Tony Stewart hits, kills driver Kevin Ward Jr. in sprint car race

[Spike]

Tony Stewart hits, kills driver Kevin Ward Jr. in sprint car race

A race car driver was killed Saturday night after he was struck on the track by NASCAR star Tony Stewart, according to Ontario County (N.Y.) Sheriff Philip C. Povero.

During a sprint car race at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park, driver Kevin Ward Jr. was spun out by Stewart, got out of his car to show his displeasure and then was struck by Stewart's car, sending Ward sliding down the track

"This is an ongoing investigation of an on-track crash," Povero said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...n-ward-canandaigua-motorsports-park/13855401/

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no charges pending at this time, stay tuned

 

[scstillerfan]

It kind of looks like Stewart swerved to scare him and got too close. Really bad decisions by both drivers.

 

[thesteelcity]

geez, what a horrible accident. I'll wait to see what TS say about the incident. Did he not see him? Did he try to scare him and got too close? I could see this damaging the rest of his career. How do you get over this and still perform at a high level?

 

[hook]

Hell, you could barely see that other driver when he got out of his car. Wearing a black fire suit and black helmet and all. Tony was probably trying to hot dog it too. Bad decision by both guys. NASCAR needs to reign in these drivers from jumping out of their cars to confront other drivers. I know this wasn't a NASCAR sanctioned event, but it's happened quite a bit over the years. I'm sure Mike Helton will have something to say pertaining to that.

 

[TDX27]

Stewart could easily be charged and convicted of manslaughter or something similar. He always has been an ******* and proved it last night once again. One of the reasons I could never root for him in NASCAR.

 

[Omar10213245]

Tragedy. Prayers to the Ward family.

 

[SteelerFan448]

It kind of looks like Stewart swerved to scare him and got too close. Really bad decisions by both drivers.

I cannot fathom why anyone would get out of their car to go yell at a guy, who can't hear him, driving a large vehicle and why Stewart hit the gas as he passed the guy, wow. A sad event.

 

[Zack_of_Steel]

The first car slowed down and pulled inside. Tony's car sped up and drove straight. Maybe he assumed that the guy would jump out of the way, but to me it looks clear that he had no intention of avoiding putting his car into the space where the guy was standing.

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

from what I saw.. Stewart saw him knew he was there...

This stuff happens all the time on dirt tracks.. nobody runs over the other guy

Stewart hit the gas as he went by.. it always results in the same action in a sprint car ,,, rear end kicks to the outside...

Intentionally ? Scare him? That guy didn't get in front of his rear tires on his own, after missing the front tires, .

 

[Spike]

I doubt Tony's intention was to kill this guy, it certainly looks like he did something there with a quick engine rev and some fishtailing. I'd say he was trying to startle or scare him a little and it went really bad.

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

yeah,, I don't think tony stewart WANTED to kill anyone.
I DO think hes a hot head and I DO think THAT resulted in this guys death.

 

[Zack_of_Steel]

Watch the video in frame-by-frame. The only reason the tire kicks out is because the kid's under the wheel and being shot out at that point.

Looks like he was doing a sidways jump similar to this motion just as the car hit him and got his right leg that was still planted:
http://youtu.be/pIKBH4hvL6A?t=1m3s

After that he was on the ground and got caught in the wheel well and spit out on the track.


I don't think he meant to kill him, but I do think he drove straight at the kid and expected him to get out of the way.

 

[Spike]

Tony Stewart Won't Race At Watkins Glen

Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero said his department's investigation is not criminal and that Stewart was "fully cooperative" and appeared "very upset" over what had happened.

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

Watch the video in frame-by-frame. The only reason the tire kicks out is because the kid's under the wheel and being shot out at that point.
.

No. the tire did kick out,, and it wasn't from the guy being under it ,, its because stewart gunned the engine.
you can hear it,, and you can see stewarts car accelerated

if his car was coasting thru the turn, the guy wouldn't have been shot out as you said.

 

[Spike]

Well, Tony is a hothead, but I doubt his intention was to kill this guy

without some better views of the scene that's all there is right now - I'll wait for more photo evidence before I charge him with vehicular manslaughter

 

[scstillerfan]

I certainly don't think he intended to kill the guy, but he sure as hell could have gone lower.

 

[hook]

The thing is, no one knows what Tony actually saw. Hell, the driver in front of him had to swerve to keep from hitting Ward. Tony might not have seen him until the last minute when that other car swerved. Not that I'm a huge Stewart fan, but to say he was totally at fault because he is a hothead is a rush to judgement. Let the investigation play out...

 

[Ironcitysteelers]

Who the **** jumps out their ride, walks into the middle of the track when cars are flying bye. Retard gets what he gets.

 

[Hineswardkickedurpanzyass]

Sad ending to a stupid move. No one will ever know what Tony was thinking for that half a second or less that he had to react.

 

[EdReed4Prez]

Who the **** jumps out their ride, walks into the middle of the track when cars are flying bye. Retard gets what he gets.

Pedestrian always has the right of way.

 

[Hineswardkickedurpanzyass]

Pedestrian always has the right of way.

Especially on a dirt track with 500 HP go carts flying by.

 

[jitter77]

I assume they dont have any kind of spotters there. To me the most likely scenario is that stewart tried to hot dog a bit and it went terribly wrong. His past reputation surely is not going to help. Will be interesting to hear more witness statements or see more vids.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Tony is a world class ******* as Mrs. Burgundy found out up close and personal a few years ago, but just the same the dude should have stayed in his car.

 

[hook]

Everyone keeps talking about him gunning his engine. Well, sprint cars don't turn on a dime, especially when going slow. He probably gunned the engine at the last minute to get the car to turn when he saw that stupid kid standing in the middle of the track. If the kid had stayed in his car like he's supposed to, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

 

[Yinzerlyn]

Ward SHOULD have stayed in his car. We all can agree on that. He was a 20 year old kid who acted immaturely and rash. From what I can see in the video, it doesn't APPEAR intentional on Stewart's part, but it doesn't look like he tried to get out of the way either. If the INTENT was to scare the kid, but the outcome was not intended, is it still criminal?