By now you've heard about the accident at a dirt track in Canindaigua, New York that resulted in the death of driver Kevin Ward who was struck while on foot by a car driven by Tony Stewart.
What to make of it? Foremost, it is a tragedy. A young man died, parents lost a son, a veteran racer is emotionally crushed, and families and friend of both are grieving.
We've been in Knoxville, Iowa for the last five days, attending the Knoxville Nationals, the biggest sprint car race of the year. Moments after the winner of the A Main feature race crossed the finish line after midnight last night, I looked at my Twitter stream and saw that Tony Stewart had been in a accident in which another driver had been run over. Ironic, since the driver who moments ago had won the Knoxville Nationals feature race was driving for a team Stewart owns.
We made it back to our hotel room by 2:00 AM and news was breaking that the other driver had died. And by 3:00 AM a video of the incident made by someone attending the race had been posted on YouTube. You probably have seen it; I'm not comfortable posting it here.
In short, Kevin Ward spun out. His right rear tire was flat, but there was no other damage to his car. Stewart's car may have bumped Ward's car. It happens, especially on dirt tracks where cars are driven by sliding around corners. Ward got out of his car and walked down the banked track pointing at (apparently) Stewart's car which had slowed to yellow flag speed, about 35 mph. Stewart's car passes Ward, and we see Ward flying through the air and landing on his back at the upper edge of the track. He is motionless. Safety officials are there in seconds. The first one to arrive bends over to look at Ward, then immediately stands up and emotionally tears off his own helmet. That told me that Ward was dead then and there, probably of head/neck trauma. He was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at a nearby hospital.
The internet was instantly full of messages and tweets alleging that Stewart had deliberately run Ward over, causing his death.
I didn't know what to think. The video shows what happened, buy not how it happened.
I changed my travel plans this morning and went to the Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum so I could get a better perspective. I got my head, neck, shoulder and upper torso far enough into a sprint car to see what a driver sees. The right side, where Ward hit, has a very narrow window opening. It is small to begin with, and the right side vertical part of the wing covers all but the bottom third of the opening, leaving the driver enough of an opening to see the wheels of a car on his right. That's all he needs so see in a race. He just needs to know whether or not a car is there.
The front window is likewise small and focuses the lines of sight forward. Again, that's all the driver needs to see. Remember that Ward was in a black driving suit and that Stewart's forward vision was blocked by another car immediately in front of him.
It's a puzzle, but I doubt that it's a crime. A coherent article about the accident was published on Motorsports dot com this afternoon. The article is a very good read.
I'm really bothered about this. That young guy shouldn't have died. What's most troublesome is that he exited his car on a track before the safety officials got to his car to check on him and keep other cars away. I don't know what the track rules are where the race was held, but most of the tracks I've been to have a rule that a driver is disqualified from competition for the rest of the day if he exits his car on the track before safety officials arrive. The young driver in my family that we were in Knoxville to support learned that the hard way Thursday. He got spun into a wall during a race, then exited his car to inspect the damage after the caution light came out. He got back in his car and drove to the pits for a new tire, and was told by a pit marshal that he was done for the night. He protested that he didn't know about the rule and was told "tough" in different words. His local track doesn't have this rule.
The first time I got into a race car I was told to never get out of the car while it was on the track unless it was on fire or a safety marshal told me to get out. Even if I was upside down, don't get out until told that it was safe to get out. Being in the car is the safest place to be on a track. It has a roll structure and belts and straps and a dozen other safety devices that make it a safer place to be than walking on the track.
What do I think about this terrible incident? Several things. First, Kevin Ward made a fatal mistake by exiting his car and walking toward moving race cars. Second, he was either hit in the head by the wing on Stewart's car, or slipped and Stewart's car rolled over his head. Third, Stewart didn't try to run Ward over. You can hear a slight throttle blip in the video as Ward nears Stewart's car, but that's a normal thing drivers do to keep the car moving.
It's time for Tony Stewart to end his hobby of showing up at local dirt tracks with one of his dirt cars so he can race with the local grass-roots guys. Most of them are racing on a shoestring budget and get very angry when an incident causes them to buy new tires or repair damage. Stewart shows up in a motorhome with his full-time, salaried crew arriving in a semi-truck full of cars, tools, parts and spare engines. His rig costs more than most of the local drivers homes. Stewart can afford new cars; they can't, and anger follows any wreck. Anger leads to mistakes and bad judgement, and ultimately, bad judgement is what led to Kevin Ward's death.
RIP Kevin Ward.
42 comments:
This is a very good post. Thank you.
Excellent recap and thanks for getting us a first hand view of what it might look like for the driver of those cars.
It's a puzzle, but I doubt that it's a crime.
It was a terrible accident that could have been prevented by the young man staying IN his car until the track conditions were safe. Instead, it seems that he decided to get out, bounce around the track and try to physically confront Stewart's car. He had NO business being on the track at that time. In the darkened track conditions, I doubt that Stewart actually saw him.
My sense is that it is a tragedy for everyone involved. Also the less second guessing from the world of the internet the better. No one feels good about this in any way shape or form.
I see these guys at the track who think that their six year old will be the next Jeff Gordon. They push push push the kids, and teach them to fight at the slightest provocation. It's like the ghetto kids who commit crimes because they were "dissed."
And frankly some of the pros aren't much better. Tony Stewart pulled into one of our area dirt half-miles a few years ago to race super late models. His car was a fooking work of art. Someone bumped him a bit during a race because he wouldn't get out of the way so Stewart goes to the guy's trailer in the pits and loses his temper, screaming and shouting. The guy has his fill and decks Stewart with one punch. Stewart gets up and goes to his hauler, and to his credit comes back a while later and apologizes for losing his temper. Anger.
One the other hand, we had an absolute joy watching Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne Wednesday night when they showed up at a dirt go-kart track in Knoxville, got on karts, and mixed it up "pretend" racing with little kids. It was a hoot, and not done for any reason other than to have some fun, and to tech young kids how much fun it is to race, even in small, low power karts.
I decline to take it seriously, refusing that entertainment.
Call for crosswalks and slow children signs, is my response.
The population always splits on policy solutions.
That's why newspapers run it.
Meanwhile, 10,000 other Americans died yesterday, in round numbers.
They pick the one that draws eyeballs.
Thanks for this, Haz, as on a personal level I work with someone who is race director at a local NASCAR sanctioned track. So, this will be a matter of some discussion tomorrow morning.
But you're right, I think anyway. A tragedy due to emotions. As in our country as on our tracks, emotion based decisions seldom work out well.
I'm very sorry the young man died.
You have a point about seriously, but smart as you are, hardin, you at times come across as a cold hearted prick. And that's fine. 7 billion souls, 7 billion opinions.
XRay - I'm interested in hearing about that track, and about what the race director has to say about the Ward/Stewart incident.
He's a pretty straight up guy when it comes to racing, safety paramount. Though sure of that, I'll let you know.
The news biz is an entertainment biz. Whatever draws eyeballs is what controls public debate. Nothing else has legs.
The democrats screwed up Iraq by making insurgent bombings, though militarily insignificant, mean we can't win the war. That helped democrats, and that helped the insurgents. Sort of a business arrangement.
The media played along because it got eyeballs.
If you want to crush the barbarians, crush the barbarians and don't screw around with Harry Reid or the media.
Yes, I am a bad person. Nevertheless, the news biz is what it is.
Great post.
I wondered what in hell he was doing on the track.
Herewith my lecture on sympathy.
Sympathy is built in because it has survival value. When a neighbor can use help, you give it to him, and the tribe does better than otherwise.
The news biz trades on that instinct to draw eyeballs, by bringing the most interesting disaster into your neighborhood.
Here your sympathy has no survival value whatsoever, It's not your neighborhood. The sympathy-feeling is you entertaining yourself, and that's why you watch.
You're being played.
Refuse it.
To honor Lem's wishes I deleted my above. That's the only reason.
I do welcome disagreement... I don't know about the other posters.
I don't know any of the people involved, and I'm not a NASCAR fan. I'm sorry for the young man involved, but who hasn't done something monumentally stupid, especially at twenty. The stupidity involved just adds to the blunt trauma of his death. From Michael Haz's description, Tony Stewart seems like a decent person. He's not guilty, but a lot of people will think he's not quite innocent. That's the way people are.
Great post, very informative. As usual, the difference between the screaming headlines - and dumb comments - on the internet and what the real situation differs as black from white.
BTW, if you peruse some internet sites you'll be shocked at the hatred - officially approved it seems - toward NASCAR and so-called 'Rednecks'.
As for the news media, its not just trying to get "eyeballs". Its what helps the liberal/Democrat agenda. Remember all those stories about people getting killed or raped by illegal aliens? Whoops, guess those "eyeball" stories just aren't sexy enough.
"As for the news media, its not just trying to get "eyeballs"."
I agree. I think that in the minds that make decisions about the news, those people with that power make them in a more complex context that includes eyeballs, but is also influenced by human biases and the need to affect things or at least believe you are in the direction you wish. That's how we all make such decisions including the decision on what to comment on and how. We are each our own little news directors here.
BTW, did you hear about there being 12,000 cats and dogs euthanized last year in Los Angeles alone. Dozens every day of the week, and that was a record lowest number in history.
Here is a photo I took today of my current pack of escapees from the death chambers. Pack size = 9 dogs. Adopt a rescue dog.
https://flic.kr/p/oD9UE1
ESPNs Stephen Smith got into trouble for suggesting that the conversation' on domestic violence should / or it would benifIt, if it included what women were prepared to do to help see to decrese incidents.
Rh is on a parallel track... If you will.
Although, I'll be damned if I know how I coulf keep from rubber-knecking.
Sorry for the typos I'm coming to you via my un-adept use of my phone.
I don't like the looks of those particular cars. They're not aesthetically pleasing. The boxy fins reminder me of "Fat Man."
One of the reasons I stopped paying attention to car racing was I got disgusted by the fans who wanted to see crashes.
That was a long time ago.
Maybe there's more of a decorous crowd these days.
Excellent perspective, Haz.
Sprint racing, to hear it from a guy I used to know, is white knuckles and adrenalin. He's generally as cool headed as they come but I talked to him one night after the track was particularly dusty and listened to him vent some of that adrenalin in regards to not being able to see a thing while sliding through the turns.
Thanks for the insights Haz. Stewart's sponsors have got to be second guessing themselves. His "hobby" might be doing damage to the Stewart-Haas NASCAR race team.
For Haz: if you missed the last few laps of yesterdays race at Watkins Glen, you missed some of the best door to door racing I've ever seen.
Third Coast - I saw the last six laps on television. Couldn't be happier for Almindinger, he and Ambrose made an awesome run to the checkers, twice.
Good post Haz. I already commented my thoughts at Evi's place. Unless more information is made available, it looks like no criminal charges will be pursued. After my first viewing, I wouldn't have expected the outcome. Now that the news is flashing it all the time, I keep picking up on things not noticed previously. I've got multiple viewings, Stewart only had one and it wasn't as advantaged as my first one.
Another interesting thing is the discussion of lighting. Elsewhere, some have noted that despite the black suit, the track was obvious well lighted ad the camera picked out the incident from across the speedway. Last night, I watched the end of PGA championship. They kept talking about the players playing in the dark, but the image on the screen was very bright with clear colors. At one point, the director switched to another camera to give a better idea of just how dark it really was. It was far darker than I thought. I also know at the dirt track I visited, the corners usually are darker.
I agree about Stewart ending his hobby. Last year, he broke his leg and that hurt his main business. This year, he will now live with this death. I wouldn't want to find out what the third door might bring. Quit opening them and move on.
I didn't know about the track rules. I think what will come out of this incident will be more such rules with stiffer penalties for doing what Ward did (and Stewart has done himself in Cup races).
Leland, thanks for your comment.
Regarding Stewart and other NASCAR drivers throwing helmets, etc. during races - when you watch the videos, you'll see that the incidents happened not on the track, but in the pits, where cars are moving slowly and there are plenty of safety officials present. And in Stewart's case, he threw his helmet at Matt Kenseth's car while he was maybe 10 feet away from it, not walking right up to it.
Guy on the sports talk radio was just discussing the terrible visibility from the driver's seat in these cars - he said that the wing blocks the view to the right, that the driver ahead of Stewart just barely missed KW, and that Stewart had even less time to react.
All of that said, however, this is not a good addition to the resume of a driver who was already viewed as somewhat of a hothead.
I stopped watching Stock Car racing after Fireball Roberts died. I stopped watching F1 in the '70s after a number of driver deaths. Lemans, same thing.
As much as I like racing and going fast in cars, there is always a risk that someone is going to die.
I have written on several occasions about riding along on some hot laps at Daytona, being driven by a professional driver working for the Petty Experience.
The same day I was going however fast it was - over 150, certainly, Adam Petty was killed at the New Hampshire track. We didn't know it, or maybe it hadn't occurred when we were out there, but that brought home just how dangerous racing can be.
As with Haz' experience this weekend, sometimes these things can hit a bit close to home.
Now I just walk around race tracks - much safer.
Excellent vantage point, Haz. I'm not the least bit interested in the subject, but you aid my understanding of the situation.
Bags-- That's a nice looking pack.
I met a woman and her 2 dogs up at a brew pub in Nederland a few weeks back.
The dogs were sprawled out on the floor just asking for luv and tummy rubs. They were so sweet. I asked about them and she said she rescued them from some place in Texas where they euthanize 500 dogs a month.
Both dogs had distemper, and on the journey back to CO, they almost died. She recounted the horrors and the diarrhea.
I don't know what she did, but these dogs were so well behaved and mellow and in perfect health as far as the anyone could see.
One was adopted out and the other dog she will keep. I so appreciate the type of compassionate can-do person who takes the time to solve the problem rather the BE the problem.
rh:
"Here your sympathy has no survival value whatsoever, It's not your neighborhood. The sympathy-feeling is you entertaining yourself, and that's why you watch.
You're being played.
Refuse it."
Agreed, but on the other hand, tragic mistakes by the young are regretful.
My son mentioned some tragedy the other day, and I asked if he'd heard of the recent BASE jumper (off a building IIRC) had died because his pull cord had gotten tangled up in something.
Which then reminded me of the time a bungee jumper, after speaking into the camera about bungee jumping, jumped without clipping in first.
Technically, that was not a bungee jump. But it is funny.
Anger leads to mistakes and bad judgement, and ultimately, bad judgement is what led to Kevin Ward's death.
Beyond anger, rage on the part of Kevin Ward, appears to me to been behind his "mistake". Walking out into traffic to confront someone is irrational behavior.
A person in a state of rage may also lose much of his or her capacity for rational thought and reasoning, and may act, usually violently, on his or her impulses to the point that they may attack until they themselves have been incapacitated or the source of their rage has been destroyed.
This post is an example of why Lem's place is such a great blog.
Lem is such a generous host who has gathered together a great group of co-bloggers who give us the benefit of their expertise.
This is a great post and explains this terrible accident so much more coherently than any any of the douches on ESPN.
Great post.
Yeah, technically...
Something strange happening here... comment I made earlier deleted, not by me. A sane sober relevant comment in case one might wonder. Maybe there is a rational explanation, I'd sure like to hear if so.
My comment that disappeared was an answer to Haz at 10:20. A straight up answer it was. Says too, deleted by author... bullshit. Even 'blogger' couldn't screw that up.
XRay - it wasn't my doing, for the record.
Never thought it was, but thanks, Haz. But something peculiar is going on. If there is an email up there I'll email you my local race director's thoughts, though not much different than yours.
XRay - I saw your comment about your friend's response, and I heartily agree. It's been interesting that at least three local tracks in the NE and MW published additions to their rule books today. All mandated the "stay in your car unless it's on fire" rule, and imposed penalties for failing to do so. I expect many more tracks will do so this week, if only because their liability insurers will require it.
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