Response to Stephen Cox article on Ward Jr. death (Update)
Here are my thoughts after reading nearly every article out there and watching the video about a dozen times.
1) Engine Rev — The claims that you can hear Stewart's engine rev right before impact are false. If you notice in the beginning of the video, the person shooting the footage is sitting just past the finish line in the straight away. The collision happened on the far side of the turn. Any engine noise you hear is from the cars passing through the straight away. If you don't believe me, watch the video again and see if you hear even the slightest noise of the initial impact with the wall. There is none. This amateur camera's mic is not sensitive enough to pick that up. The notion that you could hear a single engine revving from the far side of the track when other cars are much closer to the camera is just plain wrong. Keep in mind that the video is shot on maximum zoom from probably about 80+ yards away. Bottom line, that engine sound is very likely from a different car closer to the camera.
2) Acceleration — Watch the video just before Stewart makes contact and gauge the speed of the two cars that pass Ward before Stewart. The first car (two cars before Stewart) passes much closer to Ward and at a higher rate of speed. The second car (just before Stewart) passes at approximately the same speed as Stewart. I've heard numerous reports that Stewart accelerated while the rest of the pack had slowed down, and that is just plain false from the video footage I've seen.
3) Fish tail — Slow down the video and you'll see that the fish tail happened AFTER impact. And the nose of Stewart's car actually turned up the track away from the infield. This is exactly what would happen if the right rear tire of any vehicle ran over a large bump, and it's exactly opposite of what would happen in a sprint car if you juiced the throttle. If Stewart's car's nose had turned down and the rear fishtailed up, then it would support the theory that he gunned the throttle. However, the video shows the opposite.
4) Point of impact — Ward had to dodge two cars trying to get to Stewart. Contrary to reports, he did not "march" down the track toward Stewart. He actually had a do a little dance to stay out of the way of the other cars. It was obvious that he was making a beeline toward Stewart and was going to get as close as he could. If Stewart were trying to mow him down, he could have done so easily and likely would have struck him with the front of the car. The fact that it was either the right rear tire or wing that struck Ward indicates that it was Ward moving toward the car, not Stewart moving toward Ward that was the primary cause of the collision. My guess is that Ward was planning to smack the hood of the car or shout into the right window, but he got too close and misjudged the speed of the car.
5) Opinion here… Stewart's temper — I've watched Tony race for years, and yes, he has a temper. (Not that it's an excuse, but so do about 75% of other NASCAR drivers). But here's what I don't get. In 99.9% of altercations over the years, Tony lost his temper after HE was wrecked. I have never seen Tony get angry or do anything reckless after he was the person who put someone into a wall. The idea that Tony was so angry that he drove all the way around the track and then came back and mowed the guy down just doesn't add up. I can see why Ward would be angry if he felt Tony had wrecked him. But it simply doesn't make sense (and is inconsistent with past examples) for Tony to be angry with Ward (and certainly not enough to run him down).
To say that Stewart was doing anything other than trying to avoid hitting Ward Jr. is like saying that you are driving down the freeway in rush hour traffic, and suddenly ten car lengths ahead of you a guy pulls over in the fast lane, stops his car, gets out of it, and starts walking toward you in traffic. You see the man, but the first thing that your brain tells you is, “People don't walk in the middle of the freeway. This is wrong." Then your autonomic systems kick into effect, and you try to avoid the man but hit him because it's too late. So did you kill him on purpose? Did you point your car at the man and run him down with intent? No…a guy got out on the freeway and decided to walk the line, and when he made that decision he sealed his own fate.
That's what Ward Jr. did. It's tragic, but in the end it's true. Ward Jr. is dead because of his own actions, and in making such an irrational choice Ward Jr. not only got killed, but he also ruined a lot of lives and hurt a lot of people and the sport that he loved so much. G. Tanner, Torrance
08/12/14 A reader writes, Dear AR1.com, I have to provide some reasoning to Mr. Cox's statement, "Those calling for a criminal charges against Stewart are fools."
Here are some undisputable facts from the video which point to the cries for criminal charges against Stewart:
1. 17 cars pass Ward’s crashed vehicle without striking it from the time it stops moving until the time Stewart hits Ward
2. The yellow flag was out for approximately 25 seconds (almost half a minute) before Stewart hits Ward
3. Every car is at IDLE engine speed for approximately 18 seconds before Stewart hits Ward
4. Safety crews are at Ward's lifeless body a mere 9 seconds after Stewart hits him – indicating they were most likely already on the racetrack when Stewart hits Ward.
5. Stewart's car's trajectory around that corner is so egregious from the other cars passing Ward's car that it enters the video frame as low on the track as the other cars in front on him (about half a car width from the bottom), but ends up approximately five feet FROM THE TOP of the race track BEFORE TURNING BACK DOWN the track
6. All other cars stay low on the racetrack (not more than half a car width from the bottom) around the accident location from the time they enter the video frame to the time they leave the video frame – NOT ONE OTHER CAR (other than Stewart’s) moves up the racetrack around the accident location
7. Stewart's car passes beyond Ward's crashed car even HIGHER UP THE RACETRACK than Ward's crashed car is resting.
8. Stewart's car passes Ward's crashed car by approximately 2-3 feet – no other car is closer than two car widths or approximately 10 feet or greater
9. Stewart's car is the only one that revs its engine and accelerates as it passes Ward – all other cars are STILL at idle engine speed, DO NOT accelerate, and still navigate around him and the crashed car without incident
10. Stewart is the 10th car to pass Ward AFTER Ward is out of his car, on foot, walking on the racetrack, and pointing at Stewart
These are all indisputable facts shown from the video from which further conclusions can be drawn.
Everyone agrees it was not smart of Ward to get out of the racing vehicle and walk towards a competitor in a fit of rage – no question and I agree 100% with Mr. Cox. But just because someone is jaywalking doesn’t give the other drivers on the road the right to drive at the jaywalker to try to hit them or simply scare them. At that point, whether or not the pedestrian is jaywalking is irrelevant, how the other drivers respond and the actions they take in response to the jaywalker is the only thing that matters from that point forward…which is the situation we have here.
D. Hughes, Cincinnati, OH