Tony Stewart, this is not good

[Rick V]

Now if this happened to a regular person, you can bet the punishment would be much more severe than whatever the final outcome of this case will be.

[t6dpilot]

Bad, bad, bad.... My first thought after reading about this is that he intended to kick the rear out and spray the guy. Under caution, slow, and most of the cars are on the left side of the track - I have to believe that TS could see the driver clearly. It sure doesn't look like a case of "whoops, the car in front swerved and there appears the driver on foot that I can't avoid." A seasoned professional like that sees way ahead of the car.

Not saying that is what actually happened though. Still, the 19 year old driver should have never gotten out of his car like that. They do that in roundy rounder racing though, no?

What a senseless event that should not have occurred at all. I cannot see how this will end well for TS. He may not get formally charged, but his life will be forever changed I have to believe. I feel really bad for the family of that young driver.

[whiskyb]

Not trying to defend him (Tony) but the other driver should never have got out of his car. That and the fact that his driving suit was black and matched the paint job of his car would have made him very hard to see. Couple that with a dimly lit track and it is unfortunate the results

[David]

Looks like at least manslaughter to me and I don't see how racing today will help his case any.

[bell]

Sad to hear. ...
But another example of why I don't watch circle track/nascar racing. .....everyone wants to play the tough guy. ... And people get killed.....

[cashflyer]

Ward should not have exited his car.
Ward should not have walked into the traffic.
From his actions and posturing in the video, he was clearly looking for a fight, and he found one.

Several people seem to think TS did this on purpose, with nothing to back their position other than a desire to see a celebrity fall.

I seriously doubt he was coming around the turn thinking, "Hey.... I think I'll kill this guy."

[dlockhart]

A quick glance at my FB and MC racing forums and I find that my fellow two wheel guys are of the mind that you get the eff away from a track not walk out onto it. A MC racer getting hit or run over is not a uncommon event, so we know enough to get off the fkin track.
RIP racer

[widgeon13]

Not racing today.

[Baz]

Stewart will not be racing today it was just announced.

Smart move.

[wdfifteen]

Stewart's back wheel goes to the left, away from the guy. He must have hit him with the front?

[J P Stein]

According to reports, the first guy in line had to swerve to miss the fella....notice his the fancy footwork. Tony was a second or two behind ....oops.
Plenty of mis-judgement to go around......kind of a dumb & dumber deal.

[wildthing]

Sorry for the loss. If indeed it was intentional, that is just wrong.

But if you've been racing since four, wouldn't you know by now to stay off a hot track?

[widgeon13]

Going to be one hell of a civil suit.

[sand_man]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Looks to me like two men made one bad choice each.

My thoughts also. Tragic all the way around though. As others have said, just a waste...

I can't imagine in IMSA Professional Sports Car Racing, ever seeing a driver climb out of his car after an altercation and entering a traffic filled track to "express" his "disapproval"!!! Sure, I can see some fist waiving or finger pointing from the grass or track sidelines, but nothing like this!!!! Different mindset...different strokes, I guess!

[sand_man]

Man Vs. Race car on hot track = bad things!!! Man punching other man in face in the pits = better chance of living!

[9dreizig]

The guy was wearing black on a poorly lit track. I just read a story from a guy who had driven those cars. He said that he gunned it because that's how you turn those cars quickly.. Look at the video and how the wheels turned. Looks to me like he saw him late and gunned it to get the rear end back over as to not hit him. (one theory anyway)

[Scuba Steve]

Originally Posted by J P Stein

According to reports, the first guy in line had to swerve to miss the fella....notice his the fancy footwork. Tony was a second or two behind ....oops.
Plenty of mis-judgement to go around......kind of a dumb & dumber deal.

That's exactly the way I see it - I kept waiting for him to take just a step or two and stop but by late in second 33 if you pause you can see he's walked most of the way across the track. There's barely over a second between the blue/white car and Stewart's. He got lucky the first car missed but not so much with the second.

I have a hard time seeing this as intentional but that won't stop an attorney. IMO it'll end up a civil matter only with no criminal charges pressed.

[mreid]

TS will not be charged. You don't walk out onto the track and all the BS about TS "trying to spray him with dirt" is just that. It doesn't matter how you feel about hot headed Stewart, there is no way a criminal or civil suite is going anywhere.

[jgreen]

Just a thought from someone who has driven a winged dirt car. Look at the video and notice the position of the wing end plate on the right side of the car...it goes below the line of sight of the driver. In a dirt car you are always looking left and the cars are designed to turn left. One way to get a car to go left is with the throttle. It is possible that TS never saw the guy at all.

[jgreen]

An additional thought....confirming the restricted visibility, notice how Ward had to bend down in order to see TS to express his displeasure?
Shouldn't have happened and wouldn't have had Ward stayed out of the driving line.