2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bull!!

[unofan]

Man we've seen drivers leave their cars in Indycar, Nascar and I think in F1 as well to flip-off or point fingers at another driver (even toss helmets) but I don't think I've ever seen or been made aware of an incident where the person in the car makes such a stupid decision in that type of situation. Meaning this: Stewart had to know when he guns it his car is going to slide out toward the kid.

RIP Kevin Ward.

Tony Stewart's career is over. Who the hell would sponsor this guy now?

If this happened to Joe Schmoe on the street, he'd be facing vehicular manslaughter charges if not worse (murder). Yeah, the kid was an idiot, but there's no contributory negligence in criminal law.

The thing that sticks in my mind is that the cars that go past before Stewart were all going slower and lower on the track. He appeared to be gunning it.

Can't believe espn aired the video...

[Priceless]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

I'm not a race fan, but it's amazing to me how many people are defending Stewart and saying it was unintentional. Listen to the audio and you can hear him gun the motor just before he hits Ward. I don't see how that isn't at least manslaughter.

[Priceless]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Roger Goodell has ruled that Tony Stewart will have the pole position at today's race.

Ghost of Kevin Ward Jr has apologized for damaging Tony's car.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Posting the exact thing I put up on my Facebook earlier this morning:

This seems to be a situation where several poor, but also common decisions were made... These events added up to Kevin Ward Jr. losing his life in a very tragic accident... And I see it as just that, an accident... We see situations like this (a driver confronting another driver on track after an indecent) on a weekly basis at dirt and short tracks across America... This series of events just happened to add up to the worst possible outcome... My thoughts and prayers go out to the Ward family...

I'm still trying to take everything in... Also ironic that this happened on the same night as the Knoxville Nationals... Sprint Car racing is all over the news this AM for all the wrong reasons

[dxmnkd316]

I'm not a race fan, but it's amazing to me how many people are defending Stewart and saying it was unintentional. Listen to the audio and you can hear him gun the motor just before he hits Ward. I don't see how that isn't at least manslaughter.

Except you can't even see which car revs it's engine. There's a dozen plus cars on the track and that microphone isn't picking up only Stewart's car.

[joecct]

Except you can't even see which car revs it's engine. There's a dozen plus cars on the track and that microphone isn't picking up only Stewart's car.

Regardless Mr. Stewart displayed a huge lapse of judgement. He's the pro and should have ignored the kid.

He's radioactive right now.

[dxmnkd316]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Watch the car right in front of Stewart's. you can see him fishtail the same way as Stewart.

I'll post the same thing I said on GPL:

The guy was a complete moron and paid for it with his life. It someone hit me on 35W I'm not going to go out onto the highway and scream at him. It was truly one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. You can actually see him trying to get closer to the cars going by.

It may come out that Stewart did hit him intentionally. But so far nothing indicates that this was anything more than a tragic and completely preventable accident.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

For those of you saying that Ward didn't do anything wrong, let me ask you this:

What is standard safety protocol at a track like this if you are involved in an accident... What are you to do when you are involved in an accident and you are ok, but your car is NOT drivable? What are you told about leaving your vehicle?

I'll give you a hint, you aren't supposed to get out on the track and proceed down to the lane where vehicles are circling under caution...

[aparch]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Tony Stewart is ****ed.

Tony Stewart's career is over. Who the hell would sponsor this guy now?

Nah. He'll be just fine sponsor and career -wise. The Danny Heatley of NASCAR if you will...




It was a tragic set of mistakes on the part of both parties. Ward for getting out of his car to show displeasure at the "NASCAR *hole ruining the up-and-coming drivers night" and for Tony Stewart to act out by playing chicken and trying to rooster the 20-year-old kid with dirt.

What I find most interesting is someone on Deadspin re-tweeted a pic of Tony Stewart's dirt car in the paddock area after the race, surrounded by a couple cops. A few commenters pointed out that the right-rear looks a little small and the rim and back of the car are a little too clean for just being raced.

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Ward is from near where I live, so we've been all over the story.

The kid really should not have gotten out of the car. If he had a beef, wait for him after the race. However, Stewart should've probably done more to avoid the guy. If he did it intentionally, then his career is over.

I've gained a new appreciation for racing since I've covered it more. Shame this happened. Thoughts and prayers to Ward and is family.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

Nah. He'll be just fine sponsor and career -wise. The Danny Heatley of NASCAR if you will...




It was a tragic set of mistakes on the part of both parties. Ward for getting out of his car to show displeasure at the "NASCAR *hole ruining the up-and-coming drivers night" and for Tony Stewart to act out by playing chicken and trying to rooster the 20-year-old kid with dirt.

What I find most interesting is someone on Deadspin re-tweeted a pic of Tony Stewart's dirt car in the paddock area after the race, surrounded by a couple cops. A few commenters pointed out that the right-rear looks a little small and the rim and back of the car are a little too clean for just being raced.

And did you ever think that maybe the authorities might have collected the RR and/or the in-car camera that supposedly was present as evidence? Tony has nothing to hide with this indecent... Please stop grasping at straws

[Priceless]

For those of you saying that Ward didn't do anything wrong, let me ask you this:

What is standard safety protocol at a track like this if you are involved in an accident... What are you to do when you are involved in an accident and you are ok, but your car is NOT drivable? What are you told about leaving your vehicle?

I'll give you a hint, you aren't supposed to get out on the track and proceed down to the lane where vehicles are circling under caution...

Not sure who is saying Ward did nothing wrong. Or very stupid. That doesn't absolve Stewart of guilt.

If someone is jaywalking and I run them over, I'm still going to get charged with a crime and see the inside of a jail cell.

[aparch]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

And did you ever think that maybe the authorities might have collected the RR and/or the in-car camera that supposedly was present as evidence? Tony has nothing to hide with this indecent... Please stop grasping at straws

Please, I wasn't grasping at straws. All I said was that it was an interesting pic. Did you miss the paragraph above where I said it was a tragic combination of errors? Da*n right Ward should have stayed with the car until the safety crew arrived. Let's wait until this is either solved or swept under the rug.

[dxmnkd316]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

That is hardly fair. This guy ran out into traffic trying to provoke a fight. This wasn't a jaywalker completely blindsided. This was a moron who let his temper put himself into an insanely dangerous situation.

[aparch]

Re: 2014 Open Wheel Racing - if it's white smoke, it's not a good sign & that's no bu

If someone is jaywalking and I run them over, I'm still going to get charged with a crime and see the inside of a jail cell.

Ward wasn't using a public crosswalk at the time. Accidents like this during sporting events are seen as slightly less important than similar accidents in public. For example, if a hockey player beats the snot out of a fellow player on the ice causing the player to need medical treatment, that's considered "a good hockey play." If that same exchange between two players happened in the parking lot of the ice arena or even the concourse of the arena, the local police could (and mostly likely would) be called in and charges of assault would be filed.

This was just a "racing accident," whereas had Tony Stewart run over a fan with his SUV leaving the race track, he'd be sitting in lockup right now facing vehicular manslaughter charges or worse.