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I see a young man acting like a rooster to impress his friends in going after the big star. Won't be a criminal trial but I do see a civil money grab by the victim's family.
Video on you tube looks like he swerved after he hit him.
If so, its a natural reaction. Pro drivers like Stewart know what type of weapon they have in their hands and don't do things intentionally kill others.
Kid had no business on the track, period.
I see a young man acting like a rooster to impress his friends in going after the big star. Won't be a criminal trial but I do see a civil money grab by the victim's family.
I agree. Sadly I think the young man was trying to make a name for himself going up against a NASCAR championship driver. Kevin just miscalculated how close he was to Tony's car and it just appears to be a tragic accident. Tony will suffer financially though through civil court and possibly through NASCAR sponsors of his teams.
My thought after watching the video a number of times was that Stewart was trying to scare or intimidate the other driver with a sudden burst of acceleration but on the dirt surface his car fishtailed a bit and he hit Ward. Stewart did not intend to hit Ward but it still might be a case of a criminal act, something like involuntary manslaughter. I think a case could be made that Stewart was trying to speed by Ward to avoid some kind of confrontation, but that looks like the lesser of the two possibilities, given what I see in the video.
I wouldn't go that far. I've seen a bunch of races where drivers get out of their cars after a wreck and have a tantrum taunting who they think is responsible. The drivers still in the race usually drive by relatively quickly to avoid a confrontation and possible sheetmetal damage if the tantruming person throws their helmet or kicks the car. Revving the engine or peeling away is sort of a "why don't you shut up and stop whining" message, if anything.
Just a terrible tragedy. Shows the devastating consequences when you have two knuckleheads coming together.
I spent 10 years crewing for a sprint car team. Stewart even drove that car at a race (he won it)
Here's my take on it. The original crash was an every Saturday night event, not particularly note worthy. He kid jumps out of his car because it was Stewart and makes a big Ta Doo about nothing... His plan is to act up for the fans, and bang on Tony's wing as he drives by, Stupid move but not unheard of on a Saturday night at the dirt track. Tony's responce is to goose the car a bit, shoot a dirt rooster tail on the kid. Kid steps toward wing and gets caught by Big right Rear wheel....unfortunate tragic accident that both sides could have avoided
This is exactly how I see it. But who can blame Ward for emulating his heroes? That's the real issue. I've been watching NASCAR for nearly 30 years. Back in the day, you'd rarely have someone throwing helmets or pointing at fellow drivers as they went by. Not saying there weren't incidents but it happened maybe 3-4 times per year. Instead, you'd just meet em after the race or let the pit crews battle it out. Today, you see this behavior quite regularly and it even occurs in IndyCar. It's gotten worse and worse over the past 20 years. Ward grew up watching that. As the age of NASCAR drivers got younger, the retaliation got more ridiculous. That's on the series and the drivers themselves.
This is exactly how I see it. But who can blame Ward for emulating his heroes? That's the real issue. I've been watching NASCAR for nearly 30 years. Back in the day, you'd rarely have someone throwing helmets or pointing at fellow drivers as they went by. Not saying there weren't incidents but it happened maybe 3-4 times per year. Instead, you'd just meet em after the race or let the pit crews battle it out. Today, you see this behavior quite regularly and it even occurs in IndyCar. It's gotten worse and worse over the past 20 years. Ward grew up watching that. As the age of NASCAR drivers got younger, the retaliation got more ridiculous. That's on the series and the drivers themselves.
Well, NASCAR got really famous to casual sports fans when the Allisons and Cale Yarborough got out of their cars during a race and got in a fistfight during the race. That was in 1979, over 35 years ago.
Whatever the outcome, whether it be criminal or not after a thorough investigation, Tony Stewart has to live with the fact that he ended the life of a young man who was barely more than a child. That is not knowledge that will leave even the coldest heart overnight, if ever. Instead of placing Tony Stewart's head in the guillotine before we have all of the facts, focus should be on the grief that the family of Kevin Ward, Jr. will no doubt endure for the rest of their lives.
Hey, the car in front of Stewart almost clipped him, too. How foolish to get out of the car like that to challenge and confront Stewart. Of course it's tragic, but anyone who viewed the entire video to the point of impact had to have noticed that Ward looked like a friggin' squirrel, darting all over the road as he appeared to approach Stewart's car.
Whatever the outcome, whether it be criminal or not after a thorough investigation, Tony Stewart has to live with the fact that he ended the life of a young man who was barely more than a child. That is not knowledge that will leave even the coldest heart overnight, if ever. Instead of placing Tony Stewart's head in the guillotine before we have all of the facts, focus should be on the grief that the family of Kevin Ward, Jr. will no doubt endure for the rest of their lives.
They put their son in a race car starting when he was 15, a minor. Racing is dangerous. I know first hand and raced for over 20 years. Lost friends and saw people killed.
Its part of it.
I have sympathy, but not that much.
Whatever the outcome, whether it be criminal or not after a thorough investigation, Tony Stewart has to live with the fact that he ended the life of a young man who was barely more than a child. That is not knowledge that will leave even the coldest heart overnight, if ever. Instead of placing Tony Stewart's head in the guillotine before we have all of the facts, focus should be on the grief that the family of Kevin Ward, Jr. will no doubt endure for the rest of their lives.
Tony is a human being and there is no way that this will not affect him the rest of his life. It will also affect his racing, there is no doubt.
As great a driver Tony is and what he has done for the sport, this may be the event that ends his racing career. Tony still may be able to salvage his career as an owner, but if Tony is somehow found negligent, either criminally or civilly, he will have a tough time keeping his sponsors.
My prayers are with both the Ward family and Tony Stewart who will both need a lot of healing.
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