Police investigating incident involving Tony Stewart at N.Y. dirt track

[KentState]

I can't imagine Stewart not quickly settling with the family if it comes to that.

It will come to that one way or another I would assume. Even from this post, you can see that number of people that already found him "guilty" with little facts. Don't think that someone won't be in the families ear, right or wrong, telling them that the deserve to ruin him financially.

 

[merlion]

1. Tony Stewart is/was/always will be a hothead d-bag. His temper has now gotten himself into a very serious situation, and at the very least will end up costing him a lot of $ imho.

2. NASCAR is the WWE of auto racing.

 

[MongGrel]

Quote:
Tyler Graves, a sprint-car racer, (said) in a phone interview that he was sitting in the Turn 1 grandstands and saw everything.


"Tony pinched him into the front stretch wall, a racing thing," Graves said. "The right rear tire went down, he spun on the exit of (Turn) 2. They threw the caution and everything was toned down.He was throwing his arms up all over the place at Tony for most of the corner.

"I know Tony could see him. I know how you can see out of these cars. When Tony got close to him, he hit the throttle. When you hit a throttle on a sprint car, the car sets sideways. It set sideways, the right rear tire hit Kevin, Kevin was sucked underneath and was stuck under it for a second or two and then it threw him about 50 yards."

Graves said he didn't believe it was intentional.
"You never mean to do something like that," Graves told Sporting News. "Kevin was pissed and he let Tony know. And Tony was trying to give the message back that he wasn't happy either. He went over the line with it."

 

[merlion]

Quote:Graves said he didn't believe it was intentional.
"You never mean to do something like that," Graves told Sporting News. "Kevin was pissed and he let Tony know. And Tony was trying to give the message back that he wasn't happy either. He went over the line with it."

Yeah, definitely NOT intentional. BUT, just as a drunk driver doesn't intentionally mean to cause anyone harm, Tony may end up in a very bad situation due to this incident. He may not face criminal charges, but will likely face civil charges. Better get the checkbook out.

 

[Harrod]

Pretty sad thing happened, but it looks like there was at least one if not two people doing stupid stuff.

 

[dmcowen674]

Police investigating incident involving Tony Stewart at N.Y. dirt track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvaHUN6JFPc

The video is graphic.

Tony Stewart may have just ended his racing career...

He and another driver got into an accident, and the other driver's car was wrecked. As Tony came around again under the yellow flag, the other driver was standing on the track, waiting to yell at Tony, as Tony went by, he gunned his engine, and the rear end kicked out and he ran over the guy with the back wheel.

http://thatsracinluckydog.blogspot....ng.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one.

 

[sandorski]

It's very common to do exactly what Ward did, though. Most drivers have done it when they were mad at another driver. Wait for him to come back around, and let him know what you think of him as he drives by under caution.

I suspect they will now ban drivers from doing so.

As they should. I don't watch NASCAR, but accidents are part of Racing. If one gets knocked out of a race it should be up to a review panel to decide if they were knocked intentionally or not. Getting out of your vehicle to confront the driver who knocked you out should be an infraction itself.

 

[_Rick_]

You've got to stick to the basic safety rules on the track. By making racing unsafe, as this person did, you ruin it for everyone.
If you feel that someone's unsporting behavior on track needs to be matched by your unsporting behavior off-track, then have at it after the race is over. Hell, you could probably turn that into a pay-per-view even and give extra championship points for how well each driver fares in the brawl after the race.
But don't mess around on the track while a race is on.

I still remember that steward at the Canadian GP in 2011, I think, that slipped while crossing the track in a gap of the safety-car train, and almost got run over by a Ferrari, who barely managed to drive around him. That was a scary moment, and I'm sure it had an influence on trackside worker's briefings, about how the racing line gets slippery when wet, and about how you count the cars when the SC is through, and wait for everyone to go by, before crossing the track. Sadly, I couldn't find a clip of that Marshal as proof, that stupid and racetrack don't mix.

You don't walk into the racing line while a race is on, because even under a yellow, people are still focusing on the race, and not on dodging a person that is erratically moving across the track.

I'm not sure how this sprint car culture got to the point, where people are so blasé about safety, that they think walking onto the track is in any way acceptable. People that pull stupid stunts like that need to get race suspensions. If I had a track and an amateur would pull off something like that, they'd be banned from that track for life.

 

[LTC8K6]

1. Tony Stewart is/was/always will be a hothead d-bag. His temper has now gotten himself into a very serious situation, and at the very least will end up costing him a lot of $ imho.

2. NASCAR is the WWE of auto racing.

Nascar is not involved, as far as I know.

They are certainly monitoring the situation.

 

[halik]

Why the hell was that kid walking towards that car? Darwin award winner...

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

The most plausible explanation, to what happened, I have been able to find, is that unfortunately, although Tony Stewart managed to miss hitting the other driver, with the front of the vehicle. The rear wheels managed to hit and go over the other driver (apparently the rear wheels stick out and are bigger, on these vehicles, and very careful slow motion examination of the video, shows this (reportedly). This also explains why we see the car then violently swerve, because it lost traction on a rear wheel).

I guess the truth will come out in the end.

Given that the other driver, essentially suddenly runs out in front of the correctly driven speeding (it is a race, after all!) vehicle, it is difficult to levy serious charges against Tony Stewart.

Tony Stewart may not have even had time to see who the other driver was, let alone decide to do them any harm.

It's crazy to walk/run/enter onto the main section of a racing track, while somewhat fast racing cars, are just about to speed past!

Anyway a sad time for everyone involved.

 

[jlee]

Looks to me like the same thing as getting hit in a parking lot, and then leaving your vehicle, running out onto the freeway, and standing on the dotted line while waving your arms at the offending vehicle as it passes by. Stupidity.

 

[LTC8K6]

The most plausible explanation, to what happened, I have been able to find, is that unfortunately, although Tony Stewart managed to miss hitting the other driver, with the front of the vehicle. The rear wheels managed to hit and go over the other driver (apparently the rear wheels stick out and are bigger, on these vehicles, and very careful slow motion examination of the video, shows this (reportedly). This also explains why we see the car then violently swerve, because it lost traction on a rear wheel).

I guess the truth will come out in the end.

Given that the other driver, essentially suddenly runs out in front of the correctly driven speeding (it is a race, after all!) vehicle, it is difficult to levy serious charges against Tony Stewart.

Tony Stewart may not have even had time to see who the other driver was, let alone decide to do them any harm.

It's crazy to walk/run/enter onto the main section of a racing track, while somewhat fast racing cars, are just about to speed past!

Anyway a sad time for everyone involved.

The race was under a caution flag at the time. The cars were running at a greatly reduced speed. No one was racing at the time.

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

The race was under a caution flag at the time. The cars were running at a greatly reduced speed. No one was racing at the time.

I'm not sure how long before the unfortunate incident took place, the yellow flag was issued.
Apparently they can race at up to 140 MPH, so even if they slowed down a lot (yellow flag), it is still very dangerous to enter the race track, while the cars are driving past.

Anyway, there is more news about this now.

Ontario County Sheriff's Department says its officers are at the track investigating but do not see it as a criminal matter.

Source

 

[LTC8K6]

The investigation has barely started, though.

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

The investigation has barely started, though.

Yes, in all fairness, we need to let them gather up all the video evidence available, and collect any witness statements, and examine the evidence.

But quite apart from being innocent until proven guilty, I have a lot of confidence, in them already saying that they "do not see it as a criminal matter".
It's likely to mean that no criminal charges are made.

But in all fairness to yourself, we can wait and see what the final outcome of this, is.

 

[LTC8K6]

Yes, in all fairness, we need to let them gather up all the video evidence available, and collect any witness statements, and examine the evidence.

But quite apart from being innocent until proven guilty, I have a lot of confidence, in them already saying that they "do not see it as a criminal matter".
It's likely to mean that no criminal charges are made.

But in all fairness to yourself, we can wait and see what the final outcome of this, is.

I've already posted that I doubt he will be charged.

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

I've already posted that I doubt he will be charged.

I see.

Ignoring the possible criminal elements, it would still be interesting, to find out later, what the full official accident investigation, finds out about this incident.

Especially as regards, to what extent, the driver who was killed, was to blame.

E.g. If Tony was speeding on the yellow flag, he still would be slightly/partly to blame, but NOT in a criminal sense, as he did not know the other driver was to suddenly move into the path of his vehicle.

 

[LTC8K6]

http://www.empiresupersprints.com/index.htm

That was the race organization. Not Nascar.

 

[JCH13]

The FIRST THING every drivers safety briefing says is almost always: "if you get wrecked, go off the track, or your car breaks down, DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR CAR unless instructed to do so by track personnel."

This kid didn't stay in his car and go splattered. He took his own life into his hands walking into the middle of a race track, yellow flag or not. It's just something every racers knows that you don't do.

Also: a yellow flag doesn't usually mean 'go really slow.' Its used to indicate a hazard on the course, thus no passing allowed, and you should back off to 3/4 of 'race speed.' 3/4 of race speed is still REALLY fast, and having a driver on-course (wearing black at a night race walking further into the track) is not at all something any driver would rationally anticipate.

Furthermore: it was a dirt track, who's to know if the car stepped out because Stuart hit the throttle, or because the car broke traction on some loose dirt? Intermittent grip is kind of the whole point of a dirt track, it might have just been an unfortunate accident with no malicious intent.

 

[Squeetard]

The FIRST THING every drivers safety briefing says is almost always: "if you get wrecked, go off the track, or your car breaks down, DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR CAR unless instructed to do so by track personnel."

This. At my local track if you do this you are banned for life from that track. And if a vehicle is on fire they Red flag the race. Red flag means all cars stop asap.

 

[xBiffx]

This. At my local track if you do this you are banned for life from that track. And if a vehicle is on fire they Red flag the race. Red flag means all cars stop asap.

To be fair, not all tracks have the same rules especially regarding a vehicle fire (I like that rule though). But it is a general rule of thumb of racing (and frankly common sense) to not surrender the safety of your vehicle until you can be sure its OK to do so. Basically, wait until safety crews are there.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Dumbass kid should not have gotten out of his car. Dumbass T. Stewart should not have driven aggressively under caution. Add two dumbasses + deadly weapon = tragic accident.

 

[JCH13]

Dumbass kid should not have gotten out of his car. Dumbass T. Stewart should not have driven aggressively under caution. Add two dumbasses + deadly weapon = tragic accident.

I have a 'Two Idiot' Theory: any traffic can tolerate a single idiot, but two or more idiots and you start having accidents.

 

[Squeetard]

Dumbass kid should not have gotten out of his car. Dumbass T. Stewart should not have driven aggressively under caution. Add two dumbasses + deadly weapon = tragic accident.

This is the gist of it.

Edit: I built a cheater engine for a guy at my local track, pitted for him for a summer. Roundy round racing is a total cluster fuck. Everybody hates everybody else. They are constantly trading paint and causing expensive damage to each other. Fist fights in the pits almost every race.