Tony Stewart hits, kills driver Kevin Ward Jr. in Sprint Car Race

[Sensitive Blake Griffin]

thats fukking sad. I'm too afraid to watch the video knowing the kid died

 

[FloorGeneral]

FWIW here is the perspective of former Bloomington, Indiana sprint car driver Kevin Briscoe per his Facebook page:

"Thoughts and prayers are with the Kevin Ward family. Last night’s accident from a driver’s perspective: Tony did not do this on purpose and was only trying to avoid Kevin when he saw him at the last moment. You have to look at the whole situation not just that moment. Tony did nothing wrong in the incident the lap before just made a pass like drivers do a 1000 times. Kevin got over the cushion hit the wall and spun. Yes Tony took a lot of track but never hit Kevin a pass that happens every night in a sprint car. Tony has no clue that Kevin had even crashed when he is coming back around the track and has no reason to even be upset because he is unaware who the yellow is even for. Kevin is the very upset because he thinks Tony had crashed him, he gets out of his car with a black uniform and a black helmet. The track is black and not well lit Tony is not expecting someone to be in the middle of the track and sees him at the last moment gases to turn the car to avoid him and accidently hits him. You have to hit the throttle to turn a sprint car quickly. It was an unfortunate accident and was not on purpose. Thoughts and prayers for Tony, his family and friends."

So Stewart may have not even been aware that there was an issue with Ward

This is interesting...

 

[Brozay]

Im confused at everybody so quick to jump down Stewart's throat

this kid ran out in the middle of the track, my first thought is he fukked up, not put Stewart in jail

 

[WaddupDoe!]

http://deadspin.com/tony-stewarts-temper-often-resulted-in-conflict-with-ot-1618964477

This cac ratchet as fukk, scrapping with other racers . Talking about he would "run over" Kenseth "every chance [he] got."




Mannn this cac a thug for real. Straight goon behavior.

@Not A Cop ? Sounds like he has thought about running people over before.

 

[The War Report]

They can be gun-ho about a story as small-scale as a lebron diet cuz accountability doesn't play a huge role in it. A dude getting hit by a car on a track is a little more sensitive an issue. I don't see anything wrong with ESPN taking their time with the story. What is reporting it immediately in real time going to change? It's not gonna bring any more justice to the situation. I'd rather get my news later with full accuracy than reactionary speculation. You had dudes in here talking like dude wasn't dead at first, like Tony Stewart was in his car ready to race the next day, both of which didn't happen. What's wrong with taking time to accurately cover a story? People are so spoiled these days and want things immediately

Dudes are urging for poor journalism -- something that they always complain about with ESPN.

 

[rantanamo]

people keep coping please and talking about how you have to gun it to turn the car. Sorry, but bullshyt. This things can maneuver under caution to warm the tires like any race car on pavement. It takes a couple of feet of avoidance to miss something or someone. It doesn't take gunning it to move out of the way. Tony was trying to buzz that kid and it backfired.

 

[Cabbage Patch]

@Not A Cop ? Sounds like he has thought about running people over before.

Yep.

 

[smARTmouf]

As a fellow human being...That shyt was done on purpose. On some unintentional, intentional shyt...

Dumb shyt for running in the middle of the track like that, but RIP to the kid...

 

[TheGreatShowtime]

Im confused at everybody so quick to jump down Stewart's back

this kid ran out in the middle of the track, my first thought is he fukked up, not put Stewart in jail

That was my reaction too. I think Tony Stewart swerved because he couldn't react properly to avoid hitting him. It's dude's fault for walking in the middle of the track

But since Tony Stewart is an a$$hole, he's gonna get blamed for this kid being an idiot.

 

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

people keep coping please and talking about how you have to gun it to turn the car. Sorry, but bullshyt. This things can maneuver under caution to warm the tires like any race car on pavement. It takes a couple of feet of avoidance to miss something or someone. It doesn't take gunning it to move out of the way. Tony was trying to buzz that kid and it backfired.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-tony-stewart-accident-race-20140810-story.html

Well Sheriffs are saying there is no evidence of intent and that it was an accident...

And I don't know why the kid is standing in the middle of the track with cars flying by him.

 

[jaydolf spitler]

people keep coping please and talking about how you have to gun it to turn the car. Sorry, but bullshyt. This things can maneuver under caution to warm the tires like any race car on pavement. It takes a couple of feet of avoidance to miss something or someone. It doesn't take gunning it to move out of the way. Tony was trying to buzz that kid and it backfired.

I'm saying i have never in my life heard or seen someone try to avoid something with a car by accelerating and changing directions. A bird flew into the road in front of my car the other day and I hit the brakes and steered away from it, not accelerate to give myself less time to react. damn near 10/10 drivers would do that

I also got hit by a car from behind while i was on a moped when the dude was goin about 60 and he cleaned me out and i heard his engine rev before he hit me too. Can't tell me he was trying to avoid me. Dude didn't wait around either he just kept on goin

 

[HipHopStan]

This isn't comparable at all to some homeless guy jumping out in the street. These two had beef and Stewart had literally JUST sent his car to the wall on the previous lap, taking him out of the race. If Stewart wasn't in a state of rage himself, he'd have done his best to avoid him like the other cars did.

That's racing, breh. That happens all of the time. Something else that happens in a lot of those situations is a driver will voice his displeasure at the driver, off to the side, but not go out into on coming traffic, during a night race with shoddy lighting, wearing a dark fire suit and literally try to stop an oncoming car in a sharp turn. Which is sadly what this driver did.

 

[FloorGeneral]

people keep coping please and talking about how you have to gun it to turn the car. Sorry, but bullshyt. This things can maneuver under caution to warm the tires like any race car on pavement. It takes a couple of feet of avoidance to miss something or someone. It doesn't take gunning it to move out of the way. Tony was trying to buzz that kid and it backfired.

How do you know though? Do you drive them big ass cars on dirt for a living? Cause this guy...

FWIW here is the perspective of former Bloomington, Indiana sprint car driver Kevin Briscoe per his Facebook page:

"Thoughts and prayers are with the Kevin Ward family. Last night’s accident from a driver’s perspective: Tony did not do this on purpose and was only trying to avoid Kevin when he saw him at the last moment. You have to look at the whole situation not just that moment. Tony did nothing wrong in the incident the lap before just made a pass like drivers do a 1000 times. Kevin got over the cushion hit the wall and spun. Yes Tony took a lot of track but never hit Kevin a pass that happens every night in a sprint car. Tony has no clue that Kevin had even crashed when he is coming back around the track and has no reason to even be upset because he is unaware who the yellow is even for. Kevin is the very upset because he thinks Tony had crashed him, he gets out of his car with a black uniform and a black helmet. The track is black and not well lit Tony is not expecting someone to be in the middle of the track and sees him at the last moment gases to turn the car to avoid him and accidently hits him. You have to hit the throttle to turn a sprint car quickly. It was an unfortunate accident and was not on purpose. Thoughts and prayers for Tony, his family and friends."

So Stewart may have not even been aware that there was an issue with Ward

...says something completely different. And he actually does (or did) drive them cars for a living.

I was quick to jump on Stewart, and Ward for fukking around in the middle of a racetrack, with the race STILL GOING ON. My very first post brought up both points. I heard the engine rev up in the video, and thought the worst, but then I don't, and have never driven one of these cars in my life. And we only saw a few seconds of what happened, so it was easy to jump to conclusions.

I heard that there was a GoPro camera that was in Stewart's car that was confiscated, so hopefully (well, not HOPEFULLY, but you understand what I mean) that footage is released, and we can see what truly happened.

 

[Frank Lotion]

That was my reaction too. I think Tony Stewart swerved because he couldn't react properly to avoid hitting him. It's dude's fault for walking in the middle of the track

But since Tony Stewart is an a$$hole, he's gonna get blamed for this kid being an idiot.

fukk outta here.

 

[NonPareil]

Stephen A Smith: hitting someone with a car is never okay... but he shouldn't have provoked it