NASCAR Discussion

[tigeraid]

Another article interviewing someone with actual experience in the cars:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...=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]

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.





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]

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]

http://blog.caranddriver.com/tony-st...ense-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]

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]

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-r...rt-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]

http://blog.caranddriver.com/is-just...-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.