I've received numerous emails asking my opinion of the recent Kevin Ward Jr. fatality involving Tony Stewart.
First, my condolences to the Kevin Ward Jr. family following his death this past Saturday night at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in New York. There, Tony Stewart hit and killed the up-and-coming 20-year-old driver. This story has been all over the news, and many of the reports are full of misinformation.
First and foremost, I'm sure Tony Stewart certainly did not intend to injure or kill Kevin Ward Jr. Granted, after viewing the video on YouTube, there does seem to be an "acceleration" when Tony gets to where Ward Jr. is standing, as the youngster was moving forward and pointing his finger at Stewart, who he felt caused the accident. If Stewart did not see Ward Jr. until the last second, he may have tried a "turn-right" maneuver to get the rear of the car to move to the left. At this point, no one is sure.
In my opinion, Stewart's gunning of his engine was either to get out of the way or to spray some dirt on Ward Jr. at the worst. It's sad some of the Internet blogs are calling Stewart a murderer. Stewart has been known as a hothead from day one in NASCAR, and he's been in his share of media conflicts, fan disagreements, driver punches and helmet throwing.
The TV news reports seem to indicate that drivers running onto the track following an accident never happens, and that Ward Jr. caused the incident because he was on the track. If this were true, even Tony Stewart wouldn't be around as he's been on the track protesting in temper tantrums many times as cars flew past way faster than those that went by Ward Jr.
Additionally, the race in question in New York last Saturday night was under the caution flag when the incident occurred, meaning all the cars slow down and realign. Only under red flag conditions does a race stop, and this happens only after a serious accident or inclement weather.
Let's consider the following:
First. ... Was there criminal intent? My answer is no, as Stewart did not intend to kill Ward Jr. Stewart may look back and regret what he may have done with the throttle, but only he knows of the intent.
Second. ... Did Ward Jr. think Stewart saw him? Some reports say that Ward Jr.'s race uniform was all black, which was a factor in Stewart hitting him because he didn't see him. I'm not sure this is correct as by the time Stewart came around a full lap, I would opine that he may have already seen Ward Jr. out of the car in an agitated state. I can't be sure, but usually when two cars hit and one is knocked out, the driver continuing on is doubly aware of the incident. Ward Jr. should not be made a fool of because he was on the track
Third. ... The sprint car is hard to slow down? Not true. I heard this statement on several reports on TV, and it's clear the reporters don't know what a sprint car is. First, sprint cars have no transmissions and have to be pushed to start. They accelerate very quickly and slow down very quickly. Also, the right rear tire is much bigger than the left inside tire. This is called stagger, and when a driver either lifts off the gas going into a turn or hits the throttle in the turn, a sprint car's normal motion is to kick out to the right to help it broadslide.
This possible kickout is the single part of the mishap that needs the most investigation.
It seems certain that, for whatever reasons, both Ward Jr. and Stewart misjudged how close they were to one another, resulting in Ward Jr. being thrown to his death.
Again, we all know Tony Stewart's history. But a killer he is not. Still, he's going to have to live with this tragedy the rest of his life.
In this instance, it seems a perfect storm of misfortune hit at Canandaigua.
For now, let's again think of the family of Kevin Ward Jr., a talented youngster who had a bright future ahead.
(Greg Zyla is publisher of The News-Item and also a syndicated auto columnist. Email at greg_z@newsitem.com.)