Tony Stewart ‘Runs Over’ Opposing Driver During Altercation, Killing Him (Video)

Army_Allen said:
Confirming what I said earlier. My brothers dad works on these cars and I've known of the huge right side blind spots which is why I said it wasn't apparent engine revving with him having seen him beforehand. Neither driver saw him til last second and you can only barely be avoided by cars driving straight in your direction so many times before one doesn's see you in time and something horrible happens.

Condolences to the family as I know it's gotta be tough to see a son so yound die in such a horrible way.
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Sorry, it doesn't confirm anything you said earlier. It doesn't confirm a thing at all, actually. It remains speculation, which is all any of this is. And of course, the "apparent engine revving with him having seen him beforehand" is not what you posted before. That last added bit changes your statement quite a lot, doesn't it? It seems idiotic to always assume this sort of thing confirms anything.

See what I did there?

 
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EbylHusker said:
Army_Allen said:
Confirming what I said earlier. My brothers dad works on these cars and I've known of the huge right side blind spots which is why I said it wasn't apparent engine revving with him having seen him beforehand. Neither driver saw him til last second and you can only barely be avoided by cars driving straight in your direction so many times before one doesn's see you in time and something horrible happens.

Condolences to the family as I know it's gotta be tough to see a son so yound die in such a horrible way.
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Sorry, it doesn't confirm anything you said earlier. It doesn't confirm a thing at all, actually. It remains speculation, which is all any of this is. And of course, the "apparent engine revving with him having seen him beforehand" is not what you posted before. That last added bit changes your statement quite a lot, doesn't it? It seems idiotic to always assume this sort of thing confirms anything.

See what I did there?
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There was no apparent engine revving or message trying to be made,

You mistook what I wrote then. I meant them one in the same that you keep the engine revved during cautions to get up the hill then let off to idle for a while then, rinse and repeat. Just because one revs their engine, (it's a racetrack full of cars making noises and you assumed he's the one or the only one revving an engine?) doesn't mean he's trying to hit, scare, intimidate, or kill another driver. That mixed with the knowledge of the vehicle and the huge right side lack of view (you drive left a lot), leads me to believe with bits of knowledge of the cars and another drivers mechanic's word that this was a freak, and tragic event that occurred.

 
I misunderstood what you were trying to convey because it wasn't clear... Anyway, I also take into account the eyewitnesses (who claim to have knowledge of these cars) saying it appeared Stewart was the one revving the engine and he was attempting to make a point with it. So we have conflicting accounts from what would all be deemed credible sources - I'm just not discounting some of them like you are.

 
EbylHusker said:
I misunderstood what you were trying to convey because it wasn't clear... Anyway, I also take into account the eyewitnesses (who claim to have knowledge of these cars) saying it appeared Stewart was the one revving the engine and he was attempting to make a point with it. So we have conflicting accounts from what would all be deemed credible sources - I'm just not discounting some of them like you are.
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In then end your first post is you saying after watching it you were assuming as well. We both are but differ so lets just leave it at that.

 
The issue is that if Stewart doesn't have a history of acting like a fool on the race track, this probably doesn't get put under the microscope that it has so far. Stewart has made a living at getting his point across in altercations by letting his emotions get the better of him.

 
I hate that the kid lost his life, but why the hell would you try to confront someone in a car? If he stays near his car and waits for a good opportunity to cross into the infield he's fine.

Everyone's all like "Tony has a temper." I say, if the kid didn't have the "temper" and didn't charge the car, he's getting ready for his next race this weekend or whenever it may be, instead of attending his own funeral.

 
Stewart has pulled out of the sprint car race he was scheduled to race in this weekend in Indiana. Still no word on whether he'll race at Michigan this weekend.

 
I've been around sprint car racing for years. I've sat in the stands with my dad wondering why the drivers did what they did and why they didn't change their line. Just like a lot of us yell at our tv's on Saturdays when a quarter back doesn't throw to a wide open receiver that we all seen. It goes with out saying we have a different point of view then them. We get to see things differently and more clearly then they get to. Also we don't have the added pressures of making of possible life altering decisions in a split second.

As some of pointed out you can not see out the ride side of the sprint car because of the wing. Also with the style of seat the drivers sit it can either help or hinder your peripheral vision more so then others. With the front of the wing being angled down in front of you and the hood coming up so high. The driver has around a 2 foot gap if not less to see through straight ahead of him. The vision is so narrow that you can't see your front wing.

I've been to quite a few tracks over the years. Everyone i've been to it's been communicated and understood between track officials, drivers and safety workers. That drivers are not to get out of their car unless it's life threatening or they flipped their car. Either case would cause for an immediate red and all vehicles except for safety vehicles would stop immediately. A crash like what Kevin had would of only pulled out a yellow flag which is why the cars were still moving. There for he should of never gotten out of that car. Now we all know some will not follow the rules and will do it anyway and put the life in danger.

As for Tony hitting the gas and kicking the rear out. That is how the car is designed and set up. It's how they are able to turn the car through the corners. During cautions drivers do this a lot to keep their tires clean for the best grip they can. Also so they clean out the fuel in their motors. Due to the fuel system while under caution the motor can get to much fuel to it and when you take the green it'll bog down and not run right till the fuel is cleaned out. Gassing it like Tony did takes care of both issues.

all of this combined with the fact that Kevin was wearing a black fire suit and helmet, on a dark brown dirt track at night with very limited visibility. Plus cars infront of him gassing it and maybe kicking mud up onto Tonys visor. Leads me to believe Tony didn't see him till it was way to late and tried to get the car to turn left. Or didn't see him at all. This is an unfortunate incident that all sides share the blame. Kevin shouldn't of gotten out of his car, Tony should of been more cautious where he was cleaning out the fuel and tires. The safety crews should of been there faster to prevent him from walking down the track into oncoming traffic. Seeing things like this makes me very proud of the safety crew we have at Eagle Raceway. When there is an incident they are there before drivers even have a chance to get out of the cars. They spread out around the track just for that reason. Which allows them to be there fast to make sure they are ok and prevent things like what happen to Kevin from happening.

I've also had a chance to meet Tony 2 years ago when he ran with us out at Eagle before a race on Sunday in Kansas. What you see on tv is completely different then what you see in person away from the cameras. He was very nice, joking and great to be around. Was complimenting fellow drivers and picking on the officials, just having a good time. He races in Nascar for the money. Does the dirt track racing cause he loves it. That night he was at Eagle he was there till nearly 2 am signing autographs and talking with us, knowing he had to be at Nascar meetings at 8 am. He was even there past his own crew. They left by 1 am to head back to where they are head quartered out of.

 
^^^^^^^To the point above I forgot to mention in my previous post about being able to see out of the cars, that not only do you have a wing blocking your vision out the right, along with the helmet, but almost everyone these days has an extended piece of seat that sticks out to the right side(and left side a lot) of the seat where the helmet is.

This is basically so the driver doesn't have to work so hard to keep his head straight the whole race which would strain the hell out of your neck. So the driver can rest his head against this and not have to fight the g-forces, and also helps keep head from flailing sideways in wrecks. This actually is probably the single most important piece of equipment not letting drivers see to the right.

I'm telling you guys, trying to see out of the right side of these cars is damn near impossible, not even taking into account the darkness of some areas of the track.

How many of you think you could see a lot out of the right side of these cars with a helmet on and at night? See picture below.



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You know. My initial response to this situation was that I actually felt more sorry for Stewart than I did the guy's family. Tony has to live with actually being the one who hit when the spoiled brat shouldnt've been there to begin with. Now it comes he was tokin' away on race night? Or at some point there in to where he still had enough in his system to impair judgement? He then gets in a sprint car to fly around a dirt track at 120mph. I'll tell you right now, Kevin Ward was FAR more dangerous that night than Stewart.

 
Count 'Bility said:
You know. My initial response to this situation was that I actually felt more sorry for Stewart than I did the guy's family. Tony has to live with actually being the one who hit when the spoiled brat shouldnt've been there to begin with. Now it comes he was tokin' away on race night? Or at some point there in to where he still had enough in his system to impair judgement? He then gets in a sprint car to fly around a dirt track at 120mph. I'll tell you right now, Kevin Ward was FAR more dangerous that night than Stewart.
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+1 Count, that's how I felt too

 
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