Smoke

[Sieg]

After taking a long walk with the dogs and thinking about this unfortunate event I've concluded there is one thing that's almost guaranteed........if the driver would have stayed in his car he would be alive today.

[Ron in SoCal]

Vin - I was asking not if he could've reacted once seeing Ward, but that there were other cars taking a low line around the track after the caution.

On that note, I'm no expert on these types of analysis and if there is any intent, the authorities will ultimately determine that - which they have not.

I am also remiss as the bigger conversation is a kid lost his life. :sad:

[Vince@Meanstreets]

ok I see, yeah, I bet if Tony went straight to the pits Kevin would have been right up there too...he was pissed.

Even during cautions drivers are still moving pretty good. He should not have been out of his car.

Sad.

[Ron Sutton]

One key point that needs to be made about driving dirt cars is they are hard, if not impossible to turn quick without blipping the throttle, when going slow. If a dirt driver needs to get their slow rolling car to change directions quickly, they have to blip the throttle & use some of the big stagger in the rear tires.

I looked over the video several times & it looked to be a no win situation no matter what. If Tony didn't blip the throttle to turn the car he was going to hit him with the front of the car ... and obviously when he did blip the throttle the back end of the car hit the driver on track.

I'm not blaming, nor defending, either person. This was a tragedy. An avoidable tragedy. It surely could have been avoided by the young man if he stayed in his car. But emotions get to you when you think you've been wronged. I'm not sure Tony saw him coming at him in enough time to react & avoid him. No camera can tell us that. Only Tony knows that. At fault or not, you know he is torn up dealing with this. It is very sad.

[glassman]

Well said Ron. I kinda thought that too with the blipping of the throttle, combined with the variables of low lighting, black suit, traffic, watching your line, etc....Its an unfortunate event and my prayers go out to all parties involved.

[intocarss]

Found this

."Many of you will wake up to the incomprehensible news that Tony Stewart was responsible for the death of a fellow racer last night. It’s true. But you need to know the whole story – or at least as complete as it is at 5 a.m. ET, when I write this.

There is no denying that the death Saturday night of 20-year-old sprint car driver Kevin Ward, Jr., killed when he was struck by the right rear tire of a sprint car driven by NASCAR star Tony Stewart, is a tragedy almost beyond comprehension.

His team released a brief statement, but it is generic and probably vetted by lawyers: “A tragic accident took place last night during a sprint car race in which Tony Stewart was participating. Tony was unhurt, but a fellow competitor lost his life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. We’re still attempting to sort through all the details and we appreciate your understanding during this difficult time."

Making it so much worse is the excruciating contention, repeated literally hundreds of times last night on social media, that Stewart swerved into Ward intentionally.

According to a video of the incident, Stewart was inside the young Empire Super Sprint driver going into turn two of Canandaigua Speedway in upstate New York. Stewart drifted high, and Ward, running out of room, touched the outside wall, spinning completely one time, and coming to a stop pointing in the wrong direction, his right rear tire flat.

He climbed from his car, and began striding down the track, obviously looking for Stewart, whose car was approaching at a reduced speed under the caution flag, but still traveling at perhaps 40 mph. Ward was pointing a finger at Stewart’s car and moved toward it.

It appears Stewart saw him at the last second, and swerved, but still hit Ward hard enough to toss him like a rag doll at least 20 feet down the track. An autopsy is pending, but it seems likely Ward suffered a broken neck, though he still had his helmet and head restraint device on, but the device only works when you are strapped into your car. Stewart stopped about a hundred feet down the track. Emergency workers were there in second. Indeed, Stewart may have hit the gas, but you steer sprint cars with the throttle for more than the steering wheel. The idea that he accelerated trying to hit Ward is beyond the pale.

How could this happen?

I have driven winged sprint cars, and as you can imagine, visibility to the side is horrible. Ward was wearing a mostly black fire suit and a black helmet. The idea that any driver would purposely hit another over what was a comparatively minor, that’s-racing incident is hard to swallow. That Tony Stewart would do it on purpose? That is unthinkable.

There are so many sad coincidences here that the mind reels. This is the same track where, just over one year ago, Stewart sparked a 17-car collision that sent two drivers to the hospital, including a 19-year-old female racer.

And just a few days ago, it was the one-year anniversary of Stewart’s own crash in a 360-cubic-inch sprint car identical to the one he was driving Saturday night, breaking his leg so severely in two places that he had to miss the rest of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

Let me correct one thing I just said: The car Stewart was driving Saturday night was fitted with several safety features that Stewart helped develop, based on his crash and the death of three sprint car drivers last year, including NASCAR driver Jason Leffler. Those safety features included tethers similar to the ones used in IndyCar, and a re-enforced tunnel for the torque tube, which is essentially a driveshaft that runs between the driver’s legs. That tube rupturing is what injured Stewart. He told me earlier this year that if anything good came from his crash that -- like it did when the death of Dale Earnhardt occurred – safety innovations were developed that have likely saved other driver’s lives.

And a final irony is that Saturday night, 820 miles due west from Canandaigua, New York, the biggest sprint car race of the year was being held – the Knoxville Nationals, in Knoxville, Iowa, featuring all the World of Outlaws sprint car stars, and the top drivers from other series. The feature there was just about to get rolling when Stewart’s accident occurred. The winner of the Knoxville Nationals, for the eighth time – Donny Schatz, who drives for team owner Tony Stewart. In fact, Stewart was in Knoxville earlier this week, cheering on his team, which also includes soon-to-retire sprint car legend Steve Kinser."

[Vince@Meanstreets]

Who wrote that jerr? Schatz?

[Streetking]

It's just plain sad..RIP...

[intocarss]

Originally Posted by Vince@MSperfab

Who wrote that jerr? Schatz?

I don't know who or what Schatz is. I found it on motorsport.com. and on a couple of racing sites. Bad deal for all involved

[JB400]

I don't see it as intentional. If it was, Tony would have him with the front. I say, he just misjudged where his rear tire was. Happens all the time.

A sad ordeal all the way around.