Tony Stewart Sprint Car Crash/Kevin Ward Jr killed

[Blade3562]

So I love sprint car racing, it was big in my hometown and big where my family is from. I've been to tons of races and even seen the World Series of Outlaws twice. So seeing this in the news is sad.

Video:

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DISCLAIMER: There is no blood or gore, but Kevin Ward Jr. has died as a result of what is seen in this video

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My opinion/view:

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This past weekend at the race in upstate New York Tony Stewart (yeah the neckcar driver) was making an inside pass move on Kevin Ward, Ward decided to keep on the throttle and hold out, he ended up hitting the wall and spinning out. Common occurrence I have seen it happen they get the car off track while the race continues. Kevin however must have thought Tony had cheated him and decided to charge into the driving line to confront him. This is against any track policy ever written, you are to A stay in your car or B exit to behind the barricade immediately, do not pass go do not collect $200. As a result of his anger he was almost hit by multiple cars then was finally hit by Tony causing the race to come to a complete stop.

Now as a person who has been on track visibility is very poor you are basically just sliding in a constant oval following other cars. Safety workers are the only people you can see and most if not all light comes from the grandstand side of the track. Safety workers wear reflective and bright clothing so you can see them and know if something has happened. When you are in the back side of turn 1 is the spot with the worst on track visibility (exactly where this happened). You can see multiple other drivers can not even tell Kevin Ward is on the track. In fact the car before Stewart has the best visibility of any car to pass Kevin and still almost hits him.

I feel that Kevin Ward Jr. is at fault, and it's very sad that he lost his life so young, but now Tony Stewart has to deal with the Trauma for this rest of his life for accidentally killing a man while racing, and I think that burden is worse than any financial one they ever put on him.

Just my $0.02

If you feel this needs to go to the over 16 area I understand, feel free to move it and let me see the forum, I never got access lol


Also a great explanation on Sprint car design in relation to what happened by a YouTube user "projectgreenmarble":

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They're direct drive cars, as mentioned plenty of times, They are cambered way out of proportion to promote turning, and throttle control is a component in steering, you cant just jerk the wheel, that's not how these cars handle, you have to throttle, steer, throttle, steer. What I see now after watching this horrible footage, is it appears as Ward stepped into the zone between the front and rear tire without realizing it. Sprint cars are virtually impossible to see out of, and the gear allows for less periph. There's a chance that Stewart didn't even see where the poor kid was in proprtion to the cars wheels, if some of you knew anything at all about open wheels you'd realize that.

His opinion:

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And for someone to make the stretch, that Tony's temper drove him to willfully run a competitor over, is insane and I'm ashamed you watch racing at all. Do some research about what you're talking about before you form an opinion, it's what intelligent people do. The implications of willfully using a race car as a weapon would be the end for any driver. The golden rule in Sprint racing, DO NOT EXIT YOUR CAR UNDER A YELLOW unless your car is red and yellow (on fire). Carry on