The $64,000 Question: Is Tony Stewart's Career OVER?

Since Saturday night's incident between sprint car racer Kevin Ward Jr. and NASCAR star Tony Stewart, a lot of questions remain unanswered. Of course the primary one is "Did Stewart see Ward?"

As of now an investigation is being conducted. So far no criminal charges have been brought against Stewart but that could change, according to the latest reports.

At the end of the day though racing is a business, and sponsors are 95 percent of that business. Whether or not Stewart makes it out of this in a pair of handcuffs is one thing. The reality is that this situation will haunt him until the day he dies and remain a blotch on his record to racing fans.

Fans have previously seen Stewart get overheated in MANY situations and act harshly. Was Saturday night another one of those situations or was it simply an accident? Frankly, it may not matter anymore.

That being said, I've got to ask the $64,000 question: is Tony Stewart's racing career OVER?

JDMUSMuscle - 8/12/2014 12:44:32 AM

-1 Boost

I saw the video and all I can say is, America sure loves violence and killing. How many people have been killed by being run over in America, honestly?

This country has no class. No morality. There is only so much crap.

JDMUSMuscle - 8/12/2014 12:47:43 AM

-2 Boost

I heard some woman yelling "Woooooo" as in being excited or something in the video as well. Didn't seem to be sad.

But then again, we are talking about America.

Agent00R - 8/12/2014 1:16:38 AM

+3 Boost

@JDM

I hope you're being sarcastic. The only scream came from a woman who was clearly horrified at what just happened.

JDMUSMuscle - 8/12/2014 1:21:57 AM

-1 Boost

Uh, I am pretty sure I heard the woman yelling Woooo, definitely it was not a horrified scream.

And I know which scream you are talking about as well. I don't think you saw the video that is kind of a bit longer, or did not watch all.

JDMUSMuscle - 8/12/2014 1:33:52 AM

0 Boost

Hmm I rewatched the video and maybe the woman was screaming woooo to the guys who were trying to bring him to hospital?

But then again, kinda strange to scream like that in that kinda situation still, don't you think? So for now, I guess all I can say is I don't know what that woooo was for.

jswanj - 8/12/2014 2:05:58 AM

+1 Boost

If any of you have ever raced at night on a track like that you would know that you cant see anything but the car right in front of you under yellow and at the last second that poor kid out there being stupid and he got to close. believe me I have raced under those conditions and Tony did not see him till it was to late to do anything at all. It is a terrible accident and there is no way anyone can say Tony was in any way responsible for that poor kids death.

leftfootbrake - 8/13/2014 1:51:16 PM

+1 Boost

"there is no way anyone can say Tony was in any way responsible". You might want to rethink this statement. Regardless if I disagree with your perspective or not, this is a pretty absolute statement. Given how much discussion there has been on this since it happened, I'm pretty sure there's other valid perspectives here.

610looper - 8/12/2014 9:31:54 AM

+1 Boost

He's 43...has been racing atleast since 1987, starting with go-karts..he races cars for a living, not in his spare time as a weekend hobby. He knows the rules of racing, accident caution flags, etc...He needs to man up, had he been off the track it would be called road rage..

MattDarringer - 8/12/2014 10:36:59 AM

0 Boost

I agree and I think at minimum he should be banned from racing. I think he should also be prosecuted for manslaughter at least.

Sciros - 8/12/2014 1:57:24 PM

+3 Boost

The road rage came from the kid. Wearing all black at night on a dirt track standing in the direct path of a sprint car going 40 mph is suicide. "Had he been off the track" it would be called "I hit a deer that stood in the middle of the road and didn't see it until it was too late."

Darringer -- he'll be prosecuted if an investigation creates enough suspicion for charges to be filed. Based on everything I saw and also common sense, I will spoil things for you and tell you that no charges will be filed because there is zero evidence of criminal intent and tons of evidence of insane stupidity on Ward's part.

billy2way - 8/12/2014 9:31:26 PM

+2 Boost

If Tony did this on purpose, and I think he did, but was just trying to scare or intimidate the kid, he needs to "man up" and take full responsibility and face the appropriate consequences of his actions. This is inexcusable and if he gets away with it he will be right there with OJ Simpson!

800over - 8/13/2014 10:26:50 AM

0 Boost

Spot on....Anyone who think Tony was trying to hurt the kid is crazy...but anyone who thinks Tony has no responsibility is just burying their head in the sand.

leftfootbrake - 8/13/2014 2:05:11 PM

+1 Boost

Where's the telemetry data? Even in "basic" karting, racers have data loggers (e.g. MyChron's). Do sprint cars have them as well? Basic data loggers could tell you easily if he was accelerating, coasting and where. More complex setups would give you steering angle, pedal position etc. People can speculate over amateur video all they want. I want to see the telemetry. (BTW, I'm referring to karting as "basic" as a point of relevance not that karting is easy etc. I race karts.)

I agree that the kid should not have ran at Stewart. However, I think we need to be careful about making a simple cause and affect evaluation. If your perspective is that, if he stayed in the car he would be alive, would you carry that a step further and say if Stewart didn't spin him to begin with he would not have had reason to leave the car?