76 replies to this topic

[dirtracer0]

The main question that nobody is talking about is why did tony even hit the gas? Maybe gotti  can explain that for us. He seems to know everything. Everyone is intitled to this own two cents on what happened. Now I remember why I never come on this board.

Edited by dirtracer0, 10 August 2014 - 08:27 PM.

[GOTTI]

And being stuck under a rr of spirnt car on the brakes. Is better? Honestly i dont think u even understand how that event transpired kid got tough because of who was driving car. If he stayed in the cockpit we dont have this convo EVER! IF it was joe schmoe we never hear of this on mainstream media which is so censored u can only believe half of what you see and hear. Still waiting on. How his front wheels turned right. And car went right as to how he tried to run him over. I will apoligize for calling you a moron. But ur logic is waiting in left field for a.touchdown hit by a basket ball bat. Essintially a bunch of nonsense spewed from a nonsensical kind of person. Ur not.a moron ur a democrat

Edited by GOTTI, 10 August 2014 - 09:10 PM.

[GOTTI]

You know what tony hitting the throttle is called? Its called oh shit! But once again keep quiet and go luck your own face

[GOTTI]

And i didnt mean luck ur own face chabge the l to a f and u get the point. All i want to know is how does ledgend feel about this. Cant be far off of how he feels

Edited by GOTTI, 10 August 2014 - 09:15 PM.

[GOTTI]

If you want to quieston me google chris hile it a bb mod but u get the same view point. Now add a wing down on the right side and cut half of the view from the top sightline and tell me tony seen dude run down the track.

[BaconBits]

Everybody is passing judgement based on a sketchy cell phone video from a couple hundred feet away and twenty to thirty feet up. Basing any judgement on a supposed throttle noise when there are twenty three other cars still running on the track is extremely naive.

[jmmr]

Not a Stewart fan at all- but when guys get on here saying it was definitely intentional- well you must be a true idiot!!!! Had they made 20 passes around this car under caution I could understand that judgement. Is Tony a hothead- yeah. Would he possibly sling dirt on him -sure. But Noone could say for absolute certainty that's what happened- it all happened fast- the guys clothing was very dark- even under caution they were moving at a good speed- there was a car directly in front of him and it was dark. Now compound all this with the fact the kid got out as fast as he could...what happened was tragic- but to assign blame that fast??? I shouldn't be surprised as that's the mentality of most today!

[JHM27]

If you look at the video. When you hear the revving noise watch closely as you can see the blue car speed up.

[HARVESTER OF SORROW]

The blue car is already out of the picture. And Stewarts car made the motor noise. You can see the car move.

Even on the news, you can see the guy trying to get out of the way. They had a still shot of exactly what I said.

[BaconBits]

The blue car is already out of the picture. And Stewarts car made the motor noise. You can see the car move.
Even on the news, you can see the guy trying to get out of the way. They had a still shot of exactly what I said.

Just. Stop. You sound like an idiot.

[The Legend]

Tony Stewart had no reason to be pissed off, the other guy jumped the cushion and wrecked , Stewart maintained his position. Regardless of Stewarts history of getting pissed off it has no effect on this situation and like I said there was no reason for him to be mad. Anyone dumb enough to run at the side of a sprint car rolling 50 mph deserves what ever happens . It's shitty that Stewarts name is being drug though the mud for
No reason at all . Tony has done more for dirt racing than damn near anyone in history .

[D1RT]

The blue car is already out of the picture. And Stewarts car made the motor noise. You can see the car move.

Even on the news, you can see the guy trying to get out of the way. They had a still shot of exactly what I said.

 

Obviously you are a Stewart hater and you will see what ever you want to prove him in the wrong.

Have you ever sat in and driven a sprint car??

This was posted on facebook by a former sprint car driver and current crew member of the 45 car that damn near hit Ward first...........

"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."

"As for all the speculation about spinning out and getting out, most drivers stay in the car (it's the safest place to be") as long as there's no danger of a fire and wait to be pushed unless the car is so damaged that it's going to leave on a hook. Even then, they wait for the field to slow and form up behind the leader (the 45 car, in this case) before they get out of the car. And if they want to send signals to another driver, they do it from the inside of the track, where they can be seen. Most of those speculating on this have never driven a winged sprint car, or crewed on one, or in many cases have never even watched a sprint car race in person while sober."

 

The proper authorities will investigate this situation and come to an answer as to what happened but since you are the leading expert in accident investigation from a blurry cell phone video posted on Youtube you should be heading to New York to offer your expert services. 

[Lumpster1J]

This is my take on this situation. I am not a fan of Tonys other than the fact that he does alot for the sport of dirt racing, and for that I thank him. I have been around racing for the better part of my life, and there are a few things that I think people are overlooking here.

 

I would be willing to bet that Tony had no Idea that he even caused a wreck, because as far as I can tell, very little, if any contact was made. It was nothing more than a slide job that happens at most sprint car races about 100 times a night. Tony did impeade his line, and at this point, Kevin has the choice to back off and give up the spot, or stand in the gas and try to power back around him. He did as 9 out of 10 racers of his experience level are going to do, and that is stand in the gas . The car jumps the cushion and contacts the wall as a result, and as far as I am concered it is nobodys fault but his own that he wrecks in this situation. It was a pretty mild slide job, as slide jobs go in this sport.

 

The kid had no business getting as upset with Tony as he was, and as I said before, I bet Tony didn't realize that Kevin had wrecked or that he would be charging at his briskly moving sprint car (yes, they are still going probably 60 to 70 mph under caution at this point). Tony was just driving normally around the track and getting the car slowed down for the caution, and there is this guy standing in the track flipping him off.

 

If you know anything about sprint cars, you know that they don't change direction very well with the steering wheel. The car has two gigantic rear tires conected to a solid axle with about 10 to 14 inches of stagger (left rear smaller than the right rear to make the car turn left) depending on track conditions, and two tiny little steering tires that do very little to change the cars direction at caution speeds. Ask any sprint car driver and they will tell you that you steer these cars with the throttle, and this is much more effective at racing speed than caution speed. Even if Tony did see Kevin, he would have a very hard time avoiding him. Even hitting the brakes in these cars is not going to help because most of the time it is a three wheel brake system that is designed to set the car sideways in a turn, not to stop you quick.

If you watch the video, you only see when Tony has already got to where Kevin is standing, which is very low on the track, because he thought the 45 car was Tony and he was running toward it. You can see when he realizes that wasn't Tony, he starts to work his way back up the track as he sees Tony coming, but it is too late. You see Tonys wheels go to the right, because they hit Kevin first and jerked the wheels to the right. Back to the thing about knowing race cars, your foot is enclosed in the gas pedal on these cars in case the throttle sticks, you have a chance to pull up on the pedal and unstick it. You hear Tony get in the gas for sure, but this after the car makes contact with Kevin, abrubtly slowing the car, causing Tony to lunge forward and push the gas pedal, which on a racing engine with no flywheel is more like a light switch than an actual gas pedal. It takes vey little throttle pedal movement to cause a big rpm change in these cars.

 

Anyways, Tony is what alot of people say, a hotheaded punk at times, but I have a hard time believing that he would go as far as to intentionaly run down a felow competitor. This was a result of a poor decision by a young and enthusiastic competitor acting in the heat of the moment, and unfortunately, it cost him the ultimate price. Seeing this passion expressed night in and night out is what keeps race fans butts in the seats. Unfortunately, in this instance, a life was lost in the process. My prayers go out to the families of Kevin Ward Jr., and to Tony Stewart as well. This is a black eye on a storied carreer and a sport that I love, that I'm not so sure either deserves. RIP and Godspeed Kevin Ward Jr.

Edited by Lumpster1J, 11 August 2014 - 12:22 PM.

[23wellerfan31]

I'm obviously a huge Smoke fan. The amount of clueless jackasses on ESPN, CNN, etc. Is unreal.  Colin Cowherd says they have gears, Ricky Craven thinks they have spotters, legal "experts" think Tony will end up in jail for 15 years, blah blah blah. It's a joke. If anyone personally thinks he did that on purpose. You really need to get your head checked. I don't think he had any clue that Kevin hit the wall. It's impossible to tell if it's Tony that hit the gas. The camera is zoomed in from the front stretch. That doesn't mean the sound is zoomed in. How do we not know that was from a car on the frontstretch?  We don't.  Let the experts figure this out. All these people saying otherwise, are just making it all worse. Praying for the Ward family, and for Smoke. Bad enough he has to live with what happened.

[NotToday]

This is our America, Be the first to report!! Get the Ratings!! Rush to judgement! Jump to conclusion!! Let everyone know YOU heard it first, YOU know more about it than anyone!! YOU have all the answers!! Someone must be held accountable!! This can't happen again! We must make new laws!!

[racefan62]

Just wanted to pass this down from the ESS website:

 

The entire Ward family sends their sincere thanks to all that has send their heartfelt notes, calls, texts, anything that has been sent

their way.

Kevin's services will be held at the Trainor Funeral Home on 143 Schuyler Street in Boonville, NY.

Calling Hours are this Wednesday 1-4 and 6-9 with the funeral the next day at 11.

The family wants to see the biggest turn out there ever. They are very proud of Kevin Jr.

Cards and letters can be sent to the Ward Family at 3501 Kelpytown Rd., Port Leyden, NY 13433. Thank you!!

Edited by racefan62, 11 August 2014 - 10:45 AM.

[Dr_Dirt]

Everybody is passing judgement based on a sketchy cell phone video from a couple hundred feet away and twenty to thirty feet up. Basing any judgement on a supposed throttle noise when there are twenty three other cars still running on the track is extremely naive.

I've been saying this same thing since yesterday Bits. From that far away there is no way that anyone can even say that the revving car just before Kevin was hit was Stewart's car. I've watched the video many times trying to analyze what had happened and best I can tell is that this video was taken very near or just past the flag stand. The car that we hear goosing the throttle could be Stewart's car or could be a car that is right in front of the person taking the video. Nowhere can you see Stewart's car look like it is attempting to tail whip the young man as others have suggested.

 

What I draw from this is that the track lighting down in the corner was not the best, Kevin had a black suit and helmet on, it  seems to me that even the person shooting the video had lost sight of him because the camera at first followed the car that had swerved to miss him and didn't make it back to Kevin until just as the hit took place. It is entirely believable that Tony Stewart never saw the young man until it was way to late. If he did goose the throttle, I'm confident that it was in an attempt to keep from hitting him.

 

The most intriguing thing is that the Sheriff who has a lot more information that just a sketchy video has ruled that there was no criminal intent and there would be no charges filed. I do think that Tony is not totally out of the woods. I would not be surprised if the family files a civil suit for wrongful death. If that happens our sport as we know it will change forever.

[Crusty1]

The main question that nobody is talking about is why did tony even hit the gas? Maybe gotti  can explain that for us. He seems to know everything. Everyone is intitled to this own two cents on what happened. Now I remember why I never come on this board.

 

I watched this video many times, If you watch it and pause it you can see Tony is right behind the 45 car the 45 car almost hit him, if you pause right before the impact Tonys wheels are straight - after impact they go to the right.

As far as the engine revving,do you really think a phone camera can pick up that sound on the back straight from the front grandstands? Really!

I think a car on the front straight hit the throttle around the same time of the contact.

 

I'm Not a Tony Stewart fan this is just what I see.

Edited by Crusty1, 11 August 2014 - 11:33 AM.

[HillaryClintonRacing]

Everyone knows that this summer has been colder than normal, and probably darker. This leads to more dangerous racing conditions. What caused this climate change? George Bush's failed policies, that's what.

 

Tony Stewart may have been the driver, but this is all Bush's fault.

 

Remember, It takes a village to crew a sprint car.

[MBRLLC]

This has to be the most retarded post in reference to this tragedy. Everyone who has read it is now dumber because of your shear ignorance and stupidity.

Everyone knows that this summer has been colder than normal, and probably darker. This leads to more dangerous racing conditions. What caused this climate change? George Bush's failed policies, that's what.
 
Tony Stewart may have been the driver, but this is all Bush's fault.
 
Remember, It takes a village to crew a sprint car.

Edited by MBRLLC, 11 August 2014 - 12:48 PM.