I'm missing something re Tony Stewart

[Marthe48]

He killed a fellow driver. He didn't race for 3 weeks. He is racing tonight and he was greeted like a returning hero (as my husband said). Why? I can't help wondering how the Ward family felt tonight. Their son isn't coming back to race. Just like so many other tragedies, it is subtly turned around so the perpetrator is comforted and by some trick of the phrase, the victim caused the tragedy. The football player beat his wife and is out 2 games. Stewart killed someone and wasn't even fined. The other day, L.A> decided not to arrest the police officer who was texting and hit and killed the Napster executive last December. My nephew's brother-in-law was hit by a car this week and is ICU with multiple injuries. The driver is under arrest for reckless driving. Tony Stewart is driving in a race, with no punishment, except that he will have to live with this the rest of his life. Well, the Ward family will have to live without their son and brother for the rest of their lives. I don't understand.

[3rdwaydem]

1. I can't believe this either.

Especially as some other drivers thought incident was avoidable.

[IronGate]

9. The incident was avoidable,

by Ward staying off the track instead of trying to confront Stewart on an track with cars racing by.

[99Forever]

2. You had one thing right.

You don't understand.

[Logical]

7. LOL, well explain it to us Einstien! nt

[Hemmingway]

3. Why would Stewart be fined or punished?

He wasn't at fault.

[NYC_SKP]

4. The victim, a rookie and looking for an argument, broke track rules and protocol, very reckless.

One doesn't leave one's car and come up on the blind side of another car.

It was truly an accident caused by the reckless behavior of the now dead driver.

[House of Roberts]

5. On a post race report

Ricky Craven said the investigation is still ongoing. So the book is not closed on the incident yet.

FWIW, I watched three different versions of the same video, with the audio sync different each time. You couldn't be sure when Stewart actually hit the gas or if the revving the camera picked up was Stewart. The car preceding Stewart had to dodge the young man first, so Stewart may not have seen him in time.

[madville]

6. Stewart didn't kill the other driver

From all accounts, the other guy killed himself by being extremely reckless. A traumatic and unfortunate experience all around but Stewart didn't kill the guy and was not at fault.

[ChazII]

10. Agree with you 100%.

This was a horrible tragedy and one that will haunt Tony for the rest of his life. However he did not kill the other driver.

[Lugnut]

8. Racing is not like normal every day driving.

Race car drivers understand that they are at risk of being injured or killed when they strap themselves into a race car. Nobody forces them to race. Kevin Ward put himself at a much higher risk by getting out of the car in a black fire suit at a dimly lit dirt race track while race cars were circling the track.

[diabeticman]

11. Stewart didn't "kill" someone as you wrote. The hot headed 20 year old kid walked onto the track in

the middle of a Race where his fellow race drivers are driving about 80-60 miles an hour ( because the caution flag just came out and you can't go from 100 + miles an hour to 40 or 30 in 2.0 seconds.) This kid stepped into the path of Stewart's car and Stewart did try to avoid him but the car was too fast and the kid was in the wrong place.


I hate to sound like a jerk but the pure truth is that the kid caused his own death and I for one feel bad for Stewart because he didn't go out seeking this death and he couldn't prevent it.