Horrific accident leads to death in Sprint Car race

[Downtown Osprey]

NASCAR driver Tony Stewart was involved in an accident, killing 20 year old Kevin Ward Jr. during a confrontation.

*WARNING* this video is extremely graphic. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Link: http://deadspin.com/reports-tony-stewart-ran-over-opposing-driver-during-1618893708

[Lunican]

Lesson learned. Don't try to fist fight a racecar.

[spuwho]

Tony just announced he is dropping out of the NASCAR Cheez-It 355 at the Glen.

Judging by the police activity, this is not being treated as a typical racing accident thus far.

Watching the video, Stewart was in a tough situation after Ward walked literally in front of him. He had people below and behind him.

I am not making any judgements until all the facts are out, but I am thinking Stewart was going to plaster Ward with dirt by spinning the rear tires as he passed by, but the rear end came out when Stewart gave it the gas and it took Ward under the rear tire instead. Stewart did stop his car immediately and pulled over. But #1 rule in racing when you wipe out is to stay in your car (if its not on fire) wait for the track crew to arrive and enforce the track yellow, which Ward did not do.

[fsquid]

I was taught at 3 not to go out into traffic.

[funwithteeth]

Tony just announced he is dropping out of the NASCAR Cheez-It 355 at the Glen.

Judging by the police activity, this is not being treated as a typical racing accident thus far.

Watching the video, Stewart was in a tough situation after Ward walked literally in front of him. He had people below and behind him.

I am not making any judgements until all the facts are out, but I am thinking Stewart was going to plaster Ward with dirt by spinning the rear tires as he passed by, but the rear end came out when Stewart gave it the gas and it took Ward under the rear tire instead. Stewart did stop his car immediately and pulled over. But #1 rule in racing when you wipe out is to stay in your car (if its not on fire) wait for the track crew to arrive and enforce the track yellow, which Ward did not do.

This is important. No one's arguing that Ward isn't culpable in this, but Stewart still could have done something to prevent what ultimately happened. If criminal charges result from this, he could possibly face second-degree reckless endangerment. Though if he's convicted of anything, it'll be manslaughter.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Tony just announced he is dropping out of the NASCAR Cheez-It 355 at the Glen.

Judging by the police activity, this is not being treated as a typical racing accident thus far.

Watching the video, Stewart was in a tough situation after Ward walked literally in front of him. He had people below and behind him.

I am not making any judgements until all the facts are out, but I am thinking Stewart was going to plaster Ward with dirt by spinning the rear tires as he passed by, but the rear end came out when Stewart gave it the gas and it took Ward under the rear tire instead. Stewart did stop his car immediately and pulled over. But #1 rule in racing when you wipe out is to stay in your car (if its not on fire) wait for the track crew to arrive and enforce the track yellow, which Ward did not do.

This is important. No one's arguing that Ward isn't culpable in this, but Stewart still could have done something to prevent what ultimately happened. If criminal charges result from this, he could possibly face second-degree reckless endangerment. Though if he's convicted of anything, it'll be manslaughter.

SI had a pretty good write up about this that I read last night.  Basically outlining the different criminal possibilities that TS 'could' face - ranging from 1st D Murder (highly unlikely) to lesser reckless endangerment / manslaughter charges (still not likely, but quite possible).  The most compelling and potentially damning evidence that will be used against him criminally will come from his peers on the track.  All of the other racers could potentially be questioned and asked their opinion based on the multiple video angles; they could then be called into court, not only as actual  witnesses for the prosecution but as expert witnesses, due to the nature of their profession, as well.

Not looking really good for Tony.  And not for a second do I think that he meant to hit the guy with his car.  I'm more inclined to think something along the lines of what Spuwho said.

And no matter how this plays out criminally, Stewart will more than likely face a pretty substantial civil case and not to mention the sponsors that start dropping, sanctions from NASCAR, etc...    This is going to be a life-changer no matter how it plays out.  I feel bad for the guy. 

I don't have the link and don't care to dig it up, but it should be pretty easy to find.

[BridgeTroll]

He needs to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up... Nascar driver?  Nascar Owner?  Dirt track driver owner?  Stewart-Haas racing has been pretty successful... despite Tony's  accident last year and this incident...

His dirt track wreck last year cost him half a season... this dirt track incident will certainly cause issues.  Sponsors?  He has not really lit things up this year on the track though his other drivers have done well.

It could look to sponsors like he is distracted by too many "diversions" and not taking his ownership and Nascar driver responsibilities seriously enough...

[strider]

We learned long ago you do not get out of a car still on the track until the safety people get to you. They don't get to you until THEY know it is safe.  We almost lost a driver because he got bunted into the wall, couldn't restart so he reached down to undo his bent and got hit so hard at that moment that it totaled the car. Had he just undone the belt let alone actually gotten out, he would not have made it. The car protected him.

So what I saw was an angry young man getting so bent out of shape over getting bunted that he forgot all common sense and did something incredibly stupid - he got out of his car onto a track full of, even if they had been under yellow, fast moving cars that are steered with the throttle as much as anything. He then proceeded to walk further onto the track to shake his fist at someone.  It would have been more of a surprise to me if he hadn't gotten hit.

Very sad that it ended up in a death and I feel for the family who lost a young man.  But I also feel for Tony Stewart who now has to live with this. 

[JayBird]

Sad all the way around, and though I'm an old Rusty Wallace fan, now a Jr fan, I still feel for Tony. Spuwho hit the nail in the head, tempers are at full throttle when you're out on the track. The one thing that will not help is that everyone has said when you gas the car on dirt the back end will kick out, and Tony is far from inexperienced so a second yr law student will most likely get a huge civil settlement for the Ward family.

As for the stay in car comments, that's nascar, Indy and professional circuits. This was local Saturday night racing. I grew up watching races every Saturday night at Flemington and Wall speedways in Jersey, the best part for spectators was after the crash the driver shaking his fist, tossing his helmet at the windshield of other car, or using his damaged car as a battering ram and turning it into an enduro race. That's why Tony still does it (he's well known for racing at nearby local tracks when nascar comes to town), it is what true racing is. Before NASCAR became corporate in the late 90s, seeing Darrell Waltrip or Richard Petty give an on track lashing to poppa Earnhardt was a regular occurrence.