Tony Stewart

[Road Guy]

I'm not a nascar follower, but I am curious to see some other "normal" points of view..

I cant imagine he intentionally ran over the other driver (are people that dumb?)

I have enjoyed listening to both sides of the argument though. What I have learned is apparently he is an asshole, and when there is a possible manslaughter case coming, its generally better to not be thought of as an asshole...

 

[roadwreck]

I'd be curious to see what his reaction will be when he is involved in on track incidents in the future. In the past he has been more than willing to jump out of his car and "go after" other drivers. I'm assuming he won't be doing that anymore.

 

[mudpuppy]

I don't think Tony would deliberately run someone over. I do think it's possible he got in the throttle to try to scare Ward and accidentally hit him. He's the only one who will ever know, and he'll have to live with it. In any case, he's always been a reckless hothead with a quick temper and I don't think the backlash he is getting from this is surprising given his past behavior. I don't think NASCAR has done him any favors either, because they let him get away with pretty much anything with a slap on the wrist at most. So now he pretty much acts like an entitled brat. If they'd actually held him accountable for his actions in the past (I've seen him deliberately wreck other cars for no reason on the track), maybe he would have had to change his ways before he got so far out of control. But they won't do that because he's a giant cash cow for NASCAR.

 

[csb]

Being a highway worker, the first thing I do in case of a crash is to get as far away from the moving vehicles as possible. Is that not a thing in NASCAR? Also, aren't these guys supposed to have lightening fast reflexes and they are so focused and that's what makes NASCAR a sport? So how does he hit a dude?

 

[snickerd3]

the dude jumped out of his car and started walking toward the other cars on the track to bitch at who bumped off to spin out. the first car swerves to avoid hitting him...tony wasn't a quick to avoid the guy to was coming at him on foot

 

[roadwreck]

I do think it's possible he got in the throttle to try to scare Ward and accidentally hit him.

I was thinking along the same lines.

 

[Road Guy]

what I have found amusing is the people (on sports talk radio that call in)

1. I know Tony Stewart, he is a good man, he couldn't possibly hurt anyone! (a fan - that doesn't really Know Tony-- but follows him)

2. Tony Stewart is an asshole and he never liked that kid and I know he did it on purpose! (something about he accelerated just before impact)

well I don't really find it amusing cause a man died, but I think its just insane how "fans" think they "know" someone....

And yeah I don't know how stupid you have to be to get out of the car on a track unless your car is on fire or something.. I never liked to be on the side of the interstate working either, not a fun place to be...

 

[wilheldp_PE]

I think the blame lies about 50/50 in this case.

First of all, human vs. car..car wins every time. Getting out of a car with built in safety features to yell at a car driven by someone you believe spun you out on purpose is one of the dumbest things I can imagine (and I have a vivid imagination).

That being said, I think MP nailed it...

I don't think Tony would deliberately run someone over. I do think it's possible he got in the throttle to try to scare Ward and accidentally hit him. He's the only one who will ever know, and he'll have to live with it.

Tony Stewart is a mulch-millionaire, adrenaline junkie that races on his off weekends to "teach some kids a lesson". There are previous reports of him racing dirty in these Sprint car races (in fact, at the same track where he killed a kid). He has a history of being an idiot and an asshole on the track, so I think he was just trying to scare the kid and ended up killing him. I think he is guilty of at least manslaughter, but probably negligent homicide.

 

[engineergurl]

Sprint cars drive much differently than stock cars.... that's why they aren't raced against each other. I think that even knowing what you are doing during an emergency situation your automatic reaction is going to be more associated with your most familiar. From my understanding if

you use the throttle as a steering tool on stock cars

you have a kid not follow standard protocol and running around the track, dressed in a black suit, with poor lighting

You are driving fast on a loose dirt surface

You are driving a vehicle that is not your most familiar dimensions

All that and there is a situation that can easily add up to disaster. Yes Tony was a hot head on the track sometimes but so are a lot of drivers... when crashes happen, they get looked at. I am sorry, maybe my opinion is harsh, but to make such an unsafe decision to walk on the track is where people should be focused. Any other driver could have hit him. Safety in this sport is dependent on drivers not making stupid decisions like that so I really put the blame there, because he probably wouldn't be dead if he stayed in his car.

 

[snickerd3]

Grand jury decided today...no charges

 

[Road Guy]

The NFL will be glad the story is out today, will take some heat off of them for a few days...

 

[goodal]

Speaking of the grand jury, didn't the grand jury convene in Ferguson, MO like 3 weeks ago? Have they been in there ever since?

 

[Road Guy]

it must have not been what the media wanted to hear so we didn't hear about it

 

[snickerd3]

Speaking of the grand jury, didn't the grand jury convene in Ferguson, MO like 3 weeks ago? Have they been in there ever since?

mid October predicted end

 

[Dark Knight]

Grand jury decided today...no charges

No one will ever know what really happened. I have followed Tony's career for a few years, he is my wife's favorite, and this incident was confusing. I just hope that justice really prevailed and this was not an intentional thing. According to the news the investigators had a lot of evidence to look at but you never know.

 

[Supe]

News reports stating that the kid racing was high, and they commented that the levels of weed in his system was enough to "impair judgment".

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Regardless of what the legal system said, Tony knows he has to live with the fact that someone died through his actions.

 

[Dark Knight]

News reports stating that the kid racing was high, and they commented that the levels of weed in his system was enough to "impair judgment".

That was something they should have disclosed to the family only. Just my personal opinion. It is like they are justifying the incident. Regardless, it was HIS and HIS fault. He had no business in the middle of a dark track with cars running around.

Regardless of what the legal system said, Tony knows he has to live with the fact that someone died through his actions.

And that is the key here. Guilt does not go away just like that.

 

[Road Guy]

If someone ran onto the interstate at night while cars were doing 70 mph I don't think I would look at it as someone died because of my actions... Someone died because of their actions....

 

[NJmike PE]