Tony Stewart incident

[John K]

I'm curious to hear people's opinions about the Tony Stewart incident. I don't know much about racing, but it seems like it was pretty stupid for the guy to be walking around on the track, while the other cars were still going at or near full speed, and I just have a hard time believing that Stewart would have intentionally hit him. Obviously it's a very sad situation, but from what I know about it, it seems to me that Ward bears the bulk of the responsibility for his own death, rather than Stewart.

[allcat]

I'm curious to hear people's opinions about the Tony Stewart incident. I don't know much about racing, but it seems like it was pretty stupid for the guy to be walking around on the track, while the other cars were still going at or near full speed, and I just have a hard time believing that Stewart would have intentionally hit him. Obviously it's a very sad situation, but from what I know about it, it seems to me that Ward bears the bulk of the responsibility for his own death, rather than Stewart.

Frogger is not a game to play with live bodies.

[John K]

I'm curious to hear people's opinions about the Tony Stewart incident. I don't know much about racing, but it seems like it was pretty stupid for the guy to be walking around on the track, while the other cars were still going at or near full speed, and I just have a hard time believing that Stewart would have intentionally hit him. Obviously it's a very sad situation, but from what I know about it, it seems to me that Ward bears the bulk of the responsibility for his own death, rather than Stewart.

Frogger is not a game to play with live bodies.

Only George Costanza is qualified to do that.

[KittieKop]

I don't know that the allegation is that Stewart intentionally hit him, I think what someone was thinking was that Stewart didn't like the kid chewing him out on the track and tried coming by to buzz him, goosed it going by him and the car got loose for a second and hit him. I hope no one believes it was actually intentional. I think worse case it was stupid and negligent of Stewart trying to make a point.. But still, you shouldn't be wandering around a semi-lit track in the dark with racecars buzzing by....

[tdub]

I don't know that the allegation is that Stewart intentionally hit him, I think what someone was thinking was that Stewart didn't like the kid chewing him out on the track and tried coming by to buzz him, goosed it going by him and the car got loose for a second and hit him. I hope no one believes it was actually intentional. I think worse case it was stupid and negligent of Stewart trying to make a point.. But still, you shouldn't be wandering around a semi-lit track in the dark with racecars buzzing by....

I heard an interview with a fellow racer/eyewitness that was there that was talking about the cars themselves. He stated that those kind of race cars are steered as much with the gas as they are with the steering wheel. He said in his view, there was no way was Stewart trying to hit the guy, but rather the opposite. He hit the accelerator in an attempt to miss the guy.

[KittieKop]

I don't know that the allegation is that Stewart intentionally hit him, I think what someone was thinking was that Stewart didn't like the kid chewing him out on the track and tried coming by to buzz him, goosed it going by him and the car got loose for a second and hit him. I hope no one believes it was actually intentional. I think worse case it was stupid and negligent of Stewart trying to make a point.. But still, you shouldn't be wandering around a semi-lit track in the dark with racecars buzzing by....

I heard an interview with a fellow racer/eyewitness that was there that was talking about the cars themselves. He stated that those kind of race cars are steered as much with the gas as they are with the steering wheel. He said in his view, there was no way was Stewart trying to hit the guy, but rather the opposite. He hit the accelerator in an attempt to miss the guy.

That was what I got out of one of the initial reports I read/heard.

[kmax]

Yep would totally agree, there was no intent. If you see the video the car in front basically swerved to miss him too. Think that the kid was likely trying to get closer to Stewart combined with low visibility on a dark track...

For reference, I saw this picture tweeted out the next day. This is the view from a sprint car seat:

And that's in broad daylight.

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[WeedKillinCat]

I see that the Grand Jury didn't find enough to bring charges up on Stewart. It says that Ward have enough marijuana to impair his judgement

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/st ... in-ward-jr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[SonomaCat]

I see that the Grand Jury didn't find enough to bring charges up on Stewart. It says that Ward have enough marijuana to impair his judgement

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/st ... in-ward-jr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That whole DUI while driving a race car thing really puts an even harsher damper on the memory of the guy who died. Most can agree that what he did in terms of "confronting" a car on the track with his body was stupid, but even thinking about driving a race car while baked is hall of fame stupid material.