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Kchrpm
January 30th, 2014, 11:39 AM
New Nascar Chase format. It's becoming more of a knockout tournament.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3n2Tpc5iidw/UuqYYDpR8QI/AAAAAAAASY4/AmyFqjrAQks/w1044-h587-no/Chase+Grid+Horizontal.jpg

Random
January 30th, 2014, 11:52 AM
Points reset after each round, I've read, as well.

Some scattered thoughts:
I can't wait for some non-Chase driver to take out one of the top four in that last race.
If they are going to continue to include the crap-shoot that is Talladega in the Chase, they should include a road course, too, IMO.

tigeraid
January 30th, 2014, 11:55 AM
I despise this. And will continue to watch the Truck series instead.

This bullshit means, in theory, that you could go into Race 3 as the points leader, have a guy (maybe not even a Chase guy) put you in the wall, finish 35th, and BOOM you are officially out of Championship contention 7 races early. Fucking. Stupid.

Random
January 30th, 2014, 12:03 PM
It almost seems like NASCAR is stuck in the same rut that the PGA was after Tiger burst onto the scene, trying to "Jimmie-proof" the Chase to prevent domination by one driver.

I hope he wins the next three.

edit: the nice thing about the trucks is that they haven't been totally overrun by NSC drivers, unlike the Busch (what are they called now?) cars. :|

Kchrpm
January 30th, 2014, 12:06 PM
I have to be careful whenever I talk about racing series making drastic changes, because I start to have CART/IndyCar flashbacks and can't help but rage at the machine.

Suffice it to say that I'm not a huge NASCAR fan and I'm not a NASCAR hater, and these changes won't affect either of those facts.

tigeraid
January 30th, 2014, 12:11 PM
The Trucks are still badass. More short tracks, less awful 1.5 mile ovals. A normal points system (Crafton won the championship last season with only one race win, because he was THE BEST DRIVER OVER THE SEASON). And as Random mentioned, you only get maybe 5-6 races a season where Kyle Busch shows up and ruins it. They're also officially the most diverse series in the country, with short tracks, intermediates, super speedways, a road course in CANADA, and a dirt track.

I can't wait for the new season.

Random
January 30th, 2014, 12:18 PM
The trucks were super fun to drive online, too, when people modded up NASCAR 2k3. :D

Impreza
January 30th, 2014, 12:32 PM
Apparently, according to the new math, Dale Jr would have won the championship in 2013 without even winning an event?

8400RPM
January 30th, 2014, 12:47 PM
Wow that is a horrible format. Very exciting I'm sure for the more casual fans, but really won't reward the best, most consistent driver throughout the season. Will they still get the same bonus points for wins going into the Chase?

Drachen596
January 30th, 2014, 03:26 PM
Nascar needs to ban drivers from running all the series. They already dont let them score points in more than one. Just need to take that final step.


this new knockout thing is really stupid.

Freude am Fahren
January 30th, 2014, 08:27 PM
Getting into the chase is now based on wins as well, isn't it. So someone could have a great start to the season, win maybe 2-3 races early (superspeedway crap shoots), be absolute shit the rest of the season, and get in.

tigeraid
January 31st, 2014, 09:58 AM
The Chase was always, in theory, about wins. Of course it rarely worked out that way. Now, there's 16 spots. NASCAR is competitive enough that they very well could have 16 winners. But it's just as possible that two drivers, like Johnson and Kenseth last year, go on a tear and win, let's say, 18 races between each other. Now suddenly there's only 10 winners, and they fill the Chase with the 6 highest in points without a win.

So now, a fucking Danica Patrick or a Joey Logano sitting 15th in points could enter the Chase with no wins... Then, say, the top four in the Chase have bad days for the first three races, off and on. Maybe a Jeff Gordon has a wreck at Loudon, maybe Jimmie Johnson finishes 25th at Chicago, maybe Matt Kenseth gets spun late and finishes 30th. And maybe Logano has a great day and finishes 2nd.

Now, Gordon, Johnson and Kenseth, having fallen outside the top 10 (cuz remember, points were reset for Race 1) are ELIMINATED from Championship contention, and Logano now sits something like 5th in points. Say he has some more good runs, but doesn't win anything, and makes the final four. Then say he finishes top 5 at the finale and beats the other three teams.

Joey Logano, from 15th in points, with no wins, wins the Championship. :|

Now, you say this is a million to one, it'd never happen... But you've gotta factor in A) that Martinsville and Talladega are still tracks where "anything can happen" and the chance of being randomly wrecked are high... and B) teams now know that if you take out your opponent, put him in the wall, early in the Chase, that takes them out of contention for the title.

So make no mistake, there will be headhunting and seeing true championship contenders eliminated by rivals or rivals' teammates will be a very real possibility. So by season's end that Top 4 might make absolutely no goddamn sense at all.

tigeraid
January 31st, 2014, 10:02 AM
Gibbs did the math, for fun. Last year? Dale Earnhardt Jr would have won the championship with no wins. With this format.

And David Ragan, the guy who won Talladega in a piece of shit (because Talladega wins are a lottery and completely meaningless), would have made the Chase and potentially contended for a Championship.

Freude am Fahren
February 1st, 2014, 04:50 AM
Yeah, that is a big concern, (well, more than before) of teammates of rivals int he chase taking out other guys intentionally. They better come down hard for that shit. No more "rubbin is racin'" in those circumstances.

tigeraid
February 1st, 2014, 05:37 AM
Yeah, that is a big concern, (well, more than before) of teammates of rivals int he chase taking out other guys intentionally. They better come down hard for that shit. No more "rubbin is racin'" in those circumstances.

Brian France's response at the press conference to that exact question was, basically, "rubbin is racin."

What a farce.

harper
February 4th, 2014, 05:25 AM
What a shitshow.

Kchrpm
February 16th, 2014, 08:52 PM
The 3 is on the pole for the Daytona 500.

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2014/2/16/austin-dillon-number-3-daytona-500-pole-qualifying-results.html

speedpimp
February 17th, 2014, 03:22 PM
How convenient.

Drachen596
February 18th, 2014, 03:04 PM
so the race last Saturday which i think was the one for pole winners from last year ended with a mere 8 cars running out of the 19 that started. oh.. and one of the Pace Cars caught fire.

this season is going to be a mess and the 500 will be the first example. also didn't they retire the #3 from the series? why is it suddenly being used again?

Danica won pole for the 500 last year. then disappeared into midpack for the rest of the year.

Freude am Fahren
February 18th, 2014, 04:15 PM
I think Childress retained claim on it, but didn't use it?

jimeez
February 18th, 2014, 04:22 PM
No. 3 is owned by RCR and his grandson is running the 3 with the OK from Mrs Earnhardt (Dale Sr's. Mom). It must not be all black is the biggest stipulation. It wasn't officially retired AFAIK.

speedpimp
February 18th, 2014, 04:44 PM
Dale, Sr.'s mother is still alive?

Dicknose
February 19th, 2014, 02:01 AM
I'm so proud, it was an Australian built pace car..

That caught fire!

jimeez
February 20th, 2014, 06:31 PM
Dale, Sr.'s mother is still alive? according to the article in Sporting News NASCAR, I read a couple of days ago. Martha is still going.

tigeraid
February 21st, 2014, 08:01 AM
I'm so proud, it was an Australian built pace car..

That caught fire!


It was apparently a pinched wire on the strobe light added to the car.

Allegedly.

Kchrpm
February 23rd, 2014, 11:04 AM
Michael Waltrip did the grid walk before the Daytona 500 today, and during the rain delay is in one of the commentator booths as a host.

Oh and he's also 39th in the race.

I don't think I've ever seen a competitor in an event also being one of the lead hosts on race day.

Freude am Fahren
February 23rd, 2014, 01:34 PM
At first (actually, maybe during qualifying coverage), I thought he was just wearing a race suit on the booth to get his sponsors on air. :lol:

Fogelhund
February 23rd, 2014, 04:12 PM
http://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/news/jimmie-johnson-wins-the-daytona-500-fans-live-tweet-2013-race-as-fox-shows-replay-during/

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1971011-daytona-500-rain-delay-causes-a-lot-of-confusion-on-internet?hpt=hp_t2

LOL

Freude am Fahren
February 23rd, 2014, 04:42 PM
Allegedly Fox News got fooled and congratulated JJ on his third win. Oh, and in case you aren't paying attention, the race (and replay) is on Fox.

tigeraid
February 24th, 2014, 07:50 AM
So, so, SO good, their own goddamn network getting it wrong.

Decent race finish, though. At least as good as a plate race can be. Real season starts next week.

In related news, Kyle Busch won the Truck series race (as usual), then in victory lane basically shit on the Truck series, saying it was "taking candy from a baby" and that he was going to keep doing it until NASCAR changed the rules. What a cunt.

Though there's some rumblings that NASCAR is considering "limiting" the number of races at Cup driver can enter. We can only hope.

Drachen596
February 24th, 2014, 02:45 PM
yeah.. limit it to zero. they thought making them only able to score points in one series would stop them from running the other series but it hasnt.

tigeraid
February 24th, 2014, 07:30 PM
I have no idea why they thought it would, and it pissed me off when they announced that. So lemme get this straight: as a fun frivolous day off, the top racecar drivers in North America get to jump into a car in a series with no money, lesser (allegedly) talent, no sponsors, on the very same tracks they already race on, in a car prepared by their professional Cup team, drive around for a couple of hours and lap everyone, and steal an (increasingly smaller) paycheque from said lesser talent? Easy money is easy money, I dunno why the fuck they thought a championship had anything to do with it.


On a lighter note, Juan was informed of the rain delay on Sunday:

http://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1/1901830_1451128305118957_1686622378_n.jpg

Freude am Fahren
February 25th, 2014, 06:13 AM
They should only be eligible for money in one race per weekend. Kinda like how only privateers are eligible in some series.

BTW, I don't get the JPM thing.

Kchrpm
February 25th, 2014, 06:27 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFm6o-qB6T4

Backstory: he was complaining about something being wrong on radio, and going to the pits to try and fix it, and therefore needed to catch up to the pack after pitting by himself. That thing that was wrong broke.

Freude am Fahren
February 25th, 2014, 06:50 AM
Oh yeah! Totally forgot about that.

The359
August 9th, 2014, 10:41 PM
So, uh, Tony Stewart is in some deep shit.

MR2 Fan
August 9th, 2014, 11:49 PM
So, uh, Tony Stewart is in some deep shit.

yeah and I refuse to watch the video, so not sure if he's officially to blame or if it was just a freak accident :|

The359
August 10th, 2014, 02:19 AM
yeah and I refuse to watch the video, so not sure if he's officially to blame or if it was just a freak accident :|

I'd put it down as freak accident, but caused by both of them being hot headed and stepping over a line.

Freude am Fahren
August 10th, 2014, 05:17 AM
Yeah, I agree.

Hopefully this will cause NASCAR and other American series to stop with this 'good ol boy have at it' bullshit. You wanna fight back in the garage? Fine, and you'll still be punished. Wanna get out on the track and have a death-defying hissy fit? Ban hammer.

GreatScawt
August 10th, 2014, 09:45 AM
I haven't watched it either... Yet. But I'd imagine he's fucked.

He was going to race again today! As if business as usual. I think they over turned it...

KillerB
August 10th, 2014, 11:12 AM
Tony Stewart may be a jerk, but I have a hard time believing that was intentional.

tigeraid
August 10th, 2014, 11:29 AM
Just because he got on the throttle while near the kid does not mean he intended to hit him, or "spook" him, or anything. This is a sprint car. Making it turn REQUIRES throttle. Let's approach it with logic: it's on a dirt track, with a 900hp short wheelbase car that barely turns properly until you get to like 80 mph.... The guy gets out of his wreck and starts randomly jumping around and running into traffic to angrily confront someone. Tony comes around oblivious to this and the guy runs right in front of his 900 hp barely controllable monster. At the last second Tony notices and tries to avoid by cranking it left. And hits the guy. "Could" Tony have noticed if sooner, maybe he was checking his gauges or something? Sure. Could the lunatic who ran out on the track in front of a field of SPRINT CARS on DIRT have dealt with this shit in the pits later? Definitely. A terrible tragedy that shouldn't have happened.

Drachen596
August 10th, 2014, 02:36 PM
In the video the car in front of Tony appears to nearly clip the guy as well.

Dicknose
August 10th, 2014, 02:39 PM
There has been quite a few drivers, across different series, that have got out of a car and stayed on or near the track. Usually to wave a fist at another driver.
Some ended up with slap on the wrist penalties.
This might kick a few race series to take this more seriously, warn drivers not to do it and punish them hard if they do. Not only for their safety, but the safety of other drivers and officials. Plus the image of the sport and the fans, no one wants to see people hurt.

Hopefully this is a lesson that only happens once.

Alan P
August 10th, 2014, 04:13 PM
Have to agree with Richardnose, it was a stupid thing to do. It's a live racetrack and a poorly lit one too. Stupid, dick move to walk onto the racing line and he, unfortunately, paid for it with his life. I can't imagine anyone would run over/into someone on purpose like that.

Yobbo NZ
August 10th, 2014, 04:38 PM
Russell Ingall swerved at Mark Skaife a few years ago in the V8 Supercars after they had a coming together and Skaife went to the edge of the track to show his displeasure. Both got in a bit of trouble over that one.There should be a video on YouTube showing it.

tigeraid
August 11th, 2014, 07:26 AM
It's amusing seeing all of the racing community reacting to this incident by coming together, wishing the best for the family and hoping for the best possible resultion--while the rest of the mainstream media, and non-racing fans/non-racers reacting by calling Tony Stewart a cold-blooded murderer. And better yet, thousands of people calling for NASCAR to suspend, ban, and/or fine Stewart. Which is hilarious, since the incident happened at an Empire Super Sprints dirt race...

The more you know....

Crazed_Insanity
August 11th, 2014, 09:01 AM
I just think it's a racing incident when they got together the 1st time. On the next lap, they got together again just like any other racing incident, but unfortunately one of them wasn't in a race car.

To me, a 'racing incident' is usually 2 hotheads who got too close on track! It's usually both of their faults. If one of them yielded, the incident could be avoided.

With that said, I saw bunch of other drivers able to see and avoid Kevin in a black jump suit. Tony Stewart could've done the same and stay further away. So I don't think visibility is really the issue. They both just got a bit too close to one another when emotions are running high. :(

Phil_SS
August 11th, 2014, 05:13 PM
Always stay in your car during a hot track, that includes a yellow flag, unless your car is on fire. And never go onto the race track. Sad event and I put zero blame on Tony.

XHawkeye
August 11th, 2014, 06:19 PM
I finished writing the below column for Motorsport.com at 5 a.m. ET Sunday morning, and the story was as complete as I could make it considering the fact that the death of Kevin Ward, Jr., wasn’t officially confirmed until after 3 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 11:15 p.m., about 45 minutes after he was hit and killed by NASCAR racer Tony Stewart’s sprint car.

Since then, little has changed. The local sheriff has said that no criminal charges are presently being contemplated against Stewart. He did not race Sunday in the NASCAR event at Watkins Glen, he has pulled out of an upcoming sprint-car race in Plymouth, Indiana, and we don’t know when he will race again. I have also since reviewed the rule book both for the Canandaigua Motorsports dirt track and the Empire Super Sprints series sanctioning body, and it is clear Ward violated no specific mandate by getting out of his wrecked car and confronting Stewart. A rule stating that drivers need to stay in their wrecked cars until safety crews arrive, unless they’re facing clear and immediate danger, needs to be on the books for every track and series—including NASCAR—starting now.

What has happened since the tragedy is that a video taken from the stands showing the entirety of the tragedy has made the rounds, including on national TV. The video is polarizing, and viewers largely believe one of three things: Stewart was trying to avoid Ward, Stewart was trying to scare him by brushing him back, or Stewart was trying to kill him outright, the last of which a stunning percentage of readers have posted in various comments sections around the internet, including those attached to my original story. They contend that Stewart should be charged with manslaughter at best, murder at worst. I find this astounding. Even though there was no contact between Stewart’s car and Ward’s, Ward knew better than to try to drive on the outside with a faster car in that corner, and it is likely that Stewart had no idea Ward even crashed at all— why would Stewart still purposely try to hit him?

Read the below (http://blog.caranddriver.com/yes-tony-stewart-hit-and-killed-a-fellow-sprint-car-racer-but-you-need-to-know-the-whole-story/) and decide for yourself.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/yes-tony-stewart-hit-and-killed-a-fellow-sprint-car-racer-but-you-need-to-know-the-whole-story/

tigeraid
August 11th, 2014, 07:41 PM
Excellent post. That's another important point: there's a good chance that Stewart wasn't even aware that Ward had gone off the track after their little scuffle. Remember, sprint cars have almost no side-to-side visibility, and NO rear-view mirrors. Which gives him zero MOTIVE.

FaultyMario
August 12th, 2014, 05:16 AM
How is that not murder?

Kchrpm
August 12th, 2014, 06:58 AM
Because murder is defined as being premeditated, accidentally killing someone as you try to avoid them when they've run into the path of your car is anything but. If you accidentally hit a random person on the road with your car because you just didn't see each other in time, that would be vehicular manslaughter (depending on some other circumstances). If they were purposefully coming out towards your car in the middle of the night as you drive at legal speeds, and you couldn't avoid them in time, I don't know what that is but I think it's reasonable to say it may be nothing.

Add into this that the decedent is a race car driver that likely signed some sort of waiver, and it's even less likely that criminal charges will be brought up, I'd think, unless the video being shown (which I haven't and likely won't watch) convinces prosecutors that there was intent or at least a conscious lack of prevention.

tigeraid
August 12th, 2014, 07:01 AM
Correct. No different than any death in a motorsport. If that was the case, every single time someone has died in an accident where another car touched their car, would be potentially "murder." That's absurd. The waivers are signed for just that situation.

Another EXCELLENT piece on this:

http://ondirtracingnews.com/?p=6836


Referring to Canandaigua as a “NASCAR track” and the cars as “funny cars” could have been avoided very easily. Simply watching the press conference from Ontario (NY) County Sheriff Phil Povero would have told the viewer where the incident took place. From there, a look at the Canandaigua track schedule would have identified the participating cars as the ESS. From there, simple research on the ESS site would have provided enough background information to cover the basics. It would have also told Canadian media outlets that Ward raced in Canada at Ohsweken (Ont.) Speedway with the ESS the night before, where he finished second. Failure to do basic research is ignorant.



To instantly blame Tony Stewart for this incident with off-the-cuff, degrading, and repulsive remarks is completely insensitive and wrong. Especially for those that have never seen a Sprint Car, let alone examined one up close. The driver of any winged Sprint Car faces limited visibility. The top wing above the driver’s head is tilted forward towards the front wheels with two side panels on either side of the car. The left panel extends up. The right panel, down.

The wing on the right side of the car, the side from which Ward approached Stewart’s No.14, comes down below the driver’s eye level. Beyond that, a thick bar extends from the top of the roll cage towards the front wheels that blocks peripheral vision. Add to that a neck restraint that prevents a driver from turning his head and a steel containment seat that wraps around the right side of the driver’s head to keep it in a single place. When fully strapped in, the driver has only his peripheral vision to see to each side. With another car in front of him, Chuck Hebing (No.45), Stewart may not have seen Ward until the last instance, and made a split-second decision to try and avoid him.

So, you ask, why did he hit the gas? A dirt Sprint Car with a minimum 600 horsepower motor and staggered tires is controlled as much with the throttle as it is with the steering wheel. If Stewart had simply turned the wheel left, he would have hit Ward straight on. He hit the gas and turned the wheel right in order to move it left and avoid Ward. He simply did not have the room.

Many have referenced Stewart’s past anger management issues. That makes sense when you look at the incident on the surface. At a closer look, it’s irrelevant. To suggest a professional like Stewart, or any other racecar driver for that matter, would intentionally hit another driver with their car is ridiculous at best.

Crazed_Insanity
August 12th, 2014, 07:04 AM
I'm not familiar with these cars, besides the poor side visibility, are they so well cushioned that drivers can't even feel contacting other vehicles?

All other cars tried to duck down below and let go the throttle to avoid Ward in the black jump suit. Tony's car was the only exception, throttling and moving up toward Kevin. I don't think Tony intended to kill the guy, probably just kick up or spin up some dirty into Kevin's face... To me, they were both acting like idiots because emotions are running high.

I don't think Tony was at 0% fault. However, if he gets charged with murder because of this, it'd set a poor precedent that in all future racing events, if there's a fatality in a crash, can the family members of the fatal driver sue the other driver who crashed into him?

I guess it can be an interesting legal issue. Say if Senna obviously purposely crashed into Prost and ended up killing Prost during the race, would Senna be charged with murder and be locked up or be sentenced to death depending on local laws? It's a dangerous sport, I'd always thought racers have some sort of immunity or signed away some of their rights for racing in these events...

tigeraid
August 12th, 2014, 08:15 AM
Actually, yes, as soft as the tires are (especially the right-rear) it's conceivable you may not feel minor contact. Which, looking at the accident, it most definitely was minor. He really just rode him up over the cushion.

Tony's car was not the only exception, the car in front of him was also riding along in the high line and managed to miss him at the last moment. As for the other cars, many were already riding in the low line under caution, as you USUALLY do under a yellow. There is no rule for it however, and Stewart was just as likely checking his gauges, or running some oil into the dirt, or checking on the cushion. There's a variety of reasons unrelated to the actual incident.

Once again, throttling up and turning the wheel to the RIGHT is how you make a SPRINT CAR turn LEFT.

Crazed_Insanity
August 12th, 2014, 09:25 AM
Anyway, for sure I doubt Stewart intended to kill anybody even when with his hot temper full on. It's not like he was taken out by Kevin.

I also don't think he should be jailed for this accident. However, I also don't believe he has 0% of the fault either.

For the sake of Stewart's own multi-million dollar empire, he really should be more responsible and quit doing these low level races. If he really loves it that much, then he should retire from NASCAR racing and make sure a successor is in place in case he himself got killed in one of these races. There also need to be stricter rules and punishments for racers who remain on track for whatever reasons.

tigeraid
August 12th, 2014, 09:54 AM
100% agreed there needs to be a rule to stop walking on the track after an accident. At least until the emergency crews are guiding you somewhere.

FaultyMario
August 12th, 2014, 10:17 AM
Reading around I stand corrected.

It was a tragedy.

Reynard
August 12th, 2014, 05:03 PM
When I first saw the headline of "racer dies after being hit by TS at a dirt track race in upstate NY". My initial thought was back in the paddock, after a race during a team brawl of some sort. When I saw the full story and video all I thought was this was inevitable due to decades of countless racers, young and old, naive and bold all creating a legacy of impulse control bad habits, namely looking for a fight on an active race track. It was only a matter of time. I'm no Stewart fan, never have been, and no, I cannot believe for a second it was an intentional hit. It was an avoidable accident, and I hate to a be victim blamer, but stay in your car and this never happens obviously.

That said it'll be somewhat interesting to see how much this accident ends up really costing Tony in the end, mentally, financially (the family of the deceased will be after as much as they can get of course) and professionally, as the press will be riding him on this for months on end no doubt. And I'm sure there will be some blow back from other racers that don't know him any better then you or I as well as some that do but aren't "friends" of his and have this golden opportunity to kick him when he's down.

tigeraid
August 14th, 2014, 05:43 AM
Another article interviewing someone with actual experience in the cars:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/vintage-speed/what-you-should-know-about-the-car-tony-stewart-was-driving-17091178?src=spr_FBPAGE&spr_id=1457_80687013


Another hypothesis: That Stewart might have clipped Ward accidentally because he was throttle steering, a technique in which abrupt throttle inputs pitch the car sideways, turning it. Although not everyone agrees with this assessment, Smith says that the staggered wheel setup of these Sprint Cars demands throttle steering, even at low speeds.

"In order to go straight," Smith says, "you've got to steer really hard right. If you take your hands off the steering wheel, it goes left. That's why if you want to steer right or steer left, you've got to use the throttle at a low speed." He adds: "The front tires just don't do much because you've got so much rear tire pushing you forward that it's like steering an 18-wheeler in the rain from the front tires."

tigeraid
August 14th, 2014, 06:00 AM
Also (and this is in no way confirmed), several sources from the track are saying Kevin Ward actually jumped on and hung onto the wing briefly, before being snagged by the tire. This video slows it way down to show that, around the 0:29 mark.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pOrxZbKbq8



However, it is a shitty, grainy video so that doesn't exactly "confirm" it. Still, if the second video the police apparently have confirms that, then I think it becomes a pretty open and shut case against Ward's stupidity.

Phil_SS
August 18th, 2014, 05:26 PM
Wow. It really does kinda look like he jumped up and hung onto the wing before his feet got caught in the tire, thus sucking him down.

If the video does exist that confirms it, it needs to be released so that Tony can be exhonorated of any wrong doing and the public can see he didn't kill somebody. And especially so Tony can maybe someday feel even an ounce better about the incident.

XHawkeye
August 29th, 2014, 07:47 AM
http://blog.caranddriver.com/tony-stewarts-nascar-return-confirmed-for-this-weekend-yeah-that-sort-of-makes-sense-analysis/


....
As for racing this weekend, one has to believe that Stewart’s legal team possibly received a tip that he was unlikely to be charged. Had the information said otherwise, it’s hard to imagine he would place himself in a position for such public scrutiny.

Returning at Atlanta, then, makes sense. His many years driving under the banner of Atlanta-based Home Depot for Joe Gibbs Racing made him a lot of fans, and the atmosphere in Georgia is likely much more comfortable and welcoming than those of Bristol, Michigan, or, for goodness’ sake, Watkins Glen, which is located about an hour’s drive from Canandaigua.

What doesn’t make sense is Stewart’s press conference scheduled for today: Rather than holding one small conference or—even better, from his standpoint—speaking to one reporter and letting that interview stand as the public record, Stewart is holding an open conference at the Atlanta Motor Speedway media center. And it seems likely that TMZ will find the door to that room...

... The bottom line: This won’t be easy for anyone. Regardless of what Stewart does or doesn’t say today, and regardless of what the plodding investigation rules, fans and observers have dug in: Some are sure Stewart did all he could to miss Ward, and some are sure Stewart didn’t intentionally hit Ward but did steer toward him to brush him back, like a big-league pitcher buzzing a batter crowding the plate....

...Even if Stewart faces no criminal charges, a wrongful-death civil suit is not only possible but probable. This story is just beginning, and for most of the media, Tony Stewart is the gift that keeps on giving—an unprecedented tragedy in motorsports that could be in the news for months. There is only one time in the next few days that Stewart will be able to escape the scrutiny: during the three-hour race on Sunday night. Welcome back? We’ll see.

tigeraid
August 29th, 2014, 08:52 AM
Good. He has a press conference sometime today, probably to announce charges won't be filed. Finally start putting this sad shit behind him.

tigeraid
September 25th, 2014, 05:35 AM
Excellent. Time to put this nonsense behind him.

In an additional twist, autopsy shows that Ward had pot in his system.

http://blogs.hotrod.com/grand-jury-releases-findings-on-tony-stewart-142243.html




Tony Stewart will not face charges in the accidental death of fellow driver Kevin Ward Jr., based on the grand jury investigation. According to sources, the grand jury had forensic enhanced video of the incident, which they received from the New York State Police Laboratory in Albany. As you may recall Ward stepped out of his car on the racetrack last month following a collision with Stewart. In approaching Stewart’s car he was struck and was killed instantly.



It’s interesting to note that the toxicity report in the findings indicated Ward had marihuana in his system, and that it was enough to impair judgement.


Stewart stopped racing for a time, but has participated in four races in the last few weeks.

XHawkeye
September 25th, 2014, 06:42 PM
http://blog.caranddriver.com/is-justice-for-kevin-ward-jr-justice-for-tony-stewart/


Exactly how the Ward family and their attorneys plan to make their case is unclear.....

The statement suggests “all the other vehicles” were able to miss Ward, Jr., but the video shows that only one had to miss him, and Ward wasn’t working his way into the path of that particular car. And to suggest that Stewart “was accelerating and sliding his car” toward Ward would seem to meet the standard of at least negligent homicide, and the grand jury evidently did not find enough evidence that Stewart had potentially committed such a crime.

To many, it seems that still-grieving parents are unwilling to accept that their son essentially caused his own death. Or that there’s an attorney involved well aware that Stewart has pocketed well over $100 million in NASCAR race winnings alone and that he holds multiple other assets.

New York is a “Pure Comparative Fault” state, meaning that a plaintiff’s “damages will be reduced by their own liability, but not barred completely.” Which is to say that even if a judge or jury finds Kevin Ward, Jr., 95 percent liable for his own death, they could still find Stewart five percent liable.

And if the person against whom those damages are assessed has a lot of money, five percent of that can still be a lot of money. In this sense, it is possible that Ward, Jr.’s family could get the vindication they seek.