What is a sprint car race? Well it is basically a race where high powered vehicles race against each other on a circuit which is usually oval and usually paved with dirt. They sport huge spoilers and wings and they go incredibly fast. These cars are light and some even feature more than a thousand horsepower.
Like in F1 where drivers use Kart and Formula 3 as a stepping stone, sprint car racing is such for NASCAR drivers (hence the driving in circles pun). In a recent race over the weekend at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in New York, Nascar champion, Tony Stewart, was participating in such a race and injured another driver after a collision.
WARNING: Video does contain footage of the accident
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcQdj2I_uTE
In the video it shows that Tony Stewart and Kevin Ward Jr. collided which sent Kevin spinning and then crashing into the wall. Kevin then came out from his car and the next thing he did was to try to confront Tony who was still driving at the time. It all happened so fast that the next thing you know, Tony collided into Kevin. The other driver, Kevin Ward Jr., was pronounced dead on arrival according to a tweet.
Driver Kevin Ward Jr. was dead on arrival at the hospital
— Jim Utter (@jim_utter) August 10, 2014
News and tweets around says that Tony gunned his car just before hitting Kevin but all those seemed to be unconfirmed news and sources. Tony then proceeded to pull out of the NASCAR race on Sunday and issued an official statement via his official racing team as NBC reports.
“There aren’t words to describe the sadness I feel about the accident that took the life of Kevin Ward Jr.,” he said. “It’s a very emotional time for all involved, and it is the reason I’ve decided not to participate in today’s race at Watkins Glen. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and everyone affected by this tragedy.”
As investigation continues, it is indeed a sad turn of events.
