Comments on Advance Indiana™: Tony Stewart Under Investigation After Killing Kevin Ward, Jr. In Sprint Car Race

And if you knew what you were talking about, we...

2014-08-15T01:27:32.044-05:00

And if you knew what you were talking about, we'd listen. Im from a race car family. I know sprint cars. 1. Read up on how sprint cars work.
2. Even with TS hot temper, he would never be that neglagent. He was severally hurt last year. He knows what can happen.

The whole thing stinks. Ward Jr. should not have b...

2014-08-12T06:43:24.313-05:00

The whole thing stinks. Ward Jr. should not have been out of the car running around in incoming traffic. Also, Stewart should have made sure to stay way out of his way. No way Stewart meant to kill the guy.

Stewart did what he always does...get the last wor...

2014-08-11T15:54:56.537-05:00

Stewart did what he always does...get the last word in...he revved the motor and spun the tires as he approached the kid as if to say 'get back in your car, punk'..that's Stewart's style...AFTER HE HAD PUT THE KID INTO THE WALL THE PRECEDING LAP! Unfortunately, Stewart's brat-like behavior went awry, and cost the young racer his life. Sure, he was foolish for running down to the bottom to get a piece of Stewart, but he didn't deserve the consequence. And if any of you believe that Stewart didn't see him...any of you....then you've never been in a sprint car and don't have a good faith basis for your belief. If Stewart didn't see him, then Stewart should not be racing ANYWHERE.
If the County prosecutor has a sufficient budget, he'll prosecute. And if honest sprintcar drivers testify, he'll get convicted. But there are no winners here. Just a dead kid, a grieving family, and a bully still being a bully.

Sad that a twenty-year-old young man is now deceas...

2014-08-11T05:30:40.299-05:00

Sad that a twenty-year-old young man is now deceased. Prayers for his soul & for the comfort of his family.

Legally, I'd be surprised if anything comes of this: Ward was on foot in the middle of oncoming sprint cars. The #45 car nearly hit Ward before Stewart did. Tough to see how any criminal or civil liability attaches to this sad event.

Is anyone really surprised? I'm not. Granted t...

2014-08-10T17:56:43.241-05:00

Is anyone really surprised? I'm not. Granted this was not a NASCAR race but NASCAR has been tolerating and promoting this type of behavior for a long time now. When the crowds started to thin and TV ratings took a tank then stock racing turned into a freak show to attract viewers. No place for this idoicy in any motorsports.

P.S. So much for helmets.

2014-08-10T17:45:55.811-05:00

P.S. So much for helmets.

I cannot understand why Kevin Ward, Jr. would try ...

2014-08-10T16:08:28.731-05:00

I cannot understand why Kevin Ward, Jr. would try to walk across the track?? It appears that the car before Stewart's came close to hitting Ward.

It would seem the safe place would have been to stay near the wall. The Rescue units were there rather quickly.

I never understood this whole NASCAR thing of bumping another car from the rear during a race. Do they not realize or care that you could kill or injure someone doing this rear end bumping.

No dog in this fight, not even a race fan but when...

2014-08-10T16:08:06.507-05:00

No dog in this fight, not even a race fan but when you do Stupid Things, Bad Things can happen. Was the deceased looking for notoriety by Challenging Tony Stewart? If so He GOT it. Sad, was he 17 or 20? Are 17 year olds legit to race with the Big Boys? Sad as it is maybe a little humility on All sides would have gone a long way and this Tragedy Avoided.

He wasn't driving 60 mph on a caution.

2014-08-10T14:09:12.747-05:00

He wasn't driving 60 mph on a caution.

Horrible tragedy. I looked at the video and the o...

2014-08-10T13:20:44.510-05:00

Horrible tragedy.

I looked at the video and the only conclusive thing I can tell is that ward walked down into traffic.

I can not tell if Stewart's vision was blocked or just obstructed, I can't tell from the video if Stewart's car slid up on the dirt or was steered up, in short there is nothing showing that Stewart was trying to hit Ward, while there is stuff on the video showing Ward walking into traffic that was moving about 60 mph.

Lawsuits in sports are difficult to win because of...

2014-08-10T12:59:25.863-05:00

Lawsuits in sports are difficult to win because of a doctrine called "Assumption of the Risk." Also, contributory negligence comes into play here.

Still, the case would be in New York, and some crazy decisions come out of that state.

Look for Stewart to endow a scholarship, or something like that, in Ward's name.

Ward runs around a RACE TRACK and gets hit. Is an...

2014-08-10T11:38:45.050-05:00

Ward runs around a RACE TRACK and gets hit. Is anyone surprised here? Tony can be a hot head but this guy was STUPID. Can't fix stupid. I suspect Ward's family will sue Tony too.

I don't excuse Ward's actions. We see it r...

2014-08-10T10:23:34.817-05:00

I don't excuse Ward's actions. We see it repeated in NASCAR races all the time. Stewart himself has done the same thing. I recall an incident a year or two ago where he ran down the track and threw his helmet at Matt Kenseth's car in anger and threatened afterwards to run him down at every opportunity the rest of the season.

Just watched it again. Dumbass was over halfway ac...

2014-08-10T10:17:20.681-05:00

Just watched it again. Dumbass was over halfway across the track when he got hit. Stewart was not in an unreasonable place on the track.

Racing will respond to this by banning on-track gestures at cars.

Stewart may face racing sanction, maybe, but he wo...

2014-08-10T10:08:15.281-05:00

Stewart may face racing sanction, maybe, but he won't be convicted. Dumbass walks halfway down the track, leaving competitors a limited room to avoid him. Stewart didn't center-punch him, so it can easily be argued that Ward violated racing rules by getting out of his car and that he failed to calculate the correct distance to competitors while on foot.

Did Ward walk right at Stewart's car, trying to force him to brake or swerve?

The lesson here is don't play chicken with some people in this world, especially when you're not in your car.