i''m not a big NASCAR guy, but as a "sleazy lawyer" i can say a few things. first, there will be a civil suit filed against tony and the track. the track may get out of the suit due to "assumption of risk" of all driver's and other liability waivers that most tracks require. however, the track's insurance company may simply want to settle. stewart on the other hand is probably done. there is a chance that he could face a criminal charge of manslaughter in this case (depending upon the state's criminal statutes) and it's possible that the evidence available will not show that stewart did everything he could to avoid hitting the other driver. if he faces a criminal indictment and/or loses a substantial civil suit, it's hard to see how he could secure any backers in the future. further, tracks and sponsors may decide that because of stewart's criminal conviction (if that happens) and/or a large civil judgment, he is too much of a risk to be associated with. for example, if stewart continued to race and got into another accident involving an injury to another driver, the present incident would likely come up in a "pattern of behavior" argument for liability. on the other hand, let's asume that tony stewart tried to avoid hitting the guy on the track, it's hard to imagine how stewart would or could go back in a race car and drive as aggressively as one must to be a winning driver. his understandable new caution would unlikely be competitive in the world of high speed/high steaks racing. unfortunately, there are many things that can happen to public figures, racing or other athelets from which their carreers cannot survive. i suspect, tony stewart will suffer this fate. i feel sorry for the victim's family - and for stewart. i have never encountered anyone who was involved in causing the death of another person whose life has not been substantially changed by the incident - almost always for the worse.
