Originally Posted by
t.nie
OJ was found not guilty in the death of his ex and her boyfriend in a criminal trial and lost the wrongful death suit. So it aint like it never happens. And much of what hung OJ was his past track record of aggressive, violent, volatile behavior.
Doesn't matter what anyone "believes" the cause of the kid's death was on here or in the stands or in the racing media. All that matters is what a jury can be persuaded to believe. Quite frankly, I think the most experienced driver on the track hit the guy and killed him and that, regardless of whether or not it was criminal, is going to be pretty hard for Stewart to negate.
Everyone else missed him, why didn't you? It was dark? You've been driving race cars on dimly lit tracks all over the country for 25 years, that's no excuse. It was dark and you didn't see him? Really? You can race at full speed under that lighting, throwing it into corners, dodging flying parts, missing cones, tires, safety workers for years but you couldn't see him in time that night? You see a car stopped on the high side of the track and don't think for a second there could be a person somewhere near it, on the track, that you should be watching out for? Really? THAT is the level of caution you exhibit under "caution?" Hmmmm.....
It's like hitting the kid in the crosswalk in front of the school when you sneeze at the wrong moment. Sure, it's an accident and you weren't necessarily negligent, but under the circumstances it's going to be real hard to not be saddled with some responsibility for a dead kid, as unfair or horrible as that is.-
Tony is best off paying these folks a settlement, closing this chapter of his life and moving on. My personal opinion is it is exactly what Stewart says it was, a pure accident, nothing more, nothing less. But his best option is just getting this closed and moving on as quickly as possible. Fighting the family of the dead son, killed by a guy with a history of violent, impulsive behavior is NOT going to be good for the image of Tony Stewart and more importantly, his sponsors. Sponsors aren't going to be wanting to see their money spent on lawyers and fighting this thing, there's no upside for them being in the fight with Stewart on this one. Nothing to gain at all.
Look for an out of court settlement for an undisclosed amount and gag orders all around. Stewart is just going to want this sealed up and gone as quickly as possible and I can see him paying it personally regardless of insurance, protected assets, etc. I just can't see him risking the rest of his career, his business, his employees, his everything to fight this. The loss is potentially too great in the long term.
He'll pay just to protect his own future. The sooner this goes away, with the least amount of coverage, the better for Tony Stewart.