Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

The Jayski.com website is reporting that Tony Stewart is skipping the Bristol "Cup" race this weekend and that Jeff Burton will substitute for him for the second week in a row.  Nothing discussed beyond Bristol.

Tucson Osty

I got a feeling we wont see Stewart back in Cup until the investigation is over with.

The investigation should already be over with.  If not for the media anti motorsports bunch, it would be.

agreed

I hope that Smoke can get behind the wheel again soon.....just for his own mental well being.    If not in a Cup car or a dirt car, maybe he can slip incognito into his father's Legends car and turn a few laps.  

That was his choice.  

YOU SIR ARE AN IDIOT!!!!!! Just let it rest for the sake of Ward.

Wow....I cannot believe some folks.

I have been, and still am, a Tony Stewart fan. I have been since the early 1990's. In no way did Tony intentionally attempt to hurt or kill Kevin Ward jr., with that said. Kevin himself, did not intend on causing harm or to kill himself.....I hope everyone can agree on that, if not, then there is no sense on reading on. The pass itself on track was text book, clean and pretty amazing pas, imo.

 Somethings I have noticed on the numerous and over whelmingly disgusting videos is Kevin was visually upset, he got out of his car, (in which many racers do, including Tony) and stormed down a dark backstretch heading towards racecars under caution doing approxiamateky 25 mph, the videos don't show clearly if and how Kevin goes down into Tony's car or if he tried to grab wing etc., we all agree? right?  Something I did notice about Tony and/or his car is that before Tony even gets to Kevin, Tony's car is already sideways, not much but it is, whether or not he bumped the gas before or after, it is some what sideways.  Another thing is After Tony's car runs over/strikes Kevin, Tony doesn't even stop right away, he waits until the red is out to stop 300 yards away going into turn 3. Now tell me he had to know he atleast hit him or something right? Wouldn't you have stop as sson as you seen him go under or get thrown? There is a big possibility Tony never even seen Kevin, but he had to know he hit someone or atleast something.

I, like many don't know what happened. It makes me very sad and frusterated to read some of the comments here and elsewhere that say it is Kevins own fault. Really? I bet if Tony Stewart, Dale jr or Kyle larson climbed out of their ride and went to shake a fist or throw a helmet or just happen to be walking that way and by chance got ran over and killed, people would sing a different tune. But, in our twisted world perhaps not.

The older I get, the faster I used to be.

I think Smoke wont be racing for awhile investigation or no investigation do you people think it is gonna be easy for him to get behind the wheel I think he is no where close to being able to mentally get behind the wheel of any racing machine dirt or asphalt and I dont think you will see him for quite awhile!

Afraid I agree.

Good Post, very well said. Trust your instincts. Also suggest that you refrain from using either drivers names. Use #14 and #13. This helps to take some of the emotion out of the equation. As time wears on, the emotion of the event will subside. The more emotion subsides, the more objectivity will improve. When objectivity improves, the natural tendency to circle the wagons and protect a beloved son, will wane. If the dirty laundry is ever aired in court, this does not turn out well for the operator of #14. Either you were in control of your vehicle at all times or you were not in control of your vehicle at all times. A human was slaughtered in this incident. If you were not in control of your vehicle, that's involuntary manslaughter. If you were in control of your vehicle, then its manslaughter. There is shared responsibility in this incident. #13 paid for his share with his life, which was a very steep price. What can #14 offer to cover his share of the responsibility. In the end, #14 has resources. The attorneys that the #13 family will retain, will aim high, or shall we say, their aim will be the deepest pockets involved. Sponsors/track/#14 himself/partners. In the end the survivors of #13 will do the sport a big favor if they will agree to settle behind closed doors with no more discussion about doing 10 years of jail time. It's understandable that they are pissed off. I would be too. But with time, would i be willing to accept a check to minimize the black eye to the sport, when one if it's stars failed to set a good example for all the young racers in the country who are paying attention. Or would we say he taught everybody a tough lesson, you must remain in control of your temper and your vehicle at all times. Failure to  do either or both can and will result in death. Thanks for that lesson, #14.

Correct. After the incident, the phone call to #14 was either you choose to sit out while you are under investigation for your involvement that resulted in a death on a race track, or we suspend you. Which is it going to be?  If a sanctioning body allows him to race in their event and anything goes wrong in that event, and then later on the investigation in to this incident goes bad, you then drag that sanctioning body into a liability situation. If #14 is found responsible, how could any sanctioning body take on that kind of liability? The longer that #14 chooses not defend himself, the more he allows the outside world to define him, so much so that if it ever goes to trial, he could end up losing in the court of public opinion. A likely jury would not be stacked with people that look on sprint car racing favorably. No, that jury could actually look at the sport as barbaric, if this is the kind of result we get. He needs to get out in front of the story and stop allowing the narrative to run wild. Right now his choice of silence speaks volumes. If he tells the truth, he risks incrimination. If he doesn't tell the truth, he risks perjury. Either choice invites more problems. Not a good position to be in, especially if you are #14.

You sure are assuming you know a lot of what Tony was thinking and should have done. Then you say in the next paragraph you don't know what happened. Which is it?  It makes you sad that people blame kevin but then blame tony for not stopping because according to you he had to know he hit him or something. And then your analogy goes from Kevin storming down a dark back stretch to smoke, jr, or Larson just happening to be walking that way and got ran over and killed People would be singing a different tune. Give me a break.  

-

I believe it all hinges on the report that he gave the County Sherriff that will come out. Maybe he thought he hit a chunk of RR from a blowout. Just wish this hadn't happened.

It doesn't matter that Tony isn't racing to me. 

If my occupation was an "over the road truck driver" and I was involved in an auto accident and someone was killed I'd have a hard time getting back behind the wheel (especially if it was a circumstance where I had no time to react or I didn't even see the person (I know it's happened before as it's been reported on the news of people running out a ditch into traffic (kinda like a deer does here in IA)).

This is a sad time for the Ward family as well as Tony.  He's probably going through scenarios of "if I'd done this instead or what if I wasn't doing XX (looking at guages, adjusting belts, etc)", maybe he'd still be alive.

It's a very sad situation, a young man lost his life and another is dealing with the grief of being involved in the accident that took his life.

Hey hondo, how do YOU know #14 was NOT in control of his temper or car at the time?  That's what I thought you don't have a friggin clue.  If you are an Attorney I am still not impressed other than it would be nice to see someone this unimpressive against one of Stewarts many lawyers to be involved.  I also think the France family may have an Attorney or two on retainer that might do okay.  Now if you are one of said Attorneys I of course take it all back and will worry for my friend #14.....

And whose choice was it to throttle up????? 

Hondo brings up valid points...and perhapsTony's lawyers "know" his state of mind when he gassed it...might explain the silence.

The strength of TS position might easily be measured by the distance he maintans from a camera.

MSPN entering the fray to lecture people on "control of temper" might be the post of the decade!

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

just step away from the keyboard before you type some more dumb shit. Unreal!

He wanted to race the next morning at Watkins Glen...."business as usual"

 
 
 
They don't even know how to spell sprint car 
much less chromoly...http://www.ycmco.com