NASCAR driver kills competitor on track.

[37chevy]

CardShark said:

These cars are steered as much by the throttle, if not more so, than by using the actual steering wheel. I can't quite tell exactly when he's on the throttle (might be just after the collision?) however it's quite possible that Stewart used the throttle to try to turn the car away from Ward, maybe it was just too late.

Shouldn't be going fast enough to need the throttle to turn away from him....should be going slowly under yellow

[anonymous-user]

why did he get out , the same reason road rages try to kill other drivers, the red mist.

to me it looks like an accident with the dead person being to blame. But I am sure the driver who killed him wont just shrug it off, he has got to live with it for a long time.

[longshot]

37chevy said:

Shouldn't be going fast enough to need the throttle to turn away from him....should be going slowly under yellow

It doesn't look like they are going very fast to me, especially in comparison to their race speed.

Bear in mind that they would expect a green flag at some point so would be maintaining their positions and so their pace would be set by the leader at that time.

[Crafty_]

Press Conference with the County Sheriff, no charges, none pending. Stewart not under any suspicion and is free to go about his business. Investigation will continue which is normal and does not mean there are criminal charges in the future.

[CardShark]

longshot said:

37chevy said:

Shouldn't be going fast enough to need the throttle to turn away from him....should be going slowly under yellow

It doesn't look like they are going very fast to me, especially in comparison to their race speed.

Bear in mind that they would expect a green flag at some point so would be maintaining their positions and so their pace would be set by the leader at that time.

Indeed, TS's car didn't appear to be travelling any faster than the others when under yellows. Regardless as to his speed, if TS didn't see KW in enough time to react then even at the slower caution speed there may have been no chance of avoidance.

[37chevy]

longshot said:

It doesn't look like they are going very fast to me, especially in comparison to their race speed.

Bear in mind that they would expect a green flag at some point so would be maintaining their positions and so their pace would be set by the leader at that time.

It was fast enough to drag a guy 50ft, they have spotters to tell them about accidents and to slow down, so I'm sure they knew he was there, only tony knows what actually went on, it's easy to be an armchair driver, other drivers slowed down enough to miss him, you'd expect a driver of Tonys calibre to be able to slow down quickly too. I don't know, like I said I hope for Tonys sake it was purely an accident, even if he isn't prosecuted, if he knows in his own head he intent islet aimed for him (whether he meant to hit him or not) it will haunt him for the rest of his life, not a nice position to be in.

Let's hope for the best in humanity and it was purely an accident

[CardShark]

Absolutely ^^

[Piglet]

What an awful situation, I think others are looking at a different piece of video though as so many conclusions are being drawn from a piece of poor footage of a very dark track.

On the point of the other cars missing Kevin Ward, he wasn't approaching the other cars, he was approaching Stewart which is very different.

My thoughts are with all those involved, including the medics and officials who had to deal with the awful incident.

[longshot]

37chevy said:

It was fast enough to drag a guy 50ft, they have spotters to tell them about accidents and to slow down, so I'm sure they knew he was there, only tony knows what actually went on, it's easy to be an armchair driver, other drivers slowed down enough to miss him, you'd expect a driver of Tonys calibre to be able to slow down quickly too. I don't know, like I said I hope for Tonys sake it was purely an accident, even if he isn't prosecuted, if he knows in his own head he intent islet aimed for him (whether he meant to hit him or not) it will haunt him for the rest of his life, not a nice position to be in.

Let's hope for the best in humanity and it was purely an accident

I hope for his sake that it was an accident too.
It's one of those vids where on two different days you will watch it and come to two different conclusions.

[acer12]

37chevy said:

Other drivers slowed down enough to miss him, you'd expect a driver of Tonys calibre to be able to slow down quickly too.

But the other drivers didn't have the deceased running at them. He wanted only wanted Stewarts attention.

Whatever happens with the police / criminal courts I can see the deceased family sueing tony Stewart for millions

[hornetrider]

I can't believe that poor young chap ran out into the track in front of oncoming cars albeit under caution. A terrible tragedy but entirely of his own making.

RIP.

[Colonial]

37chevy said:

Shouldn't be going fast enough to need the throttle to turn away from him....should be going slowly under yellow

But sprintcars can hardly steer at low speeds. They are steered on the throttle.

[hornet]

37chevy said:

It was fast enough to drag a guy 50ft, they have spotters to tell them about accidents and to slow down

Certainly have spotters in NASCAR, but in sprint cars? Not so sure.

[John D.]

storminnorman said:

BrownBottle said:

It sounds as though he hits the throttle twice, first at 33secs then lifts off and hits the throttle again almost immediately.

Perhaps trying to intimidate the guy on track?

Certainly appears to be an attempt to 'buzz' him

Surprised everyone is placing so much blame on the guy on foot. There was a full course caution. All drivers should have slowed down. Those going past before Stewart appeared to have done so. Stewart blatantly gunned the throttle and sent his car sideways - doesn't sound like the sort of thing done under yellow flags normally!

Now he may have gunned the throttle as an attempt to steer away from the accident (these cars do steer on the throttle to a large extent), but I can't believe there wasn't a wide expanse of track that he could have used to avoid this even with limited 'off throttle' steering.

[Rude-boy]

Very sad for all concerned.

Regardless of the outcome of any investigation or otherwise anyone who has stood trackside and who is aware of how drivers behave on track knows that you walk on a live track at your own peril.

[rscott]

John D. said:

storminnorman said:

BrownBottle said:

It sounds as though he hits the throttle twice, first at 33secs then lifts off and hits the throttle again almost immediately.

Perhaps trying to intimidate the guy on track?

Certainly appears to be an attempt to 'buzz' him

Surprised everyone is placing so much blame on the guy on foot. There was a full course caution. All drivers should have slowed down. Those going past before Stewart appeared to have done so. Stewart blatantly gunned the throttle and sent his car sideways - doesn't sound like the sort of thing done under yellow flags normally!

Now he may have gunned the throttle as an attempt to steer away from the accident (these cars do steer on the throttle to a large extent), but I can't believe there wasn't a wide expanse of track that he could have used to avoid this even with limited 'off throttle' steering.

Not sure which video you were watching, but to me it seemed that all the cars were travelling at the same speed..

[John D.]

rscott said:

John D. said:

storminnorman said:

BrownBottle said:

It sounds as though he hits the throttle twice, first at 33secs then lifts off and hits the throttle again almost immediately.

Perhaps trying to intimidate the guy on track?

Certainly appears to be an attempt to 'buzz' him

Surprised everyone is placing so much blame on the guy on foot. There was a full course caution. All drivers should have slowed down. Those going past before Stewart appeared to have done so. Stewart blatantly gunned the throttle and sent his car sideways - doesn't sound like the sort of thing done under yellow flags normally!

Now he may have gunned the throttle as an attempt to steer away from the accident (these cars do steer on the throttle to a large extent), but I can't believe there wasn't a wide expanse of track that he could have used to avoid this even with limited 'off throttle' steering.

Not sure which video you were watching, but to me it seemed that all the cars were travelling at the same speed..

The one where Stewart guns the throttle and goes sideways as he clips the other driver. Gunning the throttle sent the car sideways rather than gain speed. You can see him steer right into the oversteer.

[woof]

No criminal charges pending

Tony Stewart is not currently facing criminal charges over the on-track incident during a sprint car race that resulted in the death of fellow racer Kevin Ward Jr.

Ontario County Sheriff Phillip C Provero told a media conference on Sunday that an initial examination of available evidence does not support the accident being considered a criminal matter.

"At this moment there are no facts or evidence that would support a criminal charge or criminal intent," he said.

"This is, right now, being investigated as an on-track crash, and I don't want to infer that there are criminal charges pending.

"When the investigation is completed we will sit down with the District Attorney and review it, but I want to make it very clear that there are no criminal charges pending at this time."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115342

[Colonial]

John D. said:

The one where Stewart guns the throttle and goes sideways as he clips the other driver. Gunning the throttle sent the car sideways rather than gain speed. You can see him steer right into the oversteer.

A sprintcar doesn't steer in a traditional sense. It steers on the throttle.

It's not like a standard road car.

[drakart]

Colonial said:

John D. said:

The one where Stewart guns the throttle and goes sideways as he clips the other driver. Gunning the throttle sent the car sideways rather than gain speed. You can see him steer right into the oversteer.

A sprintcar doesn't steer in a traditional sense. It steers on the throttle.

It's not like a standard road car.

At race speeds - completely agree. At yellow flag speed - the steering works.

As long as you are off the power they will steer.