Tony Stewart reportedly runs over fellow driver

[rembrat]

Yea I don't think any one will take a huge hit on this. Everyone will say and do the right in thing in the public's eye and it truly will be "business as usual." Even if he loses his current sponsors, which I doubt, he should have no problem finding replacements.

 

[CSteinhardt]

I saw the video, and if I were on a jury, it would be tough for me to convict Stewart of anything as a first instinct.  I've watched some races, but not dirt track races, and never driven.  I've seen drivers get out of the car and yell at somebody before, but I've never, ever seen anybody go that far down into the racing line to do it.  So, instinctively, as a casual fan of racing, I think I'd believe Ward to be at fault both criminally and civilly, absent Stewart saying something incriminating about intent.
 
Because I'm only a casual fan, I could imagine hearing expert testimony that would convince me otherwise.  It would have to be the case that what Ward did was much more the norm at dirt tracks and that experts felt Stewart clearly veered towards him, or something like that.
 
Having said that, there's absolutely no way Stewart should have been racing today, and if he weren't his own owner, I can't imagine it would have even seemed like a possibility.  

 

[Average Reds]

Deadspin is reporting the kid is 20 years old, not 17, for some reason.
 
And I'm not a NASCAR guy but I've seen enough to see guys out on the track a number of times.

 
I didn't really want to, but I finally looked at the video.
 
What Ward did is not even close to a normal occurrence.  He didn't just get out of his car, he worked through traffic as it was passing him to get down to Stewart's car.  And he did so on a dimly lit track wearing a dark uniform.  Just an incredibly stupid thing and the consequences were tragic for him.
 
I'm no fan of Stewart and feel pretty strongly that as a driver at the top of his profession he has no business on dirt tracks like this.  But I can't see any argument for finding him responsible for Ward's death.

 

[DJnVa]

Yes, please don't think I meant what this kid did was normal. He definitely went too far.

 

[Tim Naehrings Girl]

Another interesting point I heard today was that in the big races there are spotters.  If someone gets out of a car to confront another driver, a spotter will let the driver know that someone is approching and go far away.  On this track there was no spotter give Stewart a heads up so it is very likely that he had no idea the kid was there until seconds before the crash.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

Walking onto a live race track is just so dumb. I don't know what that kid was thinking.

Based on the video I'd have a hard time believing Stewart owes the family a dime, never mind finding him criminally responsible, though I suppose I would hope he does something anyway.

Tragic accident, but the only person who could have definitely prevented it is the dead kid who ran toward oncoming/swerving traffic looking for a fight with a big shot and maybe some time in the spotlight.

Edit: not a racing fan here, just a believer in common sense

 

[Fred in Lynn]

 
 
I'm no fan of Stewart and feel pretty strongly that as a driver at the top of his profession he has no business on dirt tracks like this.  But I can't see any argument for finding him responsible for Ward's death.

What's the rationale for the feeling that he shouldn't be racing on dirt tracks? Seems rather arbitrary.

 

[Fred in Lynn]

I feel like other drivers and people that are really familiar with racing can get a pretty good fix on what they saw and Stewart's probable intent - even if you can't prove it in a court of law.  You can imagine similar circumstances surrounding a pitcher hitting a batter in the head and killing him.

I can also imagine a batter being killed by a pitcher who didn't mean to hit him. Moreover, I would be surprised, nay shocked, if the vast majority of people who race - professionally or for enjoyment - don't end up feeling it was an accident due to someone being somewhere on the track they shouldn't have been.

I think one of the issues with what we know so far is that only one video exists, and it is sparse where useful information is concerned. For example, we only see Stewart's car for a split second and 10-15 feet before it collided with Ward. If anyone is hanging around for any sort of charges, they're going to have to find better evidence or hope the DA is off his/her rocker.

 

[bsj]

Stewart's statement was done of the worst PR crap I've heard in a while.

 

[ethangl]

Another interesting point I heard today was that in the big races there are spotters.  If someone gets out of a car to confront another driver, a spotter will let the driver know that someone is approching and go far away.  On this car there was no spotter give Stewart a heads up so it is very likely that he had no idea the kid was there until seconds before the crash.

 
Not only that, it is at night, these tracks are never well lit, caution lights are flashing, there are two dozen other cars on a short track, you can't see shit out of a sprint car, he had a full racing helmet on, his view was probably obstructed for some period of time by the car ahead of him, and most likely had his eyes on the car Ward just abandoned.
 
The thing about these cars is that they are not designed to stop or change direction -- they are direct drive and don't have a transmission or clutch, they don't have brakes on all the wheels, and you steer with the throttle. So any situation requiring a sudden change of direction or speed* is just not going to work out. Wandering into the racing line is basically suicide.
 
* like if he'd tried to brake there he'd likely had locked up and hit him head-on.

 

[VORP Speed]

The video seems completely inconclusive, but I don't understand people saying that the engine rev definitely came from an unseen part of the track. The race is under caution, the cars that can be seen are slowing down and there is no engine revving sound until Stewart's car seems to accelerate as it nears Ward. He could have seen him at the last second and been trying to avoid him, the noise could have indeed come from somewhere else, or he could have gunned it to try to buzz him. I don't think there is any way at all to tell from that video.

 

[Average Reds]

What's the rationale for the feeling that he shouldn't be racing on dirt tracks? Seems rather arbitrary.

 
 
Tony Stewart competes at the highest levels of racing.  His aggression on the track is appropriate when he is surrounded by drivers of a similar skill level.  It is not appropriate when he is surrounded by a bunch of weekend dirt track racers who don't have a feel for driving on the edge like Stewart does. 
 
This is why Stewart has caused several serious wrecks on the dirt tracks.  Last year, he caused a wreck that took out 15 cars and seriously injured a 19 year old driver.  Shortly after this, he caused a wreck in a sprint car race that left him with a compound fracture to his leg and ended his season.  In the video from last night (before he struck the driver) it looks as if he took an aggressive line, banged into Ward's car and sent him into the fence.  Ward was so angry about it that he foolishly went after Stewart.
 
Again, I'm not blaming Stewart for killing Ward.  I'm saying that he is too aggressive to be driving on dirt tracks with drivers who are not at the same level of skill and he doesn't seem capable of adjusting his aggression to fit his surroundings.

 

[BoredViewer]

The video seems completely inconclusive, but I don't understand people saying that the engine rev definitely came from an unseen part of the track. The race is under caution, the cars that can be seen are slowing down and there is no engine revving sound until Stewart's car seems to accelerate as it nears Ward. He could have seen him at the last second and been trying to avoid him, the noise could have indeed come from somewhere else, or he could have gunned it to try to buzz him. I don't think there is any way at all to tell from that video.

 
It does seem inconclusive - but might there be other evidence that could tell us more?  You can tell the other cars have slowed... hear the engines drop... then all of a sudden you hear a rev and almost immediately Stewart's car comes into the picture moving at a faster speed than the previous cars <- I think that's pretty clear.  Do the cars have black boxes?  Would there be recordings of, or people who were listening to any communications from his car?  Would Stewart's car maybe have these things that other lower-tier drivers wouldn't?  
 
I suspect Stewart had a bit of road rage and was trying to buzz him - didn't think through the potential outcomes.

 

[axx]

I suspect Stewart had a bit of road rage and was trying to buzz him - didn't think through the potential outcomes.

 
It's possible. I was also thinking that perhaps he hit the gas in order to get more traction? Grasping at straws here. The odd thing is that it didn't look like Ward even tried to avoid contact.
 
I think you would need a better camera angle for any kind of criminal charges.

 

[Average Reds]

 
It does seem inconclusive - but might there be other evidence that could tell us more?  You can tell the other cars have slowed... hear the engines drop... then all of a sudden you hear a rev and almost immediately Stewart's car comes into the picture moving at a faster speed than the previous cars <- I think that's pretty clear.  Do the cars have black boxes?  Would there be recordings of, or people who were listening to any communications from his car?  Would Stewart's car maybe have these things that other lower-tier drivers wouldn't?  
 
I suspect Stewart had a bit of road rage and was trying to buzz him - didn't think through the potential outcomes.

 
There is quite literally zero evidence to support this.  And yet you appear to be allowing this conclusion to color everything else.

 

[rembrat]

 
It does seem inconclusive - but might there be other evidence that could tell us more?  You can tell the other cars have slowed... hear the engines drop... then all of a sudden you hear a rev and almost immediately Stewart's car comes into the picture moving at a faster speed than the previous cars <- I think that's pretty clear.  Do the cars have black boxes?  Would there be recordings of, or people who were listening to any communications from his car?  Would Stewart's car maybe have these things that other lower-tier drivers wouldn't?  
 
I suspect Stewart had a bit of road rage and was trying to buzz him - didn't think through the potential outcomes.

 
No. Running that kind of equipment would be too expensive for these guys. Even NASCAR doesn't allow on-board computers during a race though you can do whatever you want while testing.
 
And, while I don't follow Sprint Car Racing, every form of racing has its own rules and regulations and the cars are subject to pre and post race inspections to make sure they qualify within the associations specifications for cars. You can't just show up with a suped up car and expect to race with these guys.
 
So with that said there is probably no radio and no on-board computer though there is the possibility that Tony's car was equipped with a GoPro as a lot of guys do this. All we have is that one video, first hand accounts of the incident and expert testimony from people who are familiar with Sprint Car Racing.

 

[ethangl]

There's no evidence that he accelerated. The car lurched to the right because of the resistance on the rear right created by Ward's body. The idea previously posted that these cars do that under normal acceleration is luuuuudicrous.

Incidentally these cars are revved during cautions -- the "no transmission" thing again.

 

[BoredViewer]

 
There is quite literally zero evidence to support this.  And yet you appear to be allowing this conclusion to color everything else.

 
The audio/video of the incident and Stewart's past behavior are my "evidence."
 
I'm just a guy taking a guess at what happened on an internet forum.  I'm not trying to prove anything in a court of law.  But.. if some supreme being appeared before me... said he knew what really happened... and would give me $100 billion, if I could guess.  That's what I'd go with.

 

[Average Reds]

The audio/video down not show any evidence to support the claim that Stewart was demonstrating "road rage" or was trying to "buzz" Ward.

 

[BoredViewer]

That's your opinion.  I disagree.

 

[ethangl]

Do you think the other guy who almost hit him was trying to buzz him?

 

[RoyHobbs]

Turn one looks as slick as an ice rink. Look at the video from the 6-second mark...it's clear to me, at least, the wreck wasn't intentional as those guys were not getting any grip. Then, to climb out of your car in that very same turn on that very same slick ground...yikes, that was some bad judgment by Ward.

 

[MakMan44]

No, that's pretty much fact. You can only see Stewart's car for a split second before he hits Ward because the camera was focused on another car until then; it's impossible to say that there's evidence there that he was trying to buzz him.

 

[ThePrideofShiner]

So, I'm supposed to believe that the local yokel driving the car in front of Stewart managed to avoid the kid, but the three-time Sprint Cup champ who is easily the most talented driver on the track last night couldn't avoid him? I don't think he did it on purpose, but I'm pretty fascinated by the rush to lay all the blame on the kid.

 

[MakMan44]

So, I'm supposed to believe that the local yokel driving the car in front of Stewart managed to avoid the kid, but the three-time Sprint Cup champ who is easily the most talented driver on the track last night couldn't avoid him? I don't think he did it on purpose, but I'm pretty fascinated by the rush to lay all the blame on the kid.

That's my point. All we have is a shitty camera phone video and the only thing that's clear from that is that the kid ran into the middle of the track. I'm not saying that Stewart wasn't trying to buzz him and it went horribly wrong(though I really hope that wasn't the case), just that it's impossible to tell what exactly happened based on the evidence we have right now. 

 

[lostjumper]

 
You can tell the other cars have slowed... hear the engines drop... then all of a sudden you hear a rev and almost immediately Stewart's car comes into the picture moving at a faster speed than the previous cars <- I think that's pretty clear.

 
You're viewing comprehension is terrible. You don't hear Stewart's care revving. You are looking on the far side of the track, but you're hearing the cars on the near side of the track that would be under the camera angle. There is nothing in the tape to support this is anything but an accident caused by an incredibly poor decision by a kid who decided to run into oncoming traffic on a turn.

 

[SocrManiac]

Ugh... Like I said earlier, I am not a NASCAR or dirt track or any oval racing fan. I watched the video hoping to pile on to friends that enoy what I consider to be mindless drivel, but I can't.

Stewart is a documented asshole and he probably could have done more to avoid the initial collision. He's not a murderer. The kid is a freaking idiot. You don't walk out on a track with precision cars on a pristine surface. He ran out on the equivalent of a skating rink and got slammed. It's tragic and I feel awful for his family, but what exactly was he trying to accomplish?

You often hear folks say to roadway speeders that they should "save it for the track." Why? Because you don't have distractions like pedestrians, bikes, intersections, and oncoming traffic. One of the things that makes racing possible is the focus achieved because those variables are taken out. When racing, the amount of relative movement between vehicles is very slight compared to the overall speed. Throwing the possibility of a reckless kid wandering into the racing surface is just asinine- it wouldn't have crossed his mind.

Again, maybe that's the root cause. Stewart is a professional capable of competing against other professionals. It probably never entered his mind that he'd have to avoid a dimly lit (literally and figuratively) figure crossing the street.

 

[RoyHobbs]

Stewart could very well not have known he knocked Ward out of the race; as far as I know there's no NASCAR-type radios in the dirt leagues, and there ain't no rear-view mirrors. So I then find it highly plausible it came to Stewart as a total surprise the young kid, wearing black at near-midnight and standing almost plumb in the middle of the slickest turn of the track in traffic, was even standing on the track.

I'm trying to come up with a scenario where Stewart would intentionally run down a young unknown kid -- what, are we supposed to believe a) they "had words" before this race, ha!, or b) Stewart and Ward were rubbin' a bit too much during the race, and despite decades of such contact in the highest level of his sport, going against some of the real bad-ass drivers on the continent, Stewart decided to make the 20-year-old bush leaguer pay with his life....I can't do it.

 

[Pumpsie]

Well, that angle is always going to come up "inconclusive."  If there's another angle recorded somewhere, that would be helpful.  But, based solely on the shot we have, you'll never be able to convict Stewart of anything. 

 

[mauf]

If what has been reported is true, Stewart is one sick f**k and is really "lucky" this happened in NY state and deserves to rot in hell. .

Are you an expert on upstate NY, or are you like the knucklehead reporter quoted upthread who thinks Canandaigua is north of Syracuse?

I have family in Ontario County. It's a rural/exurban area. Tourism contributes significantly to the local economy. The population is overwhelmingly white. The political culture is about what you'd expect given the demographics -- conservative, but not insanely so, and more in a "get off my lawn" way than a Bible Belt way.

I wouldn't expect this case to play out much differently in Ontario County than anywhere else in middle America. Of course, you may have better insight than me.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

If I'm Tony's defense team, that's certainly what I'm claiming.  We'll never know if it's true, but it easily could be that Tony didn't see him until the last second, his instinct was to gun it and get passed him, not knowing if he was going to throw something at him (something Tony has done) and the kid was just too close.  Reasonable doubt.

Exactly......and no responsible jury would need to deliberate for more than 15 seconds to determine there is a shitload of reasonable doubt. So much so that I don't see how he can even be charged. Now civil liability is a different story....50-50 maybe?

 

[Bigpupp]

There was undeniable proof of road rage in that video, but it wasn't coming from Stewart's car.

 

[axx]

Now civil liability is a different story....50-50 maybe?

 
He was asking to get hit. I doubt a civil lawsuit would be a good idea.

 

[Deathofthebambino]

I stand by the couple of posts I made last night as soon as that video came out.  Even more so now that we don't even know if it was Tony's car that accelerated as we heard in the video.  If it wasn't Tony's car accelerating, I don't think there is any possible way that criminal charges will, or should be brought.  Even if Tony's car did accelerate, it happened pretty much right at the point of impact with Ward, and to me, it looked like Stewart basically didn't see the kid until the last second, reacted by hitting the throttle to get by him quickly, and they made contact.  Kid loses.
 
A civil case will almost definitely be brought, and like 98% of all civil cases, it'll never get to a jury and will be settled quietly out of court.  That's just a pure no-brainer from Stewart's side, IMO.

 

[richgedman'sghost]

That's your opinion.  I disagree.

Where's your evidence? You clearly know noithing about racing as evidenced by stubbornly sticking to your opinion even after its been pointed out how ridiculous it is. You have not a lick of proof that Tony Stewart tried to hit him.  You cannot let your past opinion of any transgressions by Stewart affect your feelings towards the cupability of the accident.  Most of the blame should go on the kid for getting out of his car and attempting to confront Stewart on a live track. 

 

[ThePrideofShiner]

Where's your evidence? You clearly know noithing about racing as evidenced by stubbornly sticking to your opinion even after its been pointed out how ridiculous it is. You have not a lick of proof that Tony Stewart tried to hit him.  You cannot let your past opinion of any transgressions by Stewart affect your feelings towards the cupability of the accident.  Most of the blame should go on the kid for getting out of his car and attempting to confront Stewart on a live track. 

 
If he doesn't know anything about driving, he likely doesn't have any opinion of "Stewart's past transgressions."
 
Just because there are folks who think Stewart is culpable doesn't mean they have a grudge against him or anything. That video isn't conclusive either way, so people can definitely have different opinions from it.

 

[rembrat]

 
If he doesn't know anything about driving, he likely doesn't have any opinion of "Stewart's past transgressions."

 
He factored Tony's history into his reasoning in this post.

 

[Dan to Theo to Ben]

Are you an expert on upstate NY, or are you like the knucklehead reporter quoted upthread who thinks Canandaigua is north of Syracuse?

I have family in Ontario County. It's a rural/exurban area. Tourism contributes significantly to the local economy. The population is overwhelmingly white. The political culture is about what you'd expect given the demographics -- conservative, but not insanely so, and more in a "get off my lawn" way than a Bible Belt way.

I wouldn't expect this case to play out much differently in Ontario County than anywhere else in middle America. Of course, you may have better insight than me.

I was talking about NY's current position on the death penalty, (perhaps my implication wasn't as obvious as I assumed) but since I've been told by people I respect with a stronger stomach for the video than I will ever have, that the early reports aren't true, I take back my Stewart-bashing. (Plus I am familiar with the Stewarts in Upstate NY, ha ha)

 

[ThePrideofShiner]

 
He factored Tony's history into his reasoning in this post.

 
Ahh, so he did. My bad.

 

[BoredViewer]

Where's your evidence? You clearly know noithing about racing as evidenced by stubbornly sticking to your opinion even after its been pointed out how ridiculous it is. You have not a lick of proof that Tony Stewart tried to hit him.  You cannot let your past opinion of any transgressions by Stewart affect your feelings towards the cupability of the accident.  Most of the blame should go on the kid for getting out of his car and attempting to confront Stewart on a live track. 

 
I don't have to have a master's degree in shit-car-dirt-racing to have a reasonable opinion about what I saw in the video.  There are differences of opinion, but it isn't too hard to find plenty of people, including multiple witness accounts, that have similar thoughts as mine.
 
@lostjumper - So.. despite my interpretation of the source of the noise, at least appearing to a reasonable conclusion from the video... and also the same one made by multiple people at the track... you know for certain the noise was made by a nearby off-camera car?  You have the floor.
 
That doesn't take away from the recklessness of Ward strolling around the track trying to be a badass.  

 

[YTF]

 
It's possible. I was also thinking that perhaps he hit the gas in order to get more traction? Grasping at straws here. The odd thing is that it didn't look like Ward even tried to avoid contact.
 
I think you would need a better camera angle for any kind of criminal charges.

 As I stated on the previous page, I have zero knowledge of the sport, but would hitting the gas give more traction? Can't really think of any situation in day to day driving where it might.

 

[Average Reds]

 
I don't have to have a master's degree in shit-car-dirt-racing to have a reasonable opinion about what I saw in the video.  There are differences of opinion, but it isn't too hard to find plenty of people, including multiple witness accounts, that have similar thoughts as mine.
 
@lostjumper - So.. despite my interpretation of the source of the noise, at least appearing to a reasonable conclusion from the video... and also the same one made by multiple people at the track... you know for certain the noise was made by a nearby off-camera car?  You have the floor.
 
That doesn't take away from the recklessness of Ward strolling around the track trying to be a badass.  

 
This is my last comment on this particular issue, as it seems to be an unproductive topic.
 
The tape shows a one or two second flash of Stewart hitting the driver.  That's it.  It does not provide any evidence of "road rage" or that Stewart tried to "buzz" Ward.  Hell, it doesn't even allow us to understand whether Stewart even saw Ward until the last second.
 
It's fine for you to conclude from past transgressions that Stewart was acting like a hot head.  You may even prove to be right.  But to call that tape evidence of it is to torture the meaning of the word.  Because that tape tells us nothing about Stewart's intent.

 

[gaelgirl]

The son of a coworker is Tony's PR guy. Hope he charges double this week.

I'm sure your coworker's son is a good PR guy, but he'd be earning his money this week if he advised Stewart to enlist the services of an elite PR firm that specializes in crisis management. He's going to need it. 
 
From that snippet of video, I don't see how it could be construed right now as criminal or negligent. You only see Stewart at the last second. Legally speaking, the poor kid also has to take some of the responsibility of running out into traffic during a motorcar race. 
 
I am sure his parents will likely file a wrongful death suit, because they are grieving and horrified and are trying to make sense of what happened. Stewart will almost certainly settle that case because he's a multimillionaire and can afford to take care of the kid's family. He may even want to hand over a ton of money because he's horrified at what happened, too. It's also possible that he's a miser scrooge who doesn't want to give the kid's family a dime. Either scenario is equally possible, as none of us know him.  
 
And though Tony Stewart may be a professional and very successful race car driver who has tons of experience on tracks, including in highly stressful situations, that doesn't mean he is incapable of making a driving error. Drivers aren't robots. He may have done the wrong thing in that circumstance--and I don't mean he tried to buzz the kid or whatever. I mean he may have seen the kid, tried to avoid him and failed because he should have done so in a different way. It is also possible, of course, that he saw the kid, made a split-second decision he was going to scare the kid because Stewart's an asshole and the kid was being stupid, and failed in the most horrible way imaginable. There has to be way, way more evidence to support either side. 

 

[Fred in Lynn]

 
 
Tony Stewart competes at the highest levels of racing.  His aggression on the track is appropriate when he is surrounded by drivers of a similar skill level.  It is not appropriate when he is surrounded by a bunch of weekend dirt track racers who don't have a feel for driving on the edge like Stewart does. 
 
This is why Stewart has caused several serious wrecks on the dirt tracks.  Last year, he caused a wreck that took out 15 cars and seriously injured a 19 year old driver.  Shortly after this, he caused a wreck in a sprint car race that left him with a compound fracture to his leg and ended his season.  In the video from last night (before he struck the driver) it looks as if he took an aggressive line, banged into Ward's car and sent him into the fence.  Ward was so angry about it that he foolishly went after Stewart.
 
Again, I'm not blaming Stewart for killing Ward.  I'm saying that he is too aggressive to be driving on dirt tracks with drivers who are not at the same level of skill and he doesn't seem capable of adjusting his aggression to fit his surroundings.

I don't think he's far above the guys and girls he races on dirt. He certainly cut his teeth there but it's not as though it's like Kevin Durant playing in a weekly pickup league. That's serious business to those who participate and I don't see why they'd defer to Stewart or any other big-series driver. If anything, he could face a disadvantage from not going it all the time, but I feel I'm reaching with that. It's like riding a bike: you don't forget how to do it. The problems you cited with his wrecks could be "just racing" that had unintended consequences - which is an issue - or could be "just racing." Wrecks do occur. It all depends on what a driver is thinking.

I'd argue that he shouldn't be racing on dirt just before Watkins Glen. That's two years in a row. The gods are clearly trying to tell him something.

Thanks for clarifying your point.

 

[Fred in Lynn]

When I was surfing around yesterday to record something for my wife, I landed on the Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen. With only a few laps left, there were two separate simultaneous wrecks that red-flagged the race. One of the drivers was out of his car and looked ready to go give it to another driver. The official put his hand on his shoulder and said something, and that was it. I'm making some presumptions here, but one can imagine a possible conversation.

 

[Flunky]

Stewart could very well not have known he knocked Ward out of the race; as far as I know there's no NASCAR-type radios in the dirt leagues, and there ain't no rear-view mirrors. So I then find it highly plausible it came to Stewart as a total surprise the young kid, wearing black at near-midnight and standing almost plumb in the middle of the slickest turn of the track in traffic, was even standing on the track.

I'm trying to come up with a scenario where Stewart would intentionally run down a young unknown kid -- what, are we supposed to believe a) they "had words" before this race, ha!, or b) Stewart and Ward were rubbin' a bit too much during the race, and despite decades of such contact in the highest level of his sport, going against some of the real bad-ass drivers on the continent, Stewart decided to make the 20-year-old bush leaguer pay with his life....I can't do it.

 
This is where I am too,
 
at about 15 seconds you can see where the wing comes down on the right front side. additionally, Stewart had taken the yellow about a 1/4 lap prior and was still moving quickly because of that. add in night time on what is known to be a poorly lit corner, with a muddy visor tear off and a guy in all black:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj9zBEqO4rI
 
Also, re: "eyewitness fans", here's the track. Turn one is in the lower right hand corner. No one is spectating anywhere near the incident. Corner workers probably saw stuff but they haven't been quoted by the media:
 

 
As for why he's racing there - think of it this way. The UCONN men's BB team plays teams like Yale and Maine early in the season. I doubt it's so those two teams can beat them. It makes money and exposes their players to a higher level of comp if they are building a program. It's the same thing with racing. The track makes more money by having Stewart race, it allows a potential youngster trying to break into the show to test his metal vs. the best. Usually its win/win even if there's a wreck or two.
 
IMHO this is a sad case of the dangers of racing mixing with young recklessness. I'd be more interested to know the source of that recklessness. Part of me wants to believe the kid was just crazy competitive, but another part of me believes he was acting out some WWE-like scenario... =\ the latter is disappointing.

 

[24JoshuaPoint]

 As I stated on the previous page, I have zero knowledge of the sport, but would hitting the gas give more traction? Can't really think of any situation in day to day driving where it might.
 

 
Yes in certain scenarios i believe. I know when i've gone off-roading in mud/dirt or snow if you were skidding and your vehicle was partially sideways (not enough to cause a spin) and skidding if you gunned it, the vehicle can change direction; sometimes. The conditions are a big variable. However you will still ultimately continue forward; i.e. part of what a 'drift' is i think. Day to day typically you would just want to stop while in this type of race you want to turn and induce as much power without spinning.
 
I haven't seen the actual impact and don't want to but my guess is that Stewart was still in race mode and had no idea what was going on even until after impact.

 

[ethangl]

 As I stated on the previous page, I have zero knowledge of the sport, but would hitting the gas give more traction? 

 
Not necessarily more traction, but these cars are very difficult to handle at low speeds. Regardless of speed you cannot simply steer your way out of an accident in these cars.
 

 
 
Can't really think of any situation in day to day driving where it might.

 
Well I could but regardless there's no relationship at all between normal driving and this stuff.

 

[DJnVa]

 
As for why he's racing there - think of it this way. The UCONN men's BB team plays teams like Yale and Maine early in the season. I doubt it's so those two teams can beat them. It makes money and exposes their players to a higher level of comp if they are building a program. It's the same thing with racing

 
I don't think this comparison really works. Yale and Maine are still college basketball teams with trainers, coaches, etc. A lot of the racers Stewart was racing against are weekenders and their "crew" is their father, their uncle, 3 cousins, and two buddies from high school, one of which is only there because he has a truck that can pull the trailer.

 

[rembrat]

 
I don't think this comparison really works. Yale and Maine are still college basketball teams with trainers, coaches, etc. A lot of the racers Stewart was racing against are weekenders and their "crew" is their father, their uncle, 3 cousins, and two buddies from high school, one of which is only there because he has a truck that can pull the trailer.

 
Maybe his College BB example wasn't 100% perfect but his point is valid. Every young driver trying to advance his career is going to jump at the opportunity to race against a world class driver.