Indy Car driver Ed Carpenter talks about Tony Stewart Carpenter: Vilifying Tony Stewart isnt fair Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports IndyCar Series driver Ed Carpenter doesnt think the coverage of Tony Stewart fully represents him as a person. WEST ALLIS, Wis — IndyCar driver Ed Carpenter offers a word of caution to those who are jumping to conclusions about Tony Stewarts actions in the horrifying incident that took the life of young sprint car racer Kevin Ward Jr. last week. Carpenter, who comes from a sprint-car racing background similar to Stewarts, is bothered by speculation surrounding the incident during the past week. I feel for the Ward family, and I feel for Tony Stewart, too, Carpenter said, during a break from preparations for the IndyCar Series race at the Milwaukee Mile. Hes going through a hard time and I dont agree with how much hes been vilified. I dont think that parts fair, with how much speculation theres been. It was a tragedy. In my eyes, it was an accident. It should never have happened. After an on-track incident in a sprint car race in Canandaigua, N.Y., last Saturday night, Ward climbed out of his car and walked out onto the track in an apparent expression of displeasure with Stewarts driving. Stewarts car struck Ward, killing him. Stewart did not race last Sundays NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and is sitting out Sundays Cup race in Michigan. Apparently overcome with grief, it is not clear when Stewart might return to racing. Carpenter is concerned that mainstream sports fans who dont normally watch racing might be getting a one-sided picture of Stewarts personality, as news clips show highlights of his infamous temper. Hes done a lot of great things for a lot of people, Carpenter said. Until Im presented with some more clear evidence, I have a hard time believing he did anything with malicious intent. It was a bad circumstance. Im sure hes having a much harder time than probably a lot of people realize. No one can undo what happened. Its a terrible tragedy. Carpenter raced non-winged sprint cars growing up, but has sat in the winged style of sprint car Stewart was racing last weekend and knows how difficult it is for a driver to see anything thats not directly in front of them. Rob Foldy, USA TODAY Sports Tony Stewart, still grieving after his sprint car struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr., will miss his second straight NASCAR Sprint Cup race. You have a hard time seeing something to the right side, Carpenter said. Theres only one person that knows what happened and hes, wisely I think, not saying anything right now. I think it was just a terrible accident. Other IndyCar drivers have distanced themselves from talking about the incident. When Team Penske drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Helio Castroneves and Will Power were asked about it during a Saturday news conference at the Milwaukee Mile, Montoya responded on behalf of all three drivers: We dont have any comment on it. Montoya was, however, willing to talk about the need for drivers to wait for safety workers to arrive on the scene before getting out of wrecked race cars. You dont get out of the car without the safety (team), Montoya said. NASCAR introduced a new rule this week requiring drivers to stay in their cars after a crash until safety workers arrive, then proceed directly to an ambulance without walking out on the track. IndyCar already had a similar policy in place. I think the reminder is, you never know what can happen, Carpenter said. Its easy to forget when youre all mad, were racing very powerful, dangerous machines. Theyre dangerous when were sitting in them, and theyre dangerous if youre standing outside of it. There have been instances over the course of my lifetime where people have accidentally been run over by Indy cars, whether its safety personnel trying to turn a car around on a road course, whatever it is. Its dangerous being around. Continued Carpenter: Theyre machines, and machines arent always controllable. Its a tragedy, you hate to see it happen. I feel like IndyCars procedures generally protect us from something like that, but for the ultra-violent temper, this is a reminder that the best place to be is in the car. Even in a sport where dealing with -- and quickly compartmentalizing -- tragedy is sometimes part of the job description, Carpenter said last weekends incident was particularly jarring. I think we all understand theres a risk of getting injured or even dying in a race car, but thats not the way that you think it would happen, Carpenter said. Its unfortunate, its a tragedy and I think were all curious to see how its going to play out.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 22:07:44 +0000
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