Tony Stewart and Kevin Ward, Continued

I want to continue the topic I posted last night regarding Tony Stewart and Kevin Ward.  I thought I'd move on to another blog topic today, but there is so much nonsense about this horrible accident being broadcast on radio and television, on twitter, posted on other blogs, and on the internet generally that I want to add a few photos to explain the point I made last night about Tony Stewart not being able to see Kevin Ward walking on the race track.

I took these photos last week.

This is Joey Saldana's car from the front.  Look at the wing, especially the driver's right side (photo left side).  The sideboard extends so low on the driver's right side that the driver can see little except the tires and wheels of a car on his right side.  Stewart could not have seen Ward walking toward him.  Remember that Ward was wearing a black driver's suit and walking on a track made of dark clay during a night race.

Here's a photo of one of Steve Kinser's cars.  Note the limited vision on the right side.  And remember that the drivers wear helmets with openings that restrict peripheral vision.

This is the car Steve Kinser ran at Knoxville Saturday.  Look at the right side sideboard on the wing, and especially how far forward it extends.  Stewart's view of Ward walking on the track would have been blocked by the wing on Stewart's car.

A view from the driver's seat.

We were walking around in the vendor area near the track on Thursday afternoon and Mrs. Haz says to me "I think I just saw Tony Stewart."  We backtrack because I wanted to meet him.  We had spent part of Wednesday in a group of racers that included Tony's father, Nelson Stewart, the bald guy in this photo, and I thought it'd be fun to meet his son.  We didn't find him.

Nelson is a hoot.  Funny, kind, gracious, and a great storyteller.  He races a Legends Car (see photos below) which is the type of car our family driver was racing.   Nelson is known for his generosity and his pizza dinners.  Need a part?  Take what you need out of his trailer.  Dinner time?  Nelson hosted a free get together for all the Legends drivers, their crews and their families.  He rented a banquet room and ordered 60 pizzas from the nearby Pizza Hut.

A small vendor was selling single-speed bicycles  that had big, fat balloon tires. They are really cool, and the guy is trying to make a living selling them.

Tony Stewart walked by, stopped, turned around, and bought one.

I have wandered off the point I wanted to make this morning, haven't I?  Sorry.  I get wrapped up in this stuff.

And that point is that Tony Stewart couldn't have seen Kevin Ward walking toward him because the sideboard of the wing blocked his field of vision, it was night, Ward was wearing a black suit, and the track wasn't well-lit.  

Here is a comment posted on Facebook from a crew member on the car that passed Ward just in front of Stewart, right before Stewart's car hit Ward:

Tony Stewart and Kevin Ward

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.

Chili Bowl Midget Nationals

The Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is a race held indoors in Tulsa every January, two weeks after Christmas.  For racers and fans, Chili Bowl is like a late gift from Santa.  It's racing's winter Super Bowl.  For many younger racers, Chili Bowl is an opportunity to be noticed by the owners of NASCAR teams and sponsors, with the hope and possibility of being signed to a development contract leading to a ride in the big game.

The drivers are young and old.  Some are as young as 16, others like Sammy Swindell are in their 60s, having raced all of their lives.   Faces in the pits include current NASCAR drivers who own racing teams that run at the Chili Bowl.  You'll see glimpses of Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne in the race video.  They love this form of racing and invest money and time supporting it.

More than 200 racers compete.  The racing covers five nights, with the main feature on Saturday night in which winners of the other night's races compete for the top prize money and trophy.

The cars are called Midgets because of their small size and very light weight.  They have a 72 inch wheelbase and a highly modified four cylinder engine producing 350-450 horsepower in a 1200 pound car.  The cars are very unstable and need a full roll cage with side protection and a secondary cage around the driver.  There are no unnecessary pieces on the car. No clutch, no starter, no battery. The cars are push started.  The transmission is a one-gear affair, and the car is either in gear or not in gear. The driver sits in a custom fitted seat, strapped in by a seat belt harness and shoulder belts.  The drive also wears leg and arm belts to control the travel of legs and arms in the event of a rollover.

The cars are designed to turn left, as fast as the run down the straightaways. The rear tire diameters are staggered to make the cars turn left.  There is no left front brake for the same reason.  The cars are steered as much with the throttle as with the steering wheel.  And they are powerful - the front wheels lift off the track under hard acceleration.

Here's a very well done video of this year's race.  I hope you enjoy it.  Tickets for next year's race go on sale in March and will sell out quickly.



Chili Bowl 2014 from Tim Truex on Vimeo.

Here's What Serious Racers Do In Winter

Screw about 200 drywall screws through your motorcycle tires from the inside out, put your safety gear on, and let's race motorcycles on ice.

Never let winter mess with your fun.