[DAD]

A slow motion video of Tony contacting Kevin Ward >>looks like Kevin grabbed the wing and was never run over by the race car. A hundred and fifty pound object contacting a a 1200 pound race car at 50MPH can upset its direction significantly as shown.

You Tube Video

Honest Dad himself

[davidm]

Sad that a young mans impaired judgment has had such an immense impact on Tony and the Wards family.

[DAD]

David

We are all lacking in good judgment when we are young the Miracle is that so many of us survive these attacks of poor judgment. Thereby but by the grace of God>>>>

Honest Dad himself

[c47]

the part that has bothered me since i have seen the video is that most every piece of press babble says that the 14 "ran over" ward with the right rear.......wouldnt it make sense that if ward was "run over", the 14 would have had some sort of altitude change across the rear of the car instead of staying completely flat on the ground at the supposed point where ward was "run over"???? also, if you watch the video close, ward is pointing and going after the car in front of the 14 first till he realizes its the cobra and not the 14, then changes direction and goes for the 14. the cobra admitted that he didnt see ward till the last second as well and had to turn to avoid him....while blocking the 14's view of what was going on in front of him.
there was also discussion that when ward grabbed the wing, he was attempting to jump on the 14's nerf and slipped off. i think if ward did jump in the 14, you would have been able to see the car move as well.
i feel terrible for the ward family, just as i would for any racers family that would have to go thru suffering a loss like this but if the 14 and 13 were racing and the 13 contaced the 14 and wrecked with the driver getting killed, would wards family still seek legal action? if the answer is yes, the entire family should not have been involved in racing to begin with.
PS....i have seen multiple videos from multiple angles and not one showed the 14 hitting the 13 to start all of this...the 14 came up and probably did squeeze the 13 (if he knew he was there) or thought he had him cleared....the 13 should have lifted and given the 14 room but he stayed on the gas and went off the track, hitting the wall.....was that the 14's fault or the actions of a pumped up young man trying to beat one of the top names in racing at any cost?

[jjones752]

Tony's actions in the aftermath of Justin Wilson's accident (i.e., dispatching his plane to get family to Justin's bedside) speak volumes to the character of the man; I'm certain he would have the same attitude of "what can I do to help?" in this situation too if the Wards could only see the truth and not be looking for someone to blame.

[cbaumeyer48]

Dad, if you look even closer, you can see the stripe on his left leg. He appears to actually stand up on the nerf bar. I don't believe he was even "contacted" by the car. It actually looks as though he is able to hold on for a second before falling off ( this would explain the distance traveled before he re appeared on the ground). Look for the strip it starts in a bent formation "7" only backwards then appears to straighten up .

[btg1963]

This lawsuit has the potential to destroy our sport as we know it. If you read the Ward family's claims, any driver with any experience will be liable versus an inexperienced driver going forward if they win this suit. If I were a driver with 20+ years experience, I would be watching this with vested interest.

In an update to this, according to WRTV 6 NEWS at 11 tonight, Stewart's legal team came out swinging today with their response to the NY Court.

I agree with the previous post... the 14 car didn't hit the 13 to begin with. That discredits all of the Ward family's claims that Tony was somehow angry with the driver of the 13 car. The driver of the 13 car was in 100% control of his own destiny. When Tony squeezed him, he had two choices... lift or hit the wall. He chose poorly and paid the consequences. His actions and the actions of his family after that choice speak volumes.

[DAD]

OK I would guess the autopsy revealed his arm was pulled out of it's socket. One does not grab on to an object moving at 50 MPH and instantly accelerate to that speed without doing damage to one's arm and probably that little flimsy aluminum wing board also. Motorcycle racers have been known to slide down the track at speeds much greater than 50 MPH with little or no injury. From looking at his trajectory and the wall I would guess he bounced off the wall head first and broke his neck. Had he not been trying to act like Tony Stewart in his younger days he would still be here. Like I said it is amazing how many of us live through some awfully dumb decisions made in our youth.

Had young Kevin had a Quarter Midget background he would have known that once Tony cleared his left front wheel with his cockpit it was his obligation to allow Tony Racing room. He was charging, once the other car has passed you from the cockpit back you let off just a tad and let him go. Kevin did not, he brought about his spin all on his own. Tony had no idea he was back there last I checked they don't have rear view mirrors on Sprint Cars and that is a good thing. Kids unless you can get your front wheel up to the car's cockpit you are overtaking before you reach the turn you are obliged to back off. If you get your front wheel up to his cockpit before you enter the turn it is his obligation to back off and give him racing room. It is just that darned simple not rocket science just good manners. The attraction and enjoyment of watching a good open wheel race for me is that when each driver shows common curtsey toward one another at high speeds and such close proximity to one another, that race becomes a work of art and is in itself a thing of beauty. Watching a bunch of cars bouncing off of one another with no concern for one another is like listening to "RAP MUSIC"

Honest Dad himself

[Sprintcarfanatic]

I said that when this 1st happened that Tony didn't hit him or the right front would have hit the wall before the right rear.

I also seen people call it a "slide job". You want to see what a slidejob looks like look at that video of the BOSS Atomic show those are slidejobs. Then some said what does it matter ? Well you'd better have you're **** together in a court of law.

[CTtoPA]

Their whole case hinges on "Tony's propensity for being hot headed" and the claim of his car accelerating supported by the sound in the video.

Well, Tony didn't get wrecked, so why would he have any reason to be mad in the first place?
Also, the sound of revving you hear is a car on the front stretch. It's highly unlikely a mic will pick up engine noise at that decibel from that distance.