Unfortunately, several stories I read about the incident spent more time talking about the impact it will have on Stewart's race season than the man who passed. With today's missed race, Stewart will likely miss qualifying for Nascar's postseason...oh my.
Remember when Tony himself stepped into the path of an oncoming car to give them a piece of his mind?
Clip of Danica doing it somewhere too, that I don't care to find. Not a big fan of the sport, but I assume lots of them have done it. I'm guessing this will put a quick end to that.
The video you posted can not be compared to the incident that killed the kid.
In that video, Stewart is standing along the side of the pit lane, with the other car approaching head on, in a well lit environment, at lower speeds, and he throws his helmet, while standing clear out of the way. The kid he hit last night ran into oncoming traffic (not just Stewart) in poor lighting, in a corner, on a dirt track, dressed in black.
That'd be like comparing a pedestrian on a sidewalk during the day, to an idiot in black trying to cross deerfoot at 6pm in January.
This is certainly a tragic accident, and my condolences go out to Kevin Ward Jr's family, and also Tony Stewart. One lost a loved one, and the other now will live the rest of his life with the guilt of taking a life, both would be awful.
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The video you posted can not be compared to the incident that killed the kid.
I'm well aware of that. And the Danica video I recall is also in pit lane. My point was merely that if you are a driver, doing anything on foot near something resembling a race track, pit lane, or anything where vehicles are moving will probably result in stiff fines.
I've been reading that the track was really dark, maybe darker than the video shows, and visibility out of those cars is really poor on the right hand side. I think as time goes on, this investigation will tilt heavily in the favour of Stewart, if it hasn't already.
So you speculate that Stewart kicked out the rear end with no proof, then chastise other posters for reacting to an over the top thread title? Sure, ok.
Video and multiple witnesses confirmed that when Stewart got close to him he hit the accelerator. No speculation there, that is a fact.
Here's a quote from Tyler Graves, a Sprint car driver, who was at the track.
Quote:
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.
My initial reaction to the video is that this was murder. I haven't seen or read anything which has convinced me otherwise. I would be a prejudiced juror.
Wow, this actually could be murder. What a huge story this would be in the US. Probably one of the bigger stories in decades if this starts going that way.
Here's a quote from Tyler Graves, a Sprint car driver, who was at the track.
My initial reaction to the video is that this was murder. I haven't seen or read anything which has convinced me otherwise. I would be a prejudiced juror.
It was not murder. Stewart is a hothead but he is not that stupid or crazy. Pylon had it right imo, Stewart saw him for sure in plenty of time and was going to spit gravel all over him by goosing the accelerator and his rear tire got the guy when he did it. It would be Criminal Negligence Causing Death maybe but not murder.
It was not murder. Stewart is a hothead but he is not that stupid or crazy. Pylon had it right imo, Stewart saw him for sure in plenty of time and was going to spit gravel all over him by goosing the accelerator and his rear tire got the guy when he did it. It would be Criminal Negligence Causing Death maybe but not murder.
Still, anything that suggests there was any criminal negligence is going to be HUGE news in the US.
It was not murder. Stewart is a hothead but he is not that stupid or crazy. Pylon had it right imo, Stewart saw him for sure in plenty of time and was going to spit gravel all over him by goosing the accelerator and his rear tire got the guy when he did it. It would be Criminal Negligence Causing Death maybe but not murder.
No way that's Criminal Negligence.
Criminal Negligence implies a failure to foresee possible consequences, and is a crime of omission. There's no way a racing car driver could fail to foresee the possible consequences of that action.
If it is a crime, it's either manslaughter or second degree murder.
It was not murder. Stewart is a hothead but he is not that stupid or crazy. Pylon had it right imo, Stewart saw him for sure in plenty of time and was going to spit gravel all over him by goosing the accelerator and his rear tire got the guy when he did it. It would be Criminal Negligence Causing Death maybe but not murder.
If that was his intent, to spray him, and his aggressive moves resulted in the kids death. Well, that's murder.
I read one article that stated the track officials had raised yellow flags to indicate caution on the race track. Since Stewart made contact with Ward and caused the initial crash, he obviously would be aware of the caution area of the track. The revving of his engine and sideways movement of his car doesn't exactly indicate cautious behaviour.
The definition of murder requires intent to commit the killing. If you're saying it's to spray him, murder is not what it is
Yes, it definitely is. If he was attempting a dangerous maneuver to spray rocks on him, it is reasonable to think he understood the consequences if anything would have went wrong..at night...and on a gravel track. He knew if anything went wrong it could cause serious injury or death (assuming he actually did attempt to spray rocks, I don't know if he did or not, just arguing your point)
I am not a race fan, but man that video makes Stewart look pretty irresponsible.....I suppose "locking him" up does nota really serve the publics interest........I suppose all of those drivers know they are taking some big risks every time they get in the track.....
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It was not murder. Stewart is a hothead but he is not that stupid or crazy. Pylon had it right imo, Stewart saw him for sure in plenty of time and was going to spit gravel all over him by goosing the accelerator and his rear tire got the guy when he did it. It would be Criminal Negligence Causing Death maybe but not murder.
Sorry, but this is wrong. I know you're a cop and everything, but if what you say might have happened did happen (again, no idea if it is true) then there would be a strong case for second degree murder. They would just have to prove he did attempt a dangerous move to spit rocks on him. Would not be unreasonable for someone who has as much experience that Stewart has to know that if anything did go wrong it could cause his death.
Yes, it definitely is. If he was attempting a dangerous maneuver to spray rocks on him, it is reasonable to think he understood the consequences if anything would have went wrong..at night...and on a gravel track. He knew if anything went wrong it could cause serious injury or death (assuming he actually did attempt to spray rocks, I don't know if he did or not, just arguing your point)
That is the definition of second degree murder.
It's actually the definition of manslaughter. Voluntary manslaughter specifically if you can prove his intent was to spray rocks and hurt him.
Video and multiple witnesses confirmed that when Stewart got close to him he hit the accelerator. No speculation there, that is a fact.
Doesn't prove that Stewart saw him. Just trying to approach this how Stewart's defense would... he's on a race track so he added throttle. Boom, that was easy.
The video kinda look like he hit him on purpose but if he says it wasn't his intent then they can't prove it was based on the video which is far too inconclusive, else they'd have charged him already. It's not murder because another driver said "I know Tony could see him" which is hearsay and inadmissible... and even if they somehow proved that Tony did see him it doesn't prove that he added throttle, deliberately swerved toward the kid, and intentionally hit him. It's not a street where he swerved and hit a pedestrian, so a key argument for the defense would surely be that he should be excused from what appears to have been an erratic driving action because it's a damn powerful car on a dirt race track.
Not saying it was or wasn't murder cause none of us know, but if Tony says he couldn't see him or he lost control or whatever, unless there's another video providing damning evidence that proves the contrary (or proof of some prior conspiracy or something) he should be in the clear from criminal charges but not from an inevitable civil suit, of course.
