NASCAR - Tony Stewart....story?

[TBKHomeworld]

Ok, watched the race today and enjoyed it....I missed last weeks (and I don't get speed TV, so re-runs never occur). What is going on with Stewart!?

Did he go and punch someone out?

[charlez]

Yup, he hit a newspaper reporter after the Brickyard 400.....

[fast Ed]

Apparently he took a swing at a photographer, I didn't hear all the details. NASCAR fined him 50 large, as did Home Depot.

However, he did win the Billy-Bob race today at the Watkins Glen road course in NY (he's one of the NASCAR drivers who has figured out such difficult tasks as right turns, downshifting, braking and downshifting at the same time), so maybe Joe Gibbs won't fire his sorry a%* after all


cheers
Ed N.

[SCme]

Unless there have been more fines, NASCAR only hit Tony for 10K and a 1 year probation. He replied that it was less then he desired for this action. HD thought so too and hit him for 50K and also on 1 year probation.

[fast Ed]

Thanks for the correction, I had only heard some snips from the news a few times this past week.

cheers
Ed N.

[TBKHomeworld]

Well, can you blame him though? I mean how many times have you watched the news and said "If I was that guy, I would just slug the reporter right now!"

hehehe....WAY TO GO STEWART!

You know...I just gain a lot of respect for him! :-)

btw---the race was pretty good today...I enjoyed it. I like the styrofoam barriers....'bout time someone got smart!

[TbirdSCFan]

TBK.. I'm with you on this one.. I'm not often in the minority when it comes to punishment of bad bahavior (I generallly support it), but from the angle of every story, it (to me) was a matter of the photog being too pushy at the wrong time.

Geeze.. from all the bro-haha.. you think the guy had broken someone's arm or skull with a bat. Or raped someone or something vile.. what did he do??... pushed a photographer.. $60,000 in fines for pushing someone.. OK.. to me thats total crap. total.. complete.. crap.

Let see, if one decides to race their car carelessly on the road, whipping in/out of traffic, the fine is what.. $100-$200.. for placing peoples lives in danger. but hey shove some obnoxious butthead in the chest, and lets slam the villian.. Oh wait, some of us actually think the villian might have been holding the camera!

OK, so call me ignorant, maybe I don't know enough about Tony the Tiger-Temper, but I can't see how its justified.

Incidently, the NASCAR poll on the subject was about 3-1 in favor of the fines. I was in the minority.

[TbirdSCFan]

Funny thing. Even the photog thinks it blown out of proportion:

http://www.nascar.com/2002/news/head....ap/index.html

[TBKHomeworld]

I'm totally with you on this one. I can understand a MINOR fine, but this anger managment class is BS!

He's always had a hot head...reminds me of Dale Earnhart. That is one of the cool/fun things about Stewart.

Oh well....guess I'm not with the majority either.

[TbirdSCFan]

Since DVD's have come along, I've forgotten that a VCR can be used to record, for future replay, television shows and broadcasts.. I especially wanted to watch todays race as I find road courses interesting, and was grumbling about missing it while out running errands with the wife.

I WILL be taping next week.

Oh, one other thing I should mention, in another NASCAR poll, the results were about 7 of 10 saying that reporters should back off and give drivers a chance to cool down. But then those same voters come out and say the fines were appropriate?? I don't get it. And, in this case, the "Anger management classes" are a sign of our collective absurdity.. These are things which wife beaters do to dodge jail time and gain probation.. applying it to a school yard push is overkill.

I think HD turned their cowardly backs on Tony due to their own selfish wants. NASCARs fine was more that sufficient.. HD's followup was spinless PR. I'm going to thnk twice before buying that next box of nails at HD by gosh

[cheeriosluvr]

tony stewart is a idiot......yesterdays restart at the glen was a joke and i am very surprized that nascar let it stand.....if i was behind him i would have stayed as close as posible to him and if i tapped his bumper too bad.....


toidd

[Steimie]

What's the difference between the paparazzi that killed Princess Di, and the "photographers" in the NASCAR garage? There were 42 other drivers last weekend, not to mention crew chiefs and owners. Tony didn't even finish in the top fifteen, let alone the top three. I understand wanting to get an interview after the race, since he was back racing in his home state. However, give the man the "common courtesy" of cooling off, getting a drink, putting on the sponsor's hat, and conducting a worth while interview. This Jerry Springer version of shock reaction interviewing has got to go.

As far as the restart is concerned from the Glen, what is the problem? To begin with, the race should have never seen the red flag. I've been watching NASCAR sanctioned races for the last twenty years. This red flag nonsence just popped up in the past year when all of these premadonna's started whinning to NASCAR officials on the radio, ala Jeff Gordon. These are endurance races that last up to six hundred miles. This isn't a Saturday night shootout at your local racetrack. It's a team effort which requires planning for the entire marathon. Staging a one or two lap race does nothing for the credability of either the sport, or the points championship. Consistency and quality finishes make up the Winston Cup Points Championship. When "guys" like Robbie Gordon are intentionally and forcefully moving competitors out of their way, especially during caution flags, then how can you get upset with Tony's restart? They should have just finished the race under caution, but NASCAR was trying everthing in it's power to prevent Stewart from winning. He did his job, and he did it well. He never passed the pace car, and he didn't bring the pack to a stand still, ala Jeff Gordon. Contrary to popular belief by new fans to the NASCAR community, it is the job of the race leader to establish the pace at which the field of cars will accept the green flag for the restart provide he/she doesn't pass the official pace car. When and where the leader chooses to start his/her heavy acceleration should not be dictated by the guy currently running in fourth place, but complaining the loudest to the officials. If his team, and their driver, had done their job in the previous eighty-eight laps, then they would have been in the appropriate position to lead the field around the Glen and start at their desired pace.

Sorry about the rant, JMO.

Just for the record, I'm not even a Stewart fan. Just a fan of fair and competitive auto racing. How about Sarah Fisher winning the pole this weekend?

[cheeriosluvr]

it is not the leaders choice were to start its were the bright orange cone is......just watching stewart on the restarts was a joke....like i said if i was behind him my nose would be on his bumper......

im no new NASCAR fan...not only have i been watching it the last 10 years of my life but im also in a racing family, my dad use to race one race a year in BGNN(Busch Grand National North) at Watkins Glen and curreclt races SVRA,SCCA and DIRT. Well in DIRT hes the car owner.....

HD did the right thing....after all they do sponsor him and having tony steward do what he does is an embarassment to there company im pretty sure if our DIRT driver hit a reporter we would be fired but again have "THE COBRA" driving for us who knows what he may do


Todd

[Steimie]

Maybe Tony should just move over to the Craftsman Truck Series. Then he could drive for Foyt, beat and bang on everyone, and if he needed a sponsor I'm sure the the Ultimate Fighting Championship wouldn't mind having him for a spokesman. He'd probably even receive bonusus for his off-track incidents. Just a thought.

More on the restart:

Yes he jumped the gun a little, but my point was that due to the fact that the race was unjustly stopped, he had every right to catch the rest of the field off guard to protect his deserved victory. Newman did a wonderful job protecting his spot, he was just caught sleeping a little just like the rest of them.

[cheeriosluvr]

i guess stewart took advantage of the rookies up front and good for him...you do what you can to win.

todd