I haven't read much of this thread, but figured I'd add an opinion from a dirt track racing message board I monitor daily. This is from an actual sprint car driver:
I have some pretty strong feelings on the matter. First off, a guy is dead and that can’t be changed. A lot of people are impacted by this and their lives will never be the same. My heart goes out to them.
I watched the video a number of times now. Tony got a run on him down the straight and went low in 1 & 2. Ward was running high. Tony drifted up to take the preferred high groove. Ward should have lifted the throttle and got underneath Stewart. Staying in the throttle was the wrong choice. I saw nothing wrong or any aggression on Tony’s part with that pass. They actually didn’t even make contact. Ward hit the wall and spun around. I doubt Stewart even knew he wrecked at that moment. Therefore, I don’t think Tony was even mad. He had no reason to be.
The only reason you get out of your car during a race on the racing surface is if you’re on fire. Otherwise wait for the safety crew to get there. Huge no-no and extremely dangerous to do. Unless there was a previous incident between the two not shown on the video that reaction was way over the top. Mind you he is wearing a black fire suit with a black helmet on a black dirt track on a dimly lit track. He was walking down the track as cars were driving by.
The 45 car passed Ward and twitched the car as he passed Ward. Meaning he didn’t see him. If he did, he would have driven lower. Only a winged sprint car driver would know that your vision out of the right front is obstructed. Between the side board of the wing, the stagger of the car, and banking of the track your view is limited. Couple that with the other conditions stated above and it creates a very dangerous situation.
As the 45 car passed Ward you can hear (presumably) Stewart’s engine rev. He could have done that for three reasons: 1) when you hit the throttle the car turns left because of the set up and stagger. He may have actually done that to miss Ward. 2) He may have been clearing his engine of fuel, cleaning off his tires, etc. I do that all of the time. He would have not expected a person there. 3) As he came around and saw Ward’s car there and him standing out there, he got defensive and didn’t want to be pushed around by Ward. He could have done that to intimidate Ward. Maybe he hit a slick spot and the car jumped out. Mind you Ward was half way across the track and was walking towards a moving car. Tony’s depth perception of where Ward was would have been very limited.
Some say Tony did it on purpose. That is ridiculous, absurd, and non-sense. The only outstanding question is why Tony accelerated. Mind you it wasn’t that fast of an acceleration. If indeed it was to intimidate that was a bad decision. But truthfully most sprint car drivers would have done a similar thing. Drivers make spilt second decisions out there. This deal was innocent that spun out of control very quickly.
You have to understand the facts of the situation and understand what it is like to drive a winged sprint car. There are a lot of ignorant things being said about this and it is almost like a witch hunt against Stewart.
Unfortunately, I lay most of the blame on Ward. He made some critical, grave decisions that cost him his life. Stewart is responsible to some degree but I think the pain he is suffering will be punishment enough.
Lessons to be learned:
- NEVER exit your vehicle on the racing surface unless you’re on fire or once the safety crew arrives.
- NEVER walk down a race track while cars are moving to confront someone.
- Probably should think about having color other than just black on your firesuit. Even in the pits it’s dangerous.
- If someone is walking towards you, don’t speed up to intimidate them.
- Keep your emotions in check. Racing is very expensive and dangerous. There’s no reason to get that upset and to deal with the problem like that.
When you sign up to race, you need to understand what you’re getting into. Things happen so quickly and you can’t take them back. As a driver you know serious injury or death is a real possibility and need to accept the ramifications of that.