here, imo, is whether or not he intended to gun it, knowing the kid was right there. If so, it was a reckless act which ended up killing a kid. It doesn't matter if he intended to hurt him. All that matters is if he intended to do the reckless act which killed the kid. It's intent to do the act, not the harm. But:

Maybe Tony didn't see him? Maybe he was trying to gun it to swerve away from him because he saw him late? Maybe he didn't really gun it?

It's gonna be really tough to prove any of this. Sad news regardless.

to me it doesn't seem like he actually gunned it. it actually seems like the tires just spun when he runs over the kid and then the car yanks

 

[fredmccallyRTR]

This is one of the weirdest reactions by the media to a story I have ever seen. Headline after headline, stupid intro after intro it's "Tony Stewart KILLS". He's a good driver, but if he was able to purposely nail this guy with his rear passenger side tire while also hanging a corner on a dimly lit dirt track then he is officially the greatest ever. - If he competed in 'Death Race', I'd bet my kidneys on him.

 

[HammerDown]

 

[Indrid Cold]

This is one of the weirdest reactions by the media to a story I have ever seen. Headline after headline, stupid intro after intro it's "Tony Stewart KILLS". He's a good driver, but if he was able to purposely nail this guy with his rear passenger side tire while also hanging a corner on a dimly lit dirt track then he is officially the greatest ever. - If he competed in 'Death Race', I'd bet my kidneys on him.

He couldn't beat THE MAN!!!

 

[WizardHawk]

This is from Mark Tychoniewicz who is one of the crew guys who was working on the car that is ahead of Tony Stewart in the video. The quotes are from his Facebook page:

Can't wait for 4d20 to tell us all how this guy is wrong too.

Sorry, but seasoned drivers that post on some hidden site trump actual information from the pit crew of the car in that race just ahead of Stewart.

Am I right 4d20?

 

[pabartl787]

[MEDIA=twitter]498866223695007746[/MEDIA]

Not surprised and I would add he is probably 50/50 for this weekends NASCAR race at Michigan

 

[trojanfan12]

to me it doesn't seem like he actually gunned it. it actually seems like the tires just spun when he runs over the kid and then the car yanks

I've never driven one of these vehicles, however, from what I'm hearing and reading, these cars are set up so that speed is part of how they maneuver and steer the car. So, if Stewart saw him at the last second (as suggested by the crew guy that I quoted), it would make sense that he would gun the engine because that's part of how you maneuver the car.

Additionally, this wasn't some rookie in his first season in Sprint car who made a dumb rookie mistake, let his emotions get the best of him and got out of the car. This guy had been driving Sprint cars for 5 years, so he knew better than to get out of the car.

 

[NDHoosier101]

I guess this is more popular than the other thread so:

Can't believe there's so many people blaming Tony. The kid got out of his car, the one thing you're not supposed to do. The guy was in a black suit on a dirt road, and Tony was going fast, he didn't have time to identify the driver and decide to run him over, or teach him a lesson. To suggest anything else is ignorant.

Bottom line: The guy stays in his car and he's alive today.

 

[nolehusker]

I guess this is more popular than the other thread so:

Can't believe there's so many people blaming Tony. The kid got out of his car, the one thing you're not supposed to do. The guy was in a black suit on a dirt road, and Tony was going fast, he didn't have time to identify the driver and decide to run him over, or teach him a lesson. To suggest anything else is ignorant.

Bottom line: The guy stays in his car and he's alive today.

I can't either. There's even more to it than that. Those at the track said that Tony was riding high all night long in the turns. Wards car wrecked at the top of the turn and then he walked basically right in the middle of the track between his car and the bottom of the turn.

You can also see that the car before Tony almost hit him also.

It was still a green flag. The yellow flag had not been dropped yet to tell the cars to slow down.

The guy had a black suit on a dirt track at NIGHT.

 

[BF4L]

Pretty good read

Tony Stewart Threatened To ?Run Over? A Driver 2 Years Ago Following Wreck « CBS Tampa

 

[pabartl787]

Pretty good read

Tony Stewart Threatened To ?Run Over? A Driver 2 Years Ago Following Wreck « CBS Tampa

" Stewart meant he was going to try to take Kenseth out during a race, not actually run him over."

Lots of drivers have said this. Basically it means to bump them in the back and put them into wall.

 

[hockey878]

Pretty good read

Tony Stewart Threatened To ?Run Over? A Driver 2 Years Ago Following Wreck « CBS Tampa

this article and ones similar are completely idiotic.

Drivers use the term "run him over" and the like ALL THE TIME.

It just means bump him, drive through him, race him rough. thats all it means. and this is where people that don't know shit about racing start showing their colors.

 

[hockey878]

this article and ones similar are completely idiotic.

Drivers use the term "run him over" and the like ALL THE TIME.

It just means bump him, drive through him, race him rough. thats all it means. and this is where people that don't know shit about racing start showing their colors.

ok, so the article is fine. the headline is just horrible

 

[Lemon Harang Pie]

This is one of the weirdest reactions by the media to a story I have ever seen. Headline after headline, stupid intro after intro it's "Tony Stewart KILLS". He's a good driver, but if he was able to purposely nail this guy with his rear passenger side tire while also hanging a corner on a dimly lit dirt track then he is officially the greatest ever. - If he competed in 'Death Race', I'd bet my kidneys on him.

After all the headlines I saw I was expecting to see Tony Stewart run down a kid trying to get off the track but it was just a dumb 20-something charging a race car. It should be investigated but I don't know how anyone could say definitively that Stewart hit him intentionally.

 

[johnson]

I think you'd really have to have driven one of these cars on a similar track to have an expert opinion, but just watching the video...wow...it looked bad. He clearly sped up when he approached him.

Ward should not have gotten out of his car and definitely not have come out onto the track like that. But that's not the end of the story. People do stupid stuff all the time, that doesn't give you license to run them over.

 

[WizardHawk]

I think you'd really have to have driven one of these cars on a similar track to have an expert opinion, but just watching the video...wow...it looked bad. He clearly sped up when he approached him.

Ward should not have gotten out of his car and definitely not have come out onto the track like that. But that's not the end of the story. People do stupid stuff all the time, that doesn't give you license to run them over.

Everyone really needs to wait for the process to work itself out before drawing conclusions. There are all kinds of opinions out there. The closest thing we have had to someone close to the situation is one of the pit crew for the car that was in front of Stewarts that barely missed him.

i have driven these cars,the right side board on the top wing will block out an entire car let alone a person standing there,i now work on the 45 car in the video and the driver said he just saw him at the last second and just missed him,Tony had even less time to react to the situation.people in the stands or watching this video have no idea how fast these thing happen and how limited our view is inside the car.it was a very bad turn of events that happened but we all know the dangers involved in the sport we love.

Now Ward wasn't going for that car so he did step back up away from it as it was going to pass him. He did not do the same when struck by Stewart.

I'm personally going to wait for the official investigations before deciding what Stewart might have been doing and thinking at that time. There is a lot of misinformation out there on it and this isn't helping.

 

[BF4L]

" Stewart meant he was going to try to take Kenseth out during a race, not actually run him over."

Lots of drivers have said this. Basically it means to bump them in the back and put them into wall.

Did you read the article? Cause it basically says that Tony would not have "ran" the kid over intentionally. I am guessing you did not read it though.

It also supports the theory that he hit the gas trying to not hit him.

“I think even with the video, it’s going to be tough to prove that this was more than just an accident and that it was even culpable negligence, which he should’ve known or should’ve believed that by getting close to this guy, that it was going to cause the accident,

 

[4down20]

If Tony really didn't see the kid and really wasn't trying to teach him a lesson, then I feel sorry for him.

 

[757Hokie83]

I think you'd really have to have driven one of these cars on a similar track to have an expert opinion, but just watching the video...wow...it looked bad. He clearly sped up when he approached him.

Ward should not have gotten out of his car and definitely not have come out onto the track like that. But that's not the end of the story. People do stupid stuff all the time, that doesn't give you license to run them over.

are you sure about that?

i may need to lay low for a little while