NASCAR Horror
NASCAR driver Tony Stewart hit and killed a driver who was walking on a track in upstate New York.
Kevin Ward Jr., 20, died from injuries suffered in the incident, which occurred Saturday night at the Empire Super Sprints series event at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park.
The track is about a two-hour drive from Watkins Glen International race track, where Stewart had been scheduled to race in a NASCAR event Sunday.
Stewart’s team director Greg Zipadelli said Sunday morning the driver has decided not to drive in the event.
…video of the incident shows Ward out of his crashed car, walking on the track toward the race cars, which had slowed for a yellow flag. Ward points a finger and appears to be yelling. One car swerves to avoid Ward on the half-mile dirt track.
Stewart’s car passes close to Ward, and it appears that its right rear tire hits him.
KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker August 10th, 2014 at 2:37 pm
I understand that a man just lost his life, but really the whole point of car races is the crashes after which everyone exclaims, OMG can you believe it?!! That’s how they sell tickets in the first place.
Definition of NASCAR: Rednecks drinking beer watching rednecks turn left.
Always Right August 11th, 2014 at 5:46 pm
Why knock what you don’t know?
Racing is a sport just like football, basketball, hockey, etc. It is entertaining to those who understand the various elements of the sport. Not everyone likes watching soccer, but to those who do, they find it exciting. This tragedy is not the result of the sport, but the result of poor judgment.
The true race fans are not those who enjoy seeing accidents, they want competitive racing and when an accident happens of course it becomes the byline in the report.
Your slap at rednecks is also off the mark. Years ago the sport was made up of mostly southerners; some of who were former moonshiners. Not the case today, the sport is more diverse than any other national sport in America; as are their spectators.
fancypants August 10th, 2014 at 3:43 pm
if you look closely tony had a good amount of time to slow down and avoid this death It also looks like tony hit the gas and accelerated before the hit
http://youtu.be/qILmIyG6qno
jasperjava August 10th, 2014 at 5:41 pm
It does look like he deliberately swerved to hit the guy. He may have been trying to scare the kid to get him off the track, but didn’t realize his fat back tires would run him over.
Stupid “sport”. Stupid “accident”/voluntary/involuntary homicide.
fancypants August 10th, 2014 at 6:46 pm
oh yea I looked at this twice and stewart was going a lot faster under caution then the rest. He even passed a couple before the incident
jasperjava August 10th, 2014 at 8:05 pm
That said, Stewart isn’t going to be charged. It was the height of stupidity for Ward to be standing in the way of oncoming race cars. If he had something to say to Stewart, it could have waited until after the race.
A whole life ahead of him, and he had to waste it for nothing.
fancypants August 11th, 2014 at 6:53 pm
hold that thought JJ because there is more to Stewart’s anger for other drivers then you might be aware of
jasperjava August 10th, 2014 at 5:18 pm
A horrible way for a 20-year-old to die.
Stupidest “sport” ever.
burqa August 10th, 2014 at 8:26 pm
Terrible tragedy.
To me, this is not the time to go into politics or wheel out other biases.
A young man died. His family, other loved ones and friends have been struck with terrible grief. They have my sympathy and prayers.