Tony Stewart won't be prosecuted for killing Kevin Ward on the track. One of the reasons why is that toxicology reports showed Ward had so much pot in his system at the time of death that it would have impaired his judgement. This is what the prosecutor said.

Now I am not a drug fiend, so I don't know. But a couple of things seem out of place to me.

First, who smokes up before racing cars? I have heard of one or two athletes (usually basketball players) that say they've had a joint before a game, but the overwhelming number of pothead athletes I've read about say they don't get high before competing. And especially racing, where split-second decisions must be made while moving at a high rate of speed. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Do any of you that partake of the hippie lettuce think you'd get looped before racing?

Second, I've always been told that pot makes you mellow. But Ward was some kind of pissed when he got out of his car. He sure didn't look like the stoned couch potatoes like Seth Rogen that you see in druggie movies. Seth Rogen is a lovable teddy bear.

Despite all that, I agree Stewart should not have been charged. It just seems to me though, that calling Ward a drug zombie is a little harsh.

How can a race car driver perform whilst under the influence????

PurpleJedi said:

How can a race car driver perform whilst under the influence????

I don't know. It seems highly unlikely to me that any race driver would get stoned before a race. Heck, NASCAR driver A. J. Almendinger got suspended for liking the smell of cocaine, but he took great pains to assure everyone that he never did coke before a race.

If this is true about Ward, then with all due respect, he was a total idiot. To get in a high-powered race car while stoned put the lives of every other racer at risk. Bad move.

But again, he didn't act like what I thought stoner dudes acted like when Stewart wrecked him, so I don't know.

i thought they were screened for drugs before being allowed to race????

XxAxX said:

i thought they were screened for drugs before being allowed to race????

Probably at real NASCAR events but this was a local dirt track.

Maybe and Im stretching here, maybe he used pot to calm the adrenaline rush that comes with this type of sporting activity.

lazycrockett said:

Maybe and Im stretching here, maybe he used pot to calm the adrenaline rush that comes with this type of sporting activity.

Yeah, that's a stretch IMO. The only athletes I can think of that would want to calm themselves before competition are golfers. There was a controversy a few years back about golfers taking beta blockers, in an attempt to help keep their putting motion as consistent as possible.

But all other athletes WANT that adreniline rush. Slamming coffee, Red Bulls, or whatever you can find is SOP right before a game.

And with racing - where reflexes are EVERYTHING - seems like the last sport I can think of where you'd do anything that would slow down your reaction time.

Remember - the NASCAR suspensions were all for amphetimines, not depressents.

So again, it just seems weird to me that a race car driver would hit the bong before a race. But I've never actually raced cars (only motocross), so I might be wrong.

stewart maybe shared his lunch,

gave the other guy a slice of reefer cake

how much weed can you get in your system?

demonizin the victim is a workable thing these days.

it makes everything understandable