from Yahoo!Sports:
The crash has raised several questions: Will Kevin Ward’s death cause drivers to think twice about on-track confrontations? Did Tony Stewart try and send his own message by buzzing Ward, the young driver, only to have his risky move turn fatal? Or did Ward simply take his life into his own hands by stepping into traffic in a black firesutsuit on a dark track?
from Ontario County in upstate New York:
Here is the video and you need to check it out…CLICK HERE
****Watched it and have never seen anything like this happen before…Just crazy and sad…
CLICK HERE for YouTube video version…
This trumps all of the stories of the weekend if you ask me…NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, driving in a sprint car race on a dirt track in upstate New York, hit and killed a fellow-driver, Kevin Ward Jr. on Saturday night…Stewart had pushed Ward into the wall earlier and when Ward got a chance, he jumped out of his car and was standing on the dirt in race traffic and he confronted Stewart, as Stewart’s car approached him…Those in clear view said it sounded like Stewart hit the throttle when came at Ward and Ward was struck by Stewart and Ward was dragged 20 feet down the dirt track…Ward was hit by Stewart and the 20 year-old Ward was pronounced dead at the track…..
from www.espn.com:
The video of the crash at Canandaigua Motorsports Park showed driver Ward, wearing a black helmet and firesuit on a dimly lit track, walking toward Stewart’s car before being hit and hurtled 50 feet. Sheriff Philip Povero said the the 25-lap race was under caution when Ward was struck. Stewart’s car was behind another before he hit Ward.
“The first car swerved to avoid the driver,” Povero said.
Ward, 20, was pronounced dead Saturday night at a hospital in Canandaigua.
“People that witnessed it were horrified,” Povero said of the crash. “They were extremely shocked.”
Video of the crash showed Ward, in the No. 13 car, spin into a wall after contact with Stewart’s car. The video showed Ward climb quickly from his car and briskly walk around it in what appeared to be an attempt to confront Stewart as he passed by in his own car, Stewart’s familiar No. 14.
The video showed Ward to the right of Stewart’s car, which seemed to kick out from the rear and hit Ward. The driver was hurtled through the air and emergency personnel quickly reached Ward as he lay on the track.
andy i am not surprised this happened just surprised it has not happened before-tony will get away with a slap on the wrist-he will buy his way out of it and go on down the road-as fast as these guys are racing and bad as the wrecks are -ward should have never gotten out of his car-i dont think they will ever be able to prove that he hit him on purpose
I don’t think we will ever know what really was going though Tony’s mind when this happened. Why did he hit the gas when he got close to him? His hot head past will haunt him on this one whether he meant to just clip, or scare the kid or whatever.
I am a complete outside when it comes to NASCAR related matter and I only pay attention to the sport when there is a big story or if 1 or 2 of “my favorite” guys is winning in the last hour of the race like Earnhart or Jordon. That being said – if I take the emotions and reality of this kid getting killed, the kid was stupid for getting out of the car in an area with vehicles going that fast. I could not image getting out of my vehicle on I40/85 in the middle of the road for any reason with cars going 60-80 mph. Now image doing the same with cars going much faster and a dirt track to boost. There are many examples in sports and other parts of life that you simple have to sit back and ask why don’t we fix this problem in the past. NASCAR should have never allowed anyone to get out of the car in such a manner without significant penalty. I am sorry that this kid lost his life but it was “his” hot head that created this mess and not Tony Stewarts.
Tony Stewart has been racing these cars almost his entire life! I find it hard to believe he couldn’t have missed him if he had wanted to bad enough, the yellow was thrown as soon as the accident happened, why was he still moving that fast? I completely agree, drivers should not be allowed to stay on the track and throw helmets or point fingers after the fact. Drivers have been doing this in sprint cup for years, and nascar allows it because it makes for good tv, I bet they change this next year…
Ward stays in his car, he’s still alive today. No one can dispute that FACT.
In a statement Monday morning, Plymouth (Ind.) Speedway officials confirmed NASCAR driver Tony Stewart had pulled out of a scheduled race at the .375-mile dirt track planned for this coming Saturday night.
I think Stewart was trying to brush Ward back and he hit him instead. Did not strike him intentinonaly just trying to brush him back but hit Ward and he killed him. Stewart needs to take a long step back from racing after this incident. He has always been a reckless driver. As others say kid ahould have not been out there on the track but all drivers should have did everything they could to avoid hitting him and Stewart did not do that. I feel Stewart could have avoided the kid if he really tried. That is what I say.
I have seen no one mention that the car in front of Stewart also swerved. I don’t think Stewart saw the kid. Why would he expect anyone to be standing there? Black helmet, black suit, dark track hard to see. It’s a real tragedy for this kid’s family.
Go back and watch the video. I think from Stewart’s angle coming into the turn the Ward kid would have been backdropped by his wrecked car The same colors as his uniform. Very hard to see.