Opinion: Don’t Blame Stewart

 

By Ron Engel

August 10, 2014 –  When I first heard of the tragic death of young Kevin Ward Jr. at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park, I thought Tony Stewart was in a world of trouble.

During a sprint car race at the speedway on August 9^th, 20-year-old driver Kevin Ward Jr. was killed after the car driven by NASCAR star Tony Stewart struck him on the speedway. Stewart and Ward were battling for position when a rather common racing incident caused Ward to spin. Ward exited his car and on the ensuing caution lap then he approached Stewart’s car waving his finger. Stewart’s car clipped Ward causing the devastating results.

Over the past 50 years I’ve seen many racing accidents on numerous tracks between cars of all types. I reviewed the footage of the Stewart/Ward incident frame by frame. Here is my personal assessment of the accident:

Ward’s car was stalled on the top 1/3 of the track. When Ward approached Stewart’s car on foot, he was approximately 60% of the way down the track. Stewart appeared to be steering his car toward the bottom of the track. The front of Stewart’s car missed Ward and passed him. Stewart then suddenly turned his wheels toward the top of the track while simultaneously gunning his engine. This maneuver in my opinion was Stewart’s attempt to slide the rear of his car, with its extended wing and rear tire, toward the bottom of the track and out of Ward’s path. Unfortunately Ward was too close to Stewart’s car for the accident to be prevented.

In my humble opinion this incident occurred because Ward was simply too close to Stewart’s car. I do not believe Stewart was too high on the track when Ward approached. I believe Stewart did everything in his power, everything his experience and instinct guided him to do, to not hit Ward. A tragic incident indeed but do not blame Tony Stewart.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends and loved ones of Kevin Ward Jr.