I have watched the video multiple times. Have you? Ward is in virtually the exact same position when the #45 car drives safely by and he was when Stewart, the best driver on the track, revved his engine and fishtailed.
I don't see anyone saying Stewart deliberately "ran down" the 20 year old and I don't see anyone calling Stewart a murderer.
I look forward to the apologists in here telling us all how it was only an accident.
If it was neither an accident nor deliberate, then what does that make it?
I mean, here's the thing. I'm not a NASCAR fan. I have, however, driven on dirt (though in something far less powerful and easier to see out of/control than a sprint car), wearing a full face helmet, wearing a HANS device, on a track at night, and I think that maybe people who haven't are vastly overestimating the ability of a driver to see or react to someone all but jumping in front of their car, even at caution speed.
If you disagree, that's fine, but I just can't see how that's an informed opinion at all. The only evidence I can possibly see to the contrary is that the car in front of Stewart missed Ward - barely. What if Stewart was looking somewhere else? Checking gauges? That is something you do under caution. Further, Stewart likely didn't even know he had wrecked Ward. They barely made contact - if at all, that's inconclusive - and the accident happened behind the 14.
I won't discount entirely the possibility that Stewart could have avoided him if he wanted, but I just see that as about as entirely outside the realm of possibility as you can get without being outright impossible. Just don't see it.
Mark Tychoniewicz
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August 10 at 12:30pm ·
i have driven these cars,the right side board on the top wing will block out an entire car let alone a person standing there,i now work on the 45 car in the video and the driver said he just saw him at the last second and just missed him,Tony had even less time to react to the situation.people in the stands or watching this video have no idea how fast these thing happen and how limited our view is inside the car.it was a very bad turn of events that happened but we all know the dangers involved in the sport we love.
"It's very hard to see to the right in a Sprint Car," said Lance Dewease, winner of 300 feature events in his 410 Sprint Car career. "The seats and the wing panel block the view.
"If someone is standing right next to me in the pit area, next to the nerf bar, the only thing I can see is the belt buckle and the stomach area. Add banking to the track, and it's hard to see a car that is next to you."
Dewease admitted that the only way he can see a person in full on the right side of his car is if they are in front of the right tire. And that is if the car is standing still.
According to Brent Marks, 23, who is in his sixth season running a 410 Sprint Car, there is a checklist that a driver goes through that diverts his attention away from the track.
"Under yellow, you are always checking your belts and making sure everything is alright," Marks said. "I'm also looking from advice from my [pit crew] guys, so I'm always looking around the track.
"There are no radios, so you are getting hand signals. I'm not always paying attention to what is going on; it's just the nature of Sprint Car racing."
And on and on. I don't mean to harp on you about it, I just want people to be informed - but I also won't sit here and be called an apologist for having an informed opinion about it by someone who doesn't. Sorry.
