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8/8/14 WDT NSFW

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by shegirl, Aug 8, 2014.

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  1. toddamus

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    He's pretty well fucked, there's not much that can be said in his defense. With all the video out there it'll be interesting to see how they try to not get him convicted of second degree vehicular homicide.
     
  2. Currer Bell

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    I mean, I know zilch about race car driving. Is it common for someone to run out onto the track into oncoming vehicles, and therefore the drivers usually have experience dodging morons?
     
  3. Now Slappy

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    It was another driver that Stewart had just put into the wall. He was pissed off and yelling at Stewart as he was walking down the track and away from his wrecked car.
     
  4. gamecocks

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    The problem is that you can hear Stewart gun the engine as he is passing the guy. When you do that in a car that powerful, the back end fishtails out a bit, so it kinda sideswiped him. Stewart's got a history of being a hothead so I'm guessing he revved it to scare the guy, gave it too much gas and "accidentally" hit the guy.
     
  5. SMUGolfer

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    A lot of the discussion on sports radio right now about Stewart's reputation is biasing much of the reaction. Kevin Ward wasn't exactly acting rationally, but it's hard to say what happened without a close review by those who know a lot about racing. So whatever Nedatta says I will believe
     
  6. Crown Royal

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    Regardless of intent, that kid was a fucking IDIOT wandering out onto the track like that. I don't know if Stewart could be convicted because of how utterly careless the other guy was with his temper.

    Just horrible to watch.
     
  7. downndirty

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    I detest NASCAR, but isn't Tony Stewart one of the most successful drivers in recent memory?

    I read that he will continue to race this week, which is fucking awful. I can't remember the last time a professional athlete died during a competition, but surely they call the rest of the week off?
     
  8. Rush-O-Matic

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    Stewart is not racing today. And the events happened at two different tracks. The fatality was not at a NASCAR track.

    Until all the facts come out, I thinks it unfair to judges Stewart's fault and whether he gunned the engine to scare him or whatever. The race was under caution, which means he was likely on the radio with crew. It was dark on a dimly lit track, and he was behind another car. The disabled car of Ward was on the right side of the track. So, it's very possible that Stewart never even saw Ward until the last second and the fish tailing / engine rev was a result of last second evasive maneuvers.
     
  9. Nettdata

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    It's just you.

    Rule number fucking one, especially on a dirt track like that, is you do NOT get out of your car unless there's an emergency, like you smell gas and are about to go up in flames, or are upside down. Never mind walk towards and try to confront a car that is still actively racing on the track. At night. You always wait for the emergency workers to help you get out, safely.

    The guy was experiencing what is basically racing-induced road rage (which is quite common, and is referred to as the Red Mist by racers), and did something incredibly stupid without thinking at all about what the consequences could be.

    Those cars don't turn/steer like your street car, they are designed to oversteer around the track by spinning the big rear tires.

    Shitty situation, but the guy walked out and was actively putting himself in Tony's way.

    I'm calling it a very, very unfortunate racing incident.

    $0.02
     
  10. Nettdata

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    The thing is, when you compete in sanctioned competitions like that, there are very strict rules and guidelines that cover on and off track behaviour, safety procedures, etc.

    The #1 rule of any sanctioning body is to keep the event safe. Believe me, there are a shit-ton of rules around on-track safety while a race is on.

    He broke a number of those rules, and those are rules he would have been tested on and agreed to, in writing, by getting his race license, never mind all the entry paperwork for the event.

    If you had a guy on the highway come walking angrily at you while you're driving along, and HE HITS YOUR CAR (Tony did not go out of the way to hit him), I say it's not your fault.

    A race track is not at all like a city street, it is, by definition, a dangerous environment in it's intended operation... it's not at all like a normal city street where it defaults to a safe environment.
     
  11. Nettdata

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    He's not racing... he's taking time off and another driver is driving his car.

    <a class="postlink" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/08/10/tony-stewart-will-not-drive-in-nascar-race-after-hitting-killing-driver-saturday/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ear ... -saturday/</a>
     
  12. Nettdata

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    I don't get the whole "how dare you race after you killed a guy" stance. First of all, he didn't kill a guy, a guy died. Big difference.

    I've seen 2 people seriously hurt (one died, one was permanently disfigured) at the track, one that was self-induced (he oversteered onto a straight and ended up hitting a barrier all by himself), and one that was mechanical failure due to a minor collision earlier. I was a driver in one of the races that got red-flagged and I sat in my car on track and watched while the driver got extricated from his car and airlifted off (he lived, but lost part of his leg and broke his back).

    In neither case did we cancel the entire race weekend... we took a break, paid our respects, got our "holy shit that could have been me" thoughts sorted out, and kept going... because that's what racing is about. Even the guys that were involved in the minor collision that led to the accident felt like shit, but they kept going after the shock wore off.

    It's inherently a dangerous sport, and that's part of what you sign up for when you go racing.

    Sure, things have become more and more safe over the years, but it's still dangerous, and even the most innocent looking incident can result in death. Just go look at Dale Earnhardt's death.. he tapped the wall at 35mph and it killed him.


    Might as well say "a guy died, why are you having the race at all?", or "a guy died, how dare you go watch the other races" to the fans.

    Despite all the bullshit outrage on Twitter, I bet viewership is going to be up for this weekend's race... because social media outrage is generally hypocritical.
     
  13. Nettdata

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    Oh, and to be clear, a Yellow Flag does not magically make the track a safe haven of driving.

    It basically means "slow down from the ragged edge so you have more control of your car, and keep your head up for shit happening".

    You can get warned or fined for going too slow during a Yellow Flag, as you basically have to keep your lap times without about 20% of a race pace (that's what we were told to do in Grand Am, as well as SCCA events I've competed in). If they want it safe, they Red Flag the race, which means "everyone stop your fucking cars and stay put".

    The other driver would have been aware of this, and yet intentionally unbuckled himself from the safety of his roll-caged car, climbed out onto that dangerous track, and purposefully moved to confront Stewart's fast moving car.

    It might be semantics, but everyone saying Stewart killed that guy is a bit inappropriate, to me, as it implies intent, and the internet is already jumping on that bandwagon. The guy died by hitting Stewart's car, but it's not like Stewart drove into him or sought out the confrontation. Quite the opposite.

    The ONLY person showing intent in that video is that other driver, and his intent got him killed.

    Man, I feel badly for Stewart... I'm sure there will be a bunch of internet warriors looking for blood for quite a while.
     
  14. Flat_Rate

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    It's a sad thing but that guy made the decision to get out of his car and walk out onto a track with poor lighting in a black race suit and a terrible accident happened.





    Glad TiB is back up and running.
     
  15. Nettdata

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    There are a few issues that came about due to the upgrade in servers, and they're being addressed.

    Sorry for the shitty login issues right now... no quick/easy fix for them unfortunately.

    It's going to require a bunch of updating to the current old version of the forum software, and with all the hacks/mods that are in it, it's not easy.

    I'm probably going to install the forum software from scratch and then migrate over the pertinent data... which is a bit more work, but will help get rid of all the old crap and clutter that has been building up over the past few years.
     
  16. downndirty

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    I saw wharrlgarbl on ESPN about this and the initial report this morning said he was going to race. I can see (thanks to Nett) that racing culture is quite a bit different. I'm a little creeped out at all the sites hollering "SEE VIDEO OF GUY DYING ON RACE TRACK". I feel kinda bad for Stewart at this point, because he gets to have every outburst brought back out and used as evidence that he intentionally ran a guy over.

    I can see why Stewart would want to race, as it suggests his innocence in any malice or wrongdoing. I think if an NFL player hits a guy and causes a serious injury, he keeps playing because he doesn't want to seem "guilty" of a dirty hit.

    This is an awful thing to happen to any sport, no matter what the circumstances were.

    With that said, if someone says "go play in traffic" they didn't mean a fucking racetrack.....that's like playing Russian roulette with an automatic. There was nothing accidental about leaving a stationary car and taunting another racecar....on foot.
     
  17. toddamus

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    Good points, the moment he got out of his car he put himself in imminent danger. Not only was he vulnerable to getting hit by Stuart, but as well as any of the other cars on the track. Its a shame this kid passed away, but it may be mostly due to the fact he got out of his car. I know its a bit classless to blame someone's death on their own actions, but he put himself in that situation, Stuart did not pull him out of the car, it was his choice to approach him during an active race.
     
  18. Revengeofthenerds

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    As much as I emotionally, morally want to roast Stewart, I've gotta take Nett's side on this one. The most obvious argument to make is the one that is going to save Stewart's ass, and that the "assumption of the risk." Ward not only chose to race (you can die racing), he made the conscious decision to get out of his car and confront a driver (who was in a fast-moving car) during the race.

    That's like pointing a gun at a cop and blaming the police for when they shoot you.

    The one thing I can't reconcile though is how in the video, you not only hear Stewart rev his engine, but he also appears to swerve at Ward.

    So I can't explain that, but I also don't know much about how dirt track racing works so I'm not really in the position to make a reasonable guess.
     
  19. Revengeofthenerds

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    Shark week!!!!!
     
  20. Nettdata

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    Can't say I disagree.
     

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