No it isn't. If he walked into the path he wouldn't have been standing still when Stewart hit him. Why was Stewart so high up the track? Why, of all drivers, is Stewart the one that hit him? And why is Stewart the only driver whose car moved towards Ward instead of away from him?

Also why is it that witnesses said it appeared Stewart ran him down on purpose?

"If he walked into the path he wouldn't have been standing still when Stewart hit him"

He walked into the path and then stopped, in the path, for barely more than a second. The video shows this.

"Why, of all drivers, is Stewart the one that hit him?"

Because, of all the drivers, it was Stewart's path he walked into.

"Why is it that witnesses said it appeared Stewart ran him down on purpose?"

I'm commenting on what you can see in the video. I wasn't there. Maybe they saw something else. If so, I'd be interested to know what.

The cars were going 35 mph. These are professional race car drivers. The notion that Stewart was so incompetent he couldn't see or avoid a man standing on a track going at 35 mph defies logic. Furthermore the two drivers had clashed in the past and Stewart is known for being confrontational.

Sorry, that should read that Stewart was the only professional on a track full of amateurs, but Stewart is the only one who couldn't see/avoid Ward.

Just curious Jamie, if you see a pedestrian run into the street, what is your typical reaction? Avoid the pedestrian or hit the accelerator?

"Because, of all the drivers, it was Stewart's path he walked into."

He was in the same spot when the car in front of Stewart avoided him, so that's not true.

"Obi, it's not worth arguing with him. If most of us had come out against Tony Stewart, Putin would be defending him like he was the patron saint of Mother Russia."

Nah...he'd have to kill thousands of people and send them to gulags before Tony Stewart won THAT level of admiration from Putin. ;)

(But still, game, set, thread to Chaqa.) :)

Carry on, Putin...

Wow, an angry Putin joined us overnight. Too bad he's obviously never stepped onto a dirt track or strapped into a sprint car before because he has no idea how they work.

"Those cars fishtail when you accelerate"

Bullshit. No, they don't. They fishtail when you turn left. These cars race on dirt and have unique treads. First of all, the right rear tires are in fact larger than the front tires, and that's not a mistake. It's called stagger. These cars race exclusively on ovals when they stagger, because stagger causes the rear wheels to rotate at different speeds, and the axles don't have differentials which is basically the only reason that staggering tires doesn't put them into the fence (and why your car could never use them). Tony Stewart probably uses somewhere around 15 inches of stagger (10-20 is a more appropriate range, depends on nightly conditions, bank on the track, length of the turns, etc.). What's more is that these right rear tires typically have a much lower tire pressure than the other tires so that they are essentially flat, creating a flatter tire and more surface contact, more drag, and more bite when the car turns away from that tire. If you've ever raced sprint cars, even once, or at least 20 times like me, you'd know all of this.

What that means is that Stewart's car fishtailed because he was turning left. He was leaving the corner at caution speed - this has been well established. He would have fishtailed a little in the corner, because physics don't go away when you go slower, but not nearly as much as he was. He fishtailed like that because he turned sharply left to avoid the racer that was coming his way, and if there was any acceleration, it was after the fact to regain control of his car, because, as anyone that even has a drivers license should know, you save a fishtailing car or a hydroplaning car by giving it gas, not slamming the brakes.

Thanks for wasting two pages of this thread on this dumb argument that you can tell that he accelerated because he fishtailed, Putin. Funny too, because if anything, the fishtail points to this being a heartbreak, a tragedy, and an accident.

For those of you wondering why there's no rule yet about drivers getting out of their cars, this is the actual event that sparked the discussion. I thought it was Dale Jarrett at New Hampshire but that debate centered on a different rule that actually got implemented afterwards - when the yellow comes out, everyone slows immediately, instead of racing to the finish line as it was before. This is from 1999, some beef between Kenny Irwin and, ironically, Tony Stewart. It's a little over a minute into the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mRY79mat34

Tony gets out of his car, throws his helmet at Irwin's car, and Irwin stops, for whatever reason, probably to yell something. Tony grabs the cage and tries to get at Irwin (though he can't). Irwin decides enough is enough and does something that could have easily gone really badly - he speeds away, with Stewart standing right on top of his car. Caution speed at Martinsville is 40 MPH, and his car could have reached that in a couple of seconds, easily. Had Stewart's foot gotten run over, he'd have been thrown around, the same way that Ward was in this incident. That's where that rule discussion centered. Why this wasn't implemented is beyond me, but given that staying in the car doesn't present some sort of immediate danger to the driver (e.g. car's on fire, can't really stay long), they ought to require them to stay inside until the officials come over with their vehicles and help them out.

So BoSox is a sprint car racer now?

"He was leaving the corner at caution speed - this has been well established."

No he was going considerably faster than the caution speed. Continue with your know-it-all sermon though.

20 times.

@ Putin how fast was he going, please?

"and if there was any acceleration, it was after the fact to regain control of his car, because"

Which is why we hear the revving of the engine right before he hits Ward. Your timeline is off, as are your 'facts'.

@ Putin: "Which is why we hear the revving of the engine right before he hits Ward."

The video footage was taken from the other side of the track. How can you be sure which engine you're hearing?

guys putin knows the explanations for everything that ever happens, stop questioning his all-knowing power.

Watch the video, he was going faster than the cars in front of him that's for sure.

y2k, do you ever do anything but ad homenize threads?

just yours

That's what we need, 5 more ssorren clones.

"How can you be sure which engine you're hearing?"

Who else was speeding up?

The rev I think you're hearing is coming from the car before Stewart's who is accelerating after passing Ward? That may just seem like the case because the rev happens when that car is what is being filmed. I have no idea how you are so easily attributing the rev to Stewart.

"Who else was speeding up?"

How would you know?? There is no point at which all the cars in the race are in shot at the same time.

Renting a sprint car and going out for a weekend with my friends every summer and running 50 laps isn't some crazy story, Putin. You apparently caved to my argument, though, because a) you had to resort to your usual persistent personal attacks that have absolutely no relevance in conversation, and b) you changed it up. I'll take that as a personal victory since you physically can't force yourself to admit that you were wrong.

As for the revving, there's no way you can tell from the video who that was. You can have your apprehensions, but if you think Stewart's defense lawyers wouldn't successfully argue that it's equally possible the guy in front of him braked because he saw the driver getting close to him and then gave it gas when he went past him, you're a little blind to how murder trials work.

What personal attacks? What are you talking about? You're the one who led off with personal attacks in your first speech about the topic. Your entire 'argument' is one big ad hominem attack. But declare victory if you want to.

Here's what we know

1 - Tony Stewart has had clashes with Ward in the past
2 - Tony Stewart has threatened to run over people, and has a history of violent/intimidating behavior against other drivers
3 - Tony Stewart is a world class driver, but yet was the only one who had trouble avoiding Ward
4 - The caution was up, and Stewart was going faster than the caution
5 - Other drivers at the race said that acceleration causes fishtailing.
6 - The engine was heard to be revving up prior to the contact with Ward
7 - The driver in front of Stewart managed to successfully avoid contact with Ward, and was in the same pathway as Stewart.
8 - Ward did not move from his position after the Blue car swerved, yet he was hit by Stewart
9 - Eyewitnesses state that they believe Stewart ran down Ward on purpose

But yet we're expected to believe that this world class driver didn't see Ward and/or couldn't maneuver the car to avoid him during a caution.

Whatever.

" you're a little blind to how murder trials work."

Are you a lawyer now too?

"Your entire 'argument' is one big ad hominem attack."

Yes, my entire logical argument that disproves everything you said with facts.

"Are you a lawyer now too?"

Now? Bro, I've been a lawyer since I was 5. I got my law degree when I was 3 but I spent a few years traveling the world before dedicating myself to my work.