re: So Tony Stewart ran over and killed another driver at a race last night

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Wow, this whole situation is just sickening, how the hell will is he allowed to race again so soon after killing some poor kid?

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Because he should be allowed to do whatever in the hell he wants since it was an accident. If he wants to race let him race, and if he doesn't feel up to it then let him sit out.

Is it a fricked up/sad situation? Sure it is, but it could have been avoided if both parties would have approached the situation differently.

I have watched stock car racing since the 70s. I have seen guys get out of the car under caution 1000s of times. It is never more than finger wagging, cussing and maybe some helmet throwing (google Tony Stewart helmet throw). Maybe later in the pits, a face to face confrontation will result. This kid had obviously seen the same thing growing up and decided he would let Tony know how he felt. No big deal, it's done all the time, hell, Tony's done it. Is it ill advised? Yeah, but it is common.

I am not of the opinion Tony intentionally ran over the kid. I am of the opinion, from watching the horrible video, that Tony intentionally gunned his engine. I believe that in the heat of his anger that Tony did not take into account how the car would react when being gunned like that. Those sprint cars are designed to kick the rear end to the driver's right when accelerated, it makes for better cornering. I am pretty sure the left and right side tires are also staggered in size to enhance that effect. Tony has been driving these sprint cars since he was a kid. He KNOWS how these cars react. He knew better than to get that close to the kid and gun the engine but, his temper got the best of him and now a young life has been ended needlessly.

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Sad for the family of that driver... he shouldn't got out of the car but TS has always had an anger problem

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You start well, and then went off the rails. Tony's alleged anger problem has NOTHING to do with this at all. In fact, he likely gunned the gas just to get away so that the confrontation could wait until after the race when cooler heads may prevail.

You know whose anger problem does though? Kevin Ward's. Idiot hothead should have stayed in the car like safety regulations tell you to do. He damn sure shouldn't have walked up to another vehicle to take a swing on the other driver because Kevin can't handle his own.

And for the other idiot talking about all the cars going low, you must be blind since you can't see the car just before Tony swerve to miss this jackass. Even the police mention that.

Rumors are TS was wearing a GoPro. Not that I believe it or expect it to be released if true due to huge liabilities, but that would probably tell us about everything we want to know. I'm sure he was talking to himself in the heat of the moment.

Again I want to stress that it may be a rumor he was wearing a camera. But aren't there live cameras on the big drivers cars in real races? I realize this wasn't a nascar level event but I feel like there has to be a better angle than that fan video

Stewart is a 43 year old driver with about 30 years of experience behind the wheel. He knew better than to gun his car with an unprotected driver on the track so close to him. I in no way accuse Tony of intent to harm, much less kill. But, I do hold Tony and his actions with a higher degree of responsibility than the kid. Drivers have finger wagged on the track since the first ever green flag was thrown. The car ahead of Tony was way down low on the track. Why do you suppose Tony was higher in the groove, closer to Ward? Tony was pissed and was going to rattle his cage. It went terribly wrong.

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Looked to me like the kid got directly in front of Tony, and instead of stopping, he went left, but then the kid also went left, so Tony guns it harder left to try and make it around him, but the back right wheel hits the kid, which slows down the right tire while the left tire is still spinning and has traction. This makes the front of the car go right. So it sorta looks like Tony purposely turned right, but I don't think that's the case.

Now I do think Tony was like, "frick you, I ain't stoppin.", but I think he was trying to veer left and swing around the kid.

Logic and physics tells me if the left wheel is un impeded and spinning faster than the right wheel which is impeded and spinning slower, the front of the car is going to veer right.

And obviously, the front of the car was left of the kid when contact was made. He didn't get hit by the front of the car, he got hit by the back right wheel. So the front of the car was clearly veering left, away from the kid.

I think the physics are on Tony's side on this.

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He was clearly trying to avoid the accident but the kid got too close and thought he was just going to sit there while he walked up and started swinging. The rear end doesn't kick out at all and I don't see Tony turn the wheel. When you hit the gas in these cars, they do not kick sideways automatically like the retard witnesses keep saying, they go straight unless you turn the wheel, and the rear did not kick out here like the articles are saying.

The kid walks up to the side of the car and when Tony realizes he is there to get violent and not talk, he decides it can wait so he guns the gas to go, but the kid stepped in front of the tire. He wasn't going to get in a fight mid-race with some entitled kid that wanted to blame everyone else for his shortcomings behind the wheel, so he was gonna jet out and say what he had to say after the race. Ward should have stayed in his car until the safety crew got there, but if he just HAD to get out, then he definitely should have not approached an open-wheel vehicle that was still in motion. Takes a special and rare kind of stupid to do that.

Once Smoke's tire made contact with hotheaded idiot, what you've said about the physics is exactly correct, IMO. This is a tragic accident, but not Tony's fault.

Sprint cars definitely hook the rear end to the right when accelerated. That is by design. The tires are even staggered to create that handling effect. Check this article: LINK

This was a local Saturday night sprint car race. I'm not sure they have the radio communication the big boys have. These races don't require pit stops for fuel and tires and adjustments. So, not much need for communication with anyone. Now, Stewart may have radio, I don't know. But, it shouldn't be needed. Then again, I could be completely and totally wrong!

My buddy (racing freak) says very unlikely he had a spotter.

Also says those cars will "die" if they go to slow. They don't have starters they get pushed and pop clutch to start. So even under yellow you have to maintain decent speed.