When I was a kid following the racing exploits of A.J. Foyt, Roger Ward, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Lloyd Ruby, Jim Hurtubise, Eddie Sachs and the like, there was a saying that went “There are old race drivers and there are bold race drivers, but there are no old, bold race drivers.” During the 1950s and 60s it seemed that every year several racing personalities would meet their fate on one of the racing tracks that dotted the country. Jimmy Bryant, Pat O’Connor, Johnny Thompson, Bobby Marshman, Don Branson, Ronnie Duman, Sachs, and Tony Bettenhausen all met their deaths at places like Winchester Indiana, Du Quoin Illinois, Langhorn Pennsylvania, Sacramento California, and the Indiana State Fairgrounds, not to mention the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. When Scotsman Jimmy Clark was killed in a minor Formula II race in Hockenheim Germany in 1968, race fans had to admit no driver was immune from harm. If it could happen to Jimmy Clark, it could happen to any driver.
Race technology has made rapid progress which has led to safer cars, safer tracks, and safer equipment. But as long as there are humans racing automobiles there will be injuries, and unfortunately, fatalities. Last Saturday night a Sprint Car race was held on the dirt at the Canandaigua Motor Sports Park near Rochester New York. Driving in a 60 lap feature on the half mile track, veteran racing star Tony Stewart and 20 year old Kevin Ward Jr. touched wheels which sent Ward into the retaining barrier. This accident put the race under the yellow flag. Ward climbed out of his car and ran to the lower part of the banked track to shake his fist in anger at Stewart. Ward was dressed in a black racing suit and wore a black racing helmet and the track lighting was poor to say the least. As Stewart came out of the turn Ward ran up to Stewart’s oncoming car and Stewart apparently didn’t see him. Stewart stuck Ward going about 80 miles an hour under the caution flag. Ward was rushed to the hospital where he died shortly after. Although only 20 years old, Kevin Ward Jr. had been racing since age 4, starting out in go-carts as Tony Stewart had done.
The whole situation begs a whole slew of questions. Why did Ward leave his car? Why wasn’t there better lighting? The biggest question, however, is what was Stewart doing driving in this race in the first place? Twenty-two years ago when Tony himself was 20, he learned his racing skills and came to the attention of the racing community by racing on half mile dirt tracks in winged sprint cars. But at age 42 he should have moved past that kind of racing by now. Last year at the same track, Stewart was at the center of a 15 car wreck. Two weeks later he was involved in a Sprint Car crash on a half mile dirt track in Iowa in which he broke his leg. It cost him the rest of the 2013 racing season and a chance at the NASCAR championship. He owns and manages a high profile racing team. So what is going on with Tony? A desire to relive his youth? To go back to a time when racing was “fun” for him?
The fact is that it’s time for Tony Stewart to climb out of the cockpit and take on the full time management of his racing team. As his racing idol A. J. Foyt did in 1993, Tony needs to recognize that his days as a competitive driver are coming to an end. Right now there are no criminal charges being contemplated against Tony Stewart. I can’t believe he would deliberately kill Kevin Ward. But since he is not as quick to react as he once was, he doesn’t see as well as he once did, and his physical endurance isn’t what it once was, it’s time for #14 to move on to the next phase of his career. Roger Ward observed that “when racing stops being fun, it’s time to retire.” The message this incident has sent to Tony Stewart can’t be any clearer than that.
snicewanger@yahoo.com