Tony Stewart

[LMITOUT]

It's just the brotherhood at work.

I think Pier is right... If Ward killed Stewart you'd be hearing a completely different story.

[MNice]

This whole thing is no worse than what happens on our highways every day.... aggressive/distracted/drunk/whatever....

[upnorth]

I think there are a lot people in the racing world keeping their mouth shut about this or unwilling to say anything negative about what went down.

And the steering with the throttle thing, look back few posts and there is a video with the car lining up and making the sprint car 4 wide salute the crowd. They are totally capable at slower speeds of steering without the use of the throttle.

[CaptainMusky]

It's just the brotherhood at work.

I think Pier is right... If Ward killed Stewart you'd be hearing a completely different story.

Different story? Doubt it, but would the media be making as big of a deal out of this if it wasnt a 3 time Champion that ended up hitting the young man.

The same arguments would still apply "Tony should have stayed in his car" "Ward swerved" blah blah blah. But because this was a well accomplished driver behind the wheel is what is making this a media firestorm and folks who dont even know anything about racing are pontificating like they are experts.

[harvey lee]

Maybe one should look at this article on how the brakes work and only on the one tire up front on some cars. Then also look at what the driver does while under a caution and then go on with ones assumptions as there seems to be many and some have very little knowledge about how these cars work. here you will find facts on how a sprint car operates and then you may understand how this accident could happen without a driver goin after the other standing on the track.

A great read for everyone here.

http://chippewa.com/dunnconnect/sports/l...cb646a15d8.html

[harvey lee]

They can steer under low power. plus steering helps to pitch cars in start of corners. These cars only have 3 wheels with brakes. Plus I would think a guy getting out of the car before safety crew arrives is not a good plan. He could have still gotten in tony's face after race if anything walked up a put a knuckle sandwich on the beak.

Seem's to be a difference of opinion from your brake understanding and the driver who states differently.

Talked to a buddy of mine today and he said their car has a left front brake and a brakes on the rear. Sounds like some have different set ups than others so who knows what Tony had.

[CaptainMusky]

That's what a driver sees out the front on a bright afternoon day. With no mud to obscure anything or lighting issues.

[harvey lee]

Yep, in the daylight and not moving, pretty limited sight.

I would guess that the last thing a driver is looking for when they are going around the track under caution is for a person walking around. maybe checking gauges or other gauges on the car or looking for a better line to drive.

[upnorth]

View from a helmet cam on youtube.

[CaptainMusky]

View from a helmet cam on youtube.

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[upnorth]

I agree that the sight to the right is limited, but straight ahead you have a pretty clear line of sight in all directions until you get literally just along the right side, then yes you are pretty limited. He could see what was coming up.

[Mr.Seaguar]

I don't know anything about race cars or nascar. But I do know that walking onto a race track while the race is going on is a Top Ten bad idea. Now his family is making statements that border on accusations. Maybe his aunt should not refer to young Mr Ward as a 'urine' head if she is trying to shift blame.

[CaptainMusky]

He could see what was coming up.

Potentially, yes. You have to remember the wreck was on the 2nd curve and up near the wall. Dim lighting and Ward was walking down the track (from right to left) toward Tony's car. The only one who knows what he saw is Tony himself.

[upnorth]

Could or did? 2 different things. The drivers in front of Stewart seen and avoided Ward OK. And the only person who knows for sure what happened is Stewart and he isn't talking much. Most likely has a lawyer or 2 telling him to keep his mouth shut for his own good.

There are a few articles out floating around for this. There is still speculation that he could be charged for varying things depending on the outcome of the investigation. They did get another video that was shot from a different angle and perspective, that they are analyzing. So who knows.

[harvey lee]

I read an article where the driver of the car in front of Tony said he barely missed Ward, then if Ward walked lower down the track a step or two and since Tony was following the other car in about the same groove, maybe not all that much time to react if he did even see him.

ONe thing I believe everyone is missing, ask any driver, no one under caution goes around the track even thinking someone may be outside their car and walking down the track so it would be very easy to miss seeing a person in any car until the last second.

Like I mentioned earlier, many have other things they are doing or checking while under caution as they do not even think someone would get out and walk around under caution.

ONe should not put one thing into Tony not talking, in any issue like this, all lawyers would tell their client to not say ONE word to others about this.

[harvey lee]

I agree that the sight to the right is limited, but straight ahead you have a pretty clear line of sight in all directions until you get literally just along the right side, then yes you are pretty limited. He could see what was coming up.

You say, he could see things coming up.

Yes, the video is in daylight and you are just riding along, nothing to do like the driver but assume. Lets make it nighttime now, other cars on the track and during a caution.

You state, but straight ahead you have a pretty good line of sight, lets get to 10pm at night and then see if you can make that same statement on a poorly lite racetrack. I listened to an interview where the one driver said the lighting on this track is very poor and limited.

I guess if the accident was during the daylight hours, then your assumptions would be correct, but, It was a night in the dark. Comparing apples to apples would help here a lot.

Boy, maybe we all need to look at all the facts and not say, looks pretty clear ahead on the straightaway during daylight hours, no comparison at all Upnorth.

I believe some of you who seem to maybe know what you can or cannot see, should get in a car and race it on the track under all conditions with maybe some mud smeared on your tear off and also other things going on in the dark along with other cars on the track. The drivers have a lot of things going on and the last thing any of them expect to see is some person walking on the track.

I cannot believe what some think here.

[upnorth]

But they can see well enough to navigate the track and weave in and out of traffic at 100+ mph.

Go look at the video that was shot, the lighting is pretty good. No not daylight, but it is pretty well lit.

And get this straight Harvey, I said could see, never said what he did see. Maybe he was distracted I dunno.

I spent more than a few years helping in the Pits for friends. I have a pretty good idea of what happens out there and how fast things happen at racing speed. Ward didn't get run over at racing speed he got whacked under caution. Caution means slow down and be cautious.

[harvey lee]

Seems to me, most here have Tony guilty no matter what and you really do not know what went down at all. Pretty common for a social media forum.

As I have said before, some or many have no idea how a sprint car or for that matter any race cars works or handles but you are ready to judge a person with so little or no knowledge. Then we add in nighttime racing but boy, everyone knows what Tony did wrong.

This is almost laughable.

I am not a Tony supporter or fan at all but I am not going to jump on some media bandwagon and play judge and decide what went down when you have zero experience or know anything about a race car handling.

The more I read in here, the more amazed I am.

[harvey lee]

But they can see well enough to navigate the track and weave in and out of traffic at 100+ mph.

Go look at the video that was shot, the lighting is pretty good. No not daylight, but it is pretty well lit.

And get this straight Harvey, I said could see, never said what he did see. Maybe he was distracted I dunno.

I spent more than a few years helping in the Pits for friends. I have a pretty good idea of what happens out there and how fast things happen at racing speed. Ward didn't get run over at racing speed he got whacked under caution. Caution means slow down and be cautious.

Glad you know he could see. That surely does not mean he saw Ward long in advance. All I am saying is, no one here knows exactly what went down or what Tony saw or even if he saw Ward. No one.

Sure looked like Tony slowed as he was going about the same speed as the car in front of him.

Yep, Ward got whacked walking around at night on a race track, you are correct about that.

[upnorth]

No Harvey you are saying he isn't/can't be guilty there a few that say he is, and there are those that say, hmmm, he might be guilty of something, just not sure. Tain't an actual witch hunt here.

Let the investigators investigate and analyze that is what they do. They aren't sure yet either way. It is estimated it will take a couple weeks before they sift through the info they have and give to a DA and let him figure out if there will be charges.

[harvey lee]

Never said he was not guilty, I did say I highly doubt he would go after him on the track. No, I do not believe Tony did this on purpose, could Tony have tried to spin the tires and throw dirt at Ward, I will give that a small chance but in the video, I just do not see that but with that said, I do not know what Tony was thinking.

I do not believe Tony was mad at Ward when Tony came around the corner under caution as Tony had zero reason to be mad at him. What did Ward do to Tony that would have made Toyt mad enough to do what some people say he did or thought of doing?

I have no issue with letting the law take care of this, wish the press and social media would also do that and not say what they are assumimg so much.

I will be more than shocked if they file charges against Tony for what happened on the track that night. Just do not believe that any DA would chance a trail knowing he would have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Tony did something on purpose or for that matter did something wrong and maybe intended too.

Could the family file a civil suit, sure it will happen and more than likely it will be settled out of court, seems what insurance companies do these days to settle for the least amount.

I agree no one knows exactly what went down but when people say things like he steered towards Ward and revved his engine and on and on and on, now that is lame at best. Or on some media sites, Tony murdered Ward and all that garbage.

[PierBridge]

Id say way more people have your opinion Harvey. By a long shot.

So if he didnt see Ward what was with the acceleration and tale spin?

[harvey lee]

I saw one poll that had Tony innocent by 80%. Lots of surveys out there but this is the only one I have seen.

I am not sure the accelartion was from Tony's car but from another's car as that sound can echo down the straightaway's at some tracks, my guess only. I would guess the sound came from the car in front as his pipes or exhaust would have shot back towards the Ward car and Tony, only guessing. For me, when I have listened to it, I am not sure where that sound came from other than from a closer location.

Looking at it another way, maybe Tony saw Ward whenever and maybe he used his throttle to set the car and avoid Ward and the rear may have slid to the slid a bit. So hard to tell, exactly what happened.

Since the investigator's have other private fan footage, maybe they saw something else but if they did and it was bad for Tony, the S.O. rep would not be saying no plans on charges at this time as there is no evidence to do so at this point.

My big issue with all of this is, when Tony came around the corner, why would Tony have been mad enough at him to possibly aim at Ward to hit him? Tony had no reason to be mad at Ward until maybe Ward was doing whatever he was doing to Tony while he ran towards his car and who knows what of all that Tony even saw?

To be honest, just maybe Ward wanted to show the 3 time champ big shot he was a tough dude and was not going to be pushed around on the track by him. I do not know this but their had to be a reason why Ward did what he did and I guess that also does not really matter right now.

This is why I believe no charges will be filed against Tony, too many unknows of what really happened and if one looks at the facts, be hard to charge Tony with a charge and be fairly certain they could make it stick under reasonable doubt. I could get a big surprise and see charges filed but for me, it will be a huge surprise.

[LMITOUT]

Different story? Doubt it,

I don't.

[CaptainMusky]

I read a report today from a witness that said Ward "reached" in toward tony as he approached.