Tony Stewart to Grand Jury.

[Yammer Dan]

Don if this is wrong Please toss it. For some reason this one bugs me. I made a career of being able to read people. At times it was a great help and I have been very good at it. Was this just a tragic accident?? I wish I could accept it but for some reason my gut just won't let me. Is Stewart completely innocent in this thing? I hope so but something won't turn it loose. Explain to me why I am wrong??? I hope someone can.

[etcswjoe]

Ok who is Tony Stewart and what did he do?

[Yammer Dan]

Ok who is Tony Stewart and what did he do?

 

Race car driver that hit and killed another. Hot headed. Maybe he could have missed him?? Other driver was out on track where he shouldn't have been but......

[Venturous Randy]

I think the Sheriff just wanted it to be the grand jury to make the final decision so there would not be any question of guilt.

In my opinion in viewing the video several times, the car in front of Stuart had to swerve to miss Ward and he then stepped even closer to the center of the track. He obviously screwed up, but whether Stuart could have missed him may only be really known by Stuart. Sprint cars are very unique and are set up with bigger tires on the outside rear to help turn left. Hitting the brakes in a left hand turn with this set up may cause the car to jump right even more.

RandyA

[cecdoo]

Don if this is wrong Please toss it. For some reason this one bugs me. I made a career of being able to read people. At times it was a great help and I have been very good at it. Was this just a tragic accident?? I wish I could accept it but for some reason my gut just won't let me. Is Stewart completely innocent in this thing? I hope so but something won't turn it loose. Explain to me why I am wrong??? I hope someone can.

 

I feel the same way you do Dan.

 

Craig

[BlueSky]

Those cars don't have differentials as I understand. Turning the steering wheel doesn't do that much to turn the car. They have to step on the gas to spin it to turn. I can't believe that Tony would intentionally run over anybody. The driver who got hit came down the track more than half way. It was a dumb thing to do and a very very sad outcome that will haunt Tony forever.

[bill in mn]

I'm not a NASCAR fan ,total time watching it this year 0 but Tony was the driver I liked the most. I admire guys no mater what they do that are driven to be the best and love doing it . This guy would go to these small venues and race because he likes to race anything, anywhere. Did he intentionally hit Kevin Ward ? I hope not. A lot of things went wrong that night and only tony Stewart knows for sure and he has to live with that.

[Triple J]

From what I know of his attitude, I'd say

 

Did he mean to kill the kid - NO

 

Did he think to himself how dare this snot nose punk challenge me, I'll put the fear of god in him - Yes.

 

I think he intended to get as close to that kid as he could to scare him. Didn't work out that way, unfortunately

[XV1100SE]

I've seen the replays and I don't believe it was Stewart's fault. The driver that was killed stepped further onto the track, and in front of Stewart.

[buddy]

I won't say much as this can get out of hand

Watching the video few times and I do feel for the family but it comes down to this the driver never ever go down the track. Remeber dirt nothing like asphalt totally different track and these cars don't steer that well you work your brakes & throttle to steer these beast

I'll feel for the family and Tony too

[Daveand Barbie]

I have avoided commenting on most of these threads about this incident, but will "venture" into this one with some facts based in the rules.

 

To qualify myself, I raced for 20 years at Watkins Glen, Road America, Indianapolis Raceway Park, Mid Ohio, Road Atlanta, Virginia International, and Daytona. I also worked on a crash crew for 12 of those 20 years. In that time, I responded to a number of serious incidents, including Joey Hand at Mid Ohio. You can Google that to see what it was about.

 

Point 1 - the General Competition Rules states that " it is the overtaking drivers responsibility to complete the pass in a safe manner". From looking at the video on multiple occasions, there is no way to determine whether the overtaking driver made contact with the other car or just came in contact with the wall of his own accord.

 

Point 2 - in every drivers meeting I have ever attended, we were always to to NEVER GET OUT OF THE CAR UNTIL SAFETY PERSONNEL ARRIVE OR YOU ARE DIRECTED BY COURSE MARSHALLS. Course Marshalls are charges with assessing the situation as to whether the driver is in imminent danger if he remains with the vehicle and then direct the driver. In the case of fire, that doesn't apply.

 

Point 3 - sprint cars have locked differentials and are direct drive. They react in a far different manner than a car with an open diff. I have one car with a locked diff and in any turn I have to slide "rotate" the car, meaning the rear of the car has to slide somewhat to get around the turn. This is on an asphalt surface by the way, not dirt.

 

Point 4 - the Stewart car was following another car which quickly swerved to miss the individual on the track. What is the reaction time necessary to pick up the individual wearing a black fire suit and black helmet on a somewhat dimly lighted track and take evasive action? Was there adequate time to avoid a collision?

 

I am not trained as an Official Observer or a Safety Steward, so I have no basis to assign responsibility or fault. Anything I would offer would only be opinion, so I will choose not to offer any opinion.

 

If pressed to offer any opinion I would see this incident as a "perfect storm" scenerio that indeed in the tragi c death of a young driver. May he rest in peace.

[cimmer]

Another thing to consider is that a dirt race track can also get slick, I wonder is the young driver had realized he was too far down and while trying to get out of the way, slipped on the dirt and then got struck by Tony. With a lot of dirt tracks, water is put on the track to keep the dirt down and to make a hard surface.

I havent been around a dirt track in about 25 years but I can remember how they get so slick after some races had been ran that it would reflect the light off the surface.

Just my thoughts.

Rick F.

[Yammer Dan]

I'm just saying this one don't feel right and Stewart has shown his attitude several times. My gut says he will walk but not sure he should. Did he try to miss him? He is the one that has to live with it.

[Skid]

Getting out of the car on a race track, in the dark, wearing dark colored clothing. Not a smart move. Innocent in my opinion.

[djh3]

Does Tony have attitude yea. Did the kid? Probably and thats why he thought he would get out and "give a piece of his mind" or something like that. Sprint cars are a different animal and turn nothing like your street car. Throttle must be used to make them turn as both rear wheels drive and have no slip, thus the larger tire on one side.

I agree with the fellow posting some of the general rules of racing. I was told from the time I started racing short tracks dont get out of the car if disabled unless its an emergency. You are better off if someone else looses control to be strapped in.

Here's another thought the car in front of Tony's had to swerve at the last moment to miss him, so possibly Tony did even see him until way past the point of no return. Vision is limited out the right side of these cars by the wing. (see attached pic)

If the family brings a civil suit (which I bet they do because I mean its Tony Stewart and he is loaded right) That opens a whole new can of worms for short track racing. So now a gy get his car wrecked on a Sat night and takes the guy that wrecked him to court monday to fix and repair his race car? Come on folks. Tony went to these tracks because he enjoyed it and had fun.Plus it helped the small time track owners ull a few more folks in the gate to watch and helped the guy pay the bills. Now thats all going out the window. Sorry for carrying on. But I have signed many a pit release form in my day, and I basically new the rules going in. Its a dangerous place not a playground.

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--jSIv-9T5--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/czhwmyu6vugbqv5vcgel.png

[Woody]

Getting out of the car on a race track, in the dark, wearing dark colored clothing. Not a smart move. Innocent in my opinion.

 

 

I believe Tony was watching the car in front of him and never seen the driver until it was to late if he seen him at all just wasn't looking for a person to be on the track.

[comingbackdown]

One of my coworkers spent quite a few years racing, maybe looking to get back into it as he's helping his brother prep a car for the strip. I asked him what he thought the day after. "Those don't steer like anything else. Looks like he tried. Regardless, he broke rule number one. Unless you're on fire you stay in the car."

[ACE50]

Point 3 - sprint cars have locked differentials and are direct drive. They react in a far different manner than a car with an open diff. I have one car with a locked diff and in any turn I have to slide "rotate" the car, meaning the rear of the car has to slide somewhat to get around the turn. This is on an asphalt surface by the way, not dirt.

 

Point 4 - the Stewart car was following another car which quickly swerved to miss the individual on the track. What is the reaction time necessary to pick up the individual wearing a black fire suit and black helmet on a somewhat dimly lighted track and take evasive action?

 

3. They were in a caution and had all slowed down and these cars turn like any other car at that speed.

 

4. I doubt Tony didn't know he had taken someone out, how in the heck you wouldn't watch out as you came around to see who it was??? They were in a caution!!!

[jakester]

Guilty or not? If it goes in front of a grand jury and they make a ruling, at this point it is not able to be brought back up again in a court. The grand jury is a necessary step to put this accident behind all parties involved. If it does not go to a grand jury then in 5 or 10 years under a new D A this can be brought back up and tried in a court at that time.

There are no winners as one man is dead and another has to live with it, may the families find peace.

Bill

[Yammer Dan]

With our screwed up court system guilty or innocent is only a piece of paper. Thanks for the opinions something just don't feel right about it. Learned to look close over the years when my gut told me this. Don't make much difference now.

[yamagrl]

Guilty or not? If it goes in front of a grand jury and they make a ruling, at this point it is not able to be brought back up again in a court. The grand jury is a necessary step to put this accident behind all parties involved. If it does not go to a grand jury then in 5 or 10 years under a new D A this can be brought back up and tried in a court at that time.

There are no winners as one man is dead and another has to live with it, may the families find peace.

Bill

That would probably depend upon the state in which it occurred. A simple Google search shows that a Grand Jury simply determines if sufficient evidence exists to bring someone to trial. If so they are tried...you know what that means...if acquitted, then they cannot be retried. However, if a Grand Jury fails to find sufficient evidence and hands down a no indictment ruling it does not insulate the accused from further action. A Grand Jury may revisit the case at a later date, provided that the Statute Of Limitation has not passed, if one so exists for the infraction. In this particular case which may involve some type of wrongful loss of life it is highly unlikely that an S of L would exist.

 

That being said, usually if the Grand Jury does not handdown an indictment, it pretty much is treated like "water under the bridge" and the system rarely spends much time on it.

[BlueSky]

I think the prosecutor just didn't want to dismiss the case because of his own political future reasons so he dumped it off on the grand jury. No telling what a grand jury will do. I've been on several jurys and I couldn't believe some of the knuckleheads on the jury.

[KIC]

I raced dirt track back in the early 80's. The set up for the car is to turn by sliding on the dirt/clay. There is mud on the front screen, there is mud on your visor, you are looking beyond the car in front of you to watch for issues and if you are still racing, the absolutely last thing you are looking for is a guy in a black race suit running towards your car. My understanding is that they were still racing towards the yellow. Standard racing procedure.

 

You can't brake or turn in an avoidance manner when racing on dirt/clay tracks. The absolute stupidest thing you can do is run out on a track in the middle of a race. Remember ,there was a car in front of Stewart that almost hit the kid. That car could have most certainly blocked Stewart's view of the kid until it was too late.

 

And it is correct that accelerating is the best way to turn..you sure as heck won't get very far trying to brake.

 

This is tragic. But it was the kid's stupidity that led to the issue. I remember a few scuffles in the pits...but you NEVER take out in the track.

 

Locals HATE it when a Pro comes and races on their track and steals the points. That can screw up some serious hard work the locals have been working for. They get real sensitive about that and the kid really should have stayed in his car.

Edited September 21, 2014 by KIC

[BigLenny]

Dirt track sprint car racing is my personal favorite type of automobile racing to watch. I have been attending sprint car races my whole life. I live just a few miles from one of the best dirt short tracks in the southern part of the united states and week in and week out they have a great group of sprint car regulars competing there, and pros will stop by there and compete also. Every October they have the Short Track Nationals which brings in most of the top 360 winged sprint drivers in the nation and a large segment of WoO drivers.

 

If you are versed in sprint car racing and the unique nuances of that particular car, you can look at the video of the Kevin Ward tragedy and clearly see some obvious things that are in direct conflict with what the general public has reported. There were and still are a plethora of media folks who are running their mouths about this incident and they themselves have never been to a dirt track race, much less a sprint car race. Most of the people reporting do not even know what a sprint car is. Yet they continue to pass judgement on what happened and what kind of person Tony Stewart is. When you slow the video down and look at it frame by frame you can see that Kevin Wards car and Tony Stewarts car never made contact. What actually happened is a very common thing in the dirt track world and that is Kevin was trying to stick his nose in a very close spot between Tony's car and the wall and he got bit by the cushion which is the dirt berm that is built up around the outside of the turn and his car then was thrown to the right into the wall. The cushion is a friend or foe of dirt track racers. If your good enough you can run up against it and use it for traction or extra bite to launch the car forward and come out of the turn with a ton of speed. But, if you get into it too far, or jump the cushion, it can and a lot of times will grab the car and yank it to the right and if there is a wall beside it you're gonna hit it. Plenty of times I've seen drivers jump the cushion and it upset the car so bad that it resulted in the car flipping. But, it has been reported time and time again that Tonys car made contact with Kevins car. People with untrained eyes looking at it making statements that they shouldn't.

 

I'm no Tony Stewart fan. I couldn't care less whether he ever races another race again. Yes, he is aggressive and has a fiery personality at times, but so do a ton of other racers. Kevin Ward himself obviously had some fire in his personality to get out of his sprinter and go stomping down the track challenging Stewart. I do not personally know Tony Stewart, but I find it very hard to believe that he would purposely turn his car in a direction to strike another driver who was walking toward him and aggressively taunting him. Now, whether he just stayed his course and basically thought in his mind that the kid better get outta the way or he's gonna get hit? Only Tony can answer that. But, purposefully turning the car to hit him, from listening to the people that know him and stand for his character, it's hard to believe he would do that. Oh, and by the way, they were not "racing back to the yellow" as mentioned by some. As soon as the yellow light comes on and the yellow flag comes out, they shut them down to an idle. You can see they are idling on the video. Having said that, a sprint car at idle is clipping along fairly fast.

 

As has already been stated, it's just a sad tragic racing incident that could've been avoided by Kevin staying in his car and settling it in the pits. No answer to this is going to bring peace to Kevin Wards family. And Tony Stewart will now live for the rest of his life with a big black mark by his name. It's a bad deal. But it would help if the media folk who know nothing about sprint car racing and dirt track racing would keep their mouths shut. But that aint gonna happen.

[Carbon_One]

No irons in this fire either way. Well put BigLenny.

Larry