Tony Stewart hit fellow driver with his car while he was walking on the track

[Gemini Dolly]

I found the following on reddit and it helped me better understand the type of cars they were driving and how they work on those tracks. His explanation makes much more sense to me than the idea that Stewart made the decision in less than a second to intentionally hit someone with his car.

"For those not in the know, nearly all cars have what is known as a differential - a clump of gears that lets one wheel spin faster than the other, while still applying power to both. This is important because when the vehicle is turning a corner, the outside wheel follows a longer path than the inside wheel - if the wheels were forced to turn at the same speed, one would have to drag and/or skip across the pavement to make up the difference. Tires are designed specifically not to drag, skip and such (lose traction), so this would put a lot of wear on the tires, strain the mechanical bits of the car, and generally make turning more difficult... Keep turning difficulty in mind.

Unless a limited slip differential or solid axle is used, when one tire breaks traction, all the available engine power goes to spinning up that one wheel - the "peg leg" burn-out. Obviously this is a bad thing in a racing situation, and would be a frequent problem on a low-traction dirt race track. A limited slip differential would mean additional weight, complexity and cost, so they simply use a solid rear axle and drift (let both rear wheels break traction) around the corners. To compensate for this loss of traction when cornering, they use huge rear tires.

So... What happens when you combine huge tires (lots of traction) with a solid axle (difficult to turn) and reduced speed (due to yellow flag, resulting in still more traction)? The car becomes very difficult to turn (known as understeer). In fact, it would become far easier to turn by revving the engine to break the rear wheels lose (power-induced oversteer).

So, Stewart comes around the corner, the car in front of him dodges out of the way, revealing a road-raging driver running out in the track. Stewart tries to dodge: He turns the wheel and blips the throttle to get the car to rotate... To point in the right direction so when it regains traction it will miss the object (driver) he's trying to avoid. It was simply too late and/or driver too far out in the track for the physics to play out. The result? Driver gets hit by the rear tire."

sold! good post very informative.

 

[CowboyDan]

Here's the thing................does anybody think that the first 2 cars that almost clipped this kid were trying to hit him? I don't, either. But they almost did. And it's very clear in the video that Tony was very close to the 2nd car that almost hit Ward, leaving him little time to react to Ward, if he ever saw him at all.

It's a bad deal all around, and I feel terribly sorry for the kid and his friends and family. However, in every driver's meeting I've ever been in....be it road racing, drag racing, hillclimbs or even driving experiences at Nascar tracks....they always stress repeatedly, "IF YOU ARE IN A WRECK, DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR CAR. STAY STRAPPED IN UNTIL THE SAFETY CREW GETS THERE." With the small caveat of "if the car is on fire, get out." He made a grave mistake getting out of his car and walking down the track. He damn near got hit twice before he was struck by Stewart's car.

Tony has a bad rep for things he's done on the track and things he's said off the track. And he deserves that rep. But I'd like to think that he would never try to run somebody over. He has way too much respect for the sport and for human life.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

How awful. If he would have stayed in his car none of this would have happened. I don't understand people saying he was murdered but anyway. It's surely a very sad situation.

 

[Rockport]

if he did accelerate as he apparently saw the driver, and depending on if his car had a racing camera in it they might be able to show that, then he will be facing charges.

Your exposing your ignorance again. He may have accelerated to avoid the driver.

 

[Wheeltax]

Too many people commenting on this story (not just here, but everywhere) who don't know jack about how dirt cars work. People really believe that these cars and many other types of race cars are as easy to control as when you pull your Buick through a drive-thru. I refuse to believe that Stewart accelerated for any other reason but to try to turn the car to avoid the driver in question.

 

[Sarge]

Your exposing your ignorance again. He may have accelerated to avoid the driver.

EXACTLY

 

[CowboyDan]

Here, this may help.



Sprint cars are absolute bulls to control. They make 800+ hp (more than a Nascar) and visibility is limited, especially at night. Here's in car video with Jack Haudenschild.....one of the best in the country.

 

[Bill Wooten]

Too many people commenting on this story (not just here, but everywhere) who don't know jack about how dirt cars work. People really believe that these cars and many other types of race cars are as easy to control as when you pull your Buick through a drive-thru. I refuse to believe that Stewart accelerated for any other reason but to try to turn the car to avoid the driver in question.

I agree. From what I've been reading and learning, those cars behave MUCH differently than what we're used to seeing on the Nationwide/Sprint Cup level. The visibility from the car is very limited, especially to the right of the car.

Many also seem to be judging Tony as though he was watching the video and knew the guy was there the whole time. When in reality, he probably didn't see him until a fraction of a second prior to impact. He surely was not expecting to have a pedestrian on the track that close to the line of cars.

I'd recommend those with enough curiosity to check out this thread on reddit. Lot of good info.

http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/2d4rh9/tony_stewart_hits_sprint_car_driver_kevin_ward_jr/

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

Your exposing your ignorance again. He may have accelerated to avoid the driver.

As can be the norm on CZ, the ignorance rises to the top. And usually is exposed for what it is.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

I refuse to believe this was a deliberate act. He's not going to come out & say that of course but there is just no way.

 

[gmoney112]

Ouch. Never like to see a guy's ego get him killed.

Feel for the guy's family but he broke the cardinal rule of racing, don't get on the track. Especially not a Sprint car track, standing in the middle, with your car effectively blocking the outside lane. You basically accelerate to turn in those cars, and Ward barely gave him any room to clear that inside corner, you see him give it a light throttle to try and swing the rear in front of Ward but the laws of physics didn't do him any favors.

 

[burmafrd]

as usual the numbies don't get it. A grand jury will probably be brought in. And if they are told he accelerated towards the driver, they will indict him. Amazing how stupid some of you gomers are. Not saying that is right or correct; its what will happen. Something certain stupid people here refuse to admit.

 

[CowboyDan]

as usual the numbies don't get it. A grand jury will probably be brought in. And if they are told he accelerated towards the driver, they will indict him. Amazing how stupid some of you gomers are. Not saying that is right or correct; its what will happen. Something certain stupid people here refuse to admit.

What about the first two cars that narrowly missed him?

 

[zrinkill]

Just watched another angle ........ cannot believe the guy ran out into that ...... he must have been really mad

 

[CowboyDan]

Send link, I've only been able to find 1 angle so far.

 

[Wheeltax]

as usual the numbies don't get it. A grand jury will probably be brought in. And if they are told he accelerated towards the driver, they will indict him. Amazing how stupid some of you gomers are. Not saying that is right or correct; its what will happen. Something certain stupid people here refuse to admit.

If it even goes that far (which it won't) and the Defense explains how the car accelerated to miss Ward, it'll be a non-issue. Stewart will end up writing some big civil suit checks, and the race track probably will, too, and that'll be the end of it.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

In my honest opinion though, I do believe Tony revved the engine trying to scare the kid, and a tragic accident followed. This doesn't mean Tony should get slammed with murder, or even vehicle manslaughter, the kid shouldn't have been out of his car.

If that's the case he should ABSOLUTELY be tried for vehicular manslaughter because that is the law. If some idiot comes down the middle of the street and I decided to rev my engine to intimidate him and I hit him and kill him...I'm likely to be tried and convicted for manslaughter. That is just what is going to happen. That person may have been idiotic, but the DA would view it as something that could have been prevented.




YR

 

[DFWJC]

Thinning the herd...why do you get out of your car and stand in the middle of a dirt track?

Any sort of sudden move of the wheel on dirt is gonna cause the car to slide...idiot kind of got what he deserved.

Death!?
Are you freaking kidding me!!
Bad choice by tne 20yeR old
But you are the worlds biggest moron if you think HE DESERVED TO LOSE HIS LIFE.
Come on BZ,you're better than that

Btw, I don't fault Tony Stewert here.

 

[Risen Star]

as usual the numbies don't get it. A grand jury will probably be brought in. And if they are told he accelerated towards the driver, they will indict him. Amazing how stupid some of you gomers are. Not saying that is right or correct; its what will happen. Something certain stupid people here refuse to admit.

There is no chance of that happening.

What might happen is the kid's family might sue Stewart claiming he was negligent. Which of course he wasn't, if you understand racing at all.

 

[Nirvana]

You can't run out into the track like that - suicidal and stupid. No lawsuit or arrest pending for Stewart. Learn more about how they race and drive the vehicles before accusing him of murder or even trying to taunt.