Stewart: NASCAR = Wrestling

Question:
 Stewart unloads on NASCAR on radio, ridicules debris cautions
'I don’t know that they’ve run a fair race all year,' two-time champion says
By DAVID POOLE / The Charlotte Observer
Two-time Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart equated NASCAR to professional wrestling, charging its officials with throwing cautions for debris when there’s no actual debris on the race track.
“I don’t know that they’ve run a fair race all year,” Stewart said.
While he stopped short of accusing NASCAR of trying to predetermine who wins races, Stewart said the sanctioning body does manipulate competition.
“It’s like playing God,” Stewart said. “They can almost dictate the race at that point instead of the drivers doing it.
"It has happened too many times this year. ...At what point does NASCAR get the hint? I guess that NASCAR thinks, ‘Hey, wrestling worked and it was, for the most part, staged. So I guess it’s going to work in racing, too.’ ”
Stewart, who drives the No. 20 Chevrolets for Joe Gibbs Racing, made his remarks Tuesday night on a show he hosts on Sirius Satellite Radio.
The comments came when Stewart was asked by co-host Matt Yocum why Stewart skipped postrace interviews following his second-place finish to Jeff Gordon in Saturday night’s Subway 500 at Phoenix.
“I didn’t want to go to the media center and bash NASCAR,” Stewart said.
“...Anybody who thinks this debris caution stuff is the right direction for NASCAR, I think you’re crazy. …I don’t know how long NASCAR thinks it can treat the fans like they’re ignorant before the fans finally start turning on the officials and say, ‘Listen, let these guys race.’ ”
Jim Hunter, vice president of corporate communications, responded Wednesday afternoon in a statement.
“To hear that Tony Stewart said these things is very, very disappointing,” Hunter said. “NASCAR has been running races since 1948 and ... the safety of the drivers is our first priority. It has always been that way and will continue to be that way.”
Stewart led 132 laps Saturday. But the timing of a late-race caution flag made Jeff Gordon the leader after Stewart made a pit stop. Stewart later passed Gordon to take the lead, but Gordon came back to pass Stewart and earn the victory.
On his Tuesday radio show, Stewart said losing had nothing to do with why he skipped postrace interviews. Since it’s NASCAR policy for him to do those interviews, Stewart said he decided to express his frustration by skipping them.
“It’s about the integrity of the race and the integrity of the sport and when I feel like our own sanctioning body isn’t taking care of that, it’s hard to support them,” Stewart said. “It’s hard to feel proud about being a driver in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series when they’re throwing debris cautions.”
Hunter addressed that in his statement, saying: “There are thousands of talented race drivers out there who would consider it an honor to compete in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.”
NASCAR’s official race report lists debris as the reason for four of the six cautions in Saturday’s 312-lap race.
“They don’t mind us running around with crap on the track in practice, but as soon as there is one piece of rubber off a tire on the track they’re all more than willing to throw the caution to bunch everybody up and keep guys on the lead lap,” Stewart said.
“I thought ... what racing was about was being better than the rest of the guys.”

Answer:
 Very bold statement made by Stewart. I can't say I agree or disagree with him. I do know that there have been some wrecks caused by debris on the track in the past and even some that have taken drivers out of the race by puncturing a tire or something puncturing a hole in the radiator. If you're tavelling at those high speeds and you get up in the marbles (the rubber that falls off a tire and sticks to the top of the race track) the car will spin and probably hit the wall. Stewart is having an ok year so far and he did have the lead at Phoenix until Gordon passed him during a green flag run at the end of the race. Interesting interview.

Answer:
 What a whiner. Get over it.

Answer:
 What a whiner. Get over it.
He has turned into a pretty big whiner. Maybe he learned this in anger management.

Answer:
 He has turned into a pretty big whiner. Maybe he learned this in anger management.
Could be.....maybe they teach you to channel that energy into something you do well.......so in his case it's whine. I guess it's better than getting physical.

Answer:
 The follow-up.
That beep-beep-beep? Stewart backing off NASCAR criticism
Two-time champion fined $10,000 afer being summoned to 6 a.m. meeting at Talladega
By DAVID POOLE / The Charlotte Observer
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Tony Stewart made his points on his Tuesday night radio show. Friday morning, quite early, NASCAR got its points across to Stewart.
Then, Friday afternoon, NASCAR announced that Stewart had been fined $10,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31 for failing to meet his postrace media obligations.
After he compared Nextel Cup racing to professional wrestling on his Sirius Satellite Radio show this week, the two-time Nextel Cup champion was summoned to the NASCAR trailer for a 6 a.m. meeting on Friday.
His No. 20 Chevrolet team was not permitted to unload the car it plans to use in Sunday's Aaron's 499 until that meeting, which took around 40 minutes, was over.
"It's a little hard for me to sit down right now," Stewart joked later Friday morning. "But I am semiconfident the numbing medication I've got will take care of that."
Stewart, who said this week he believed NASCAR was hurting the integrity of stock-car racing by throwing cautions for debris when no debris existed, backed off that after the meeting.
"They assured me that debris cautions aren't for things that aren't out there," Stewart said. "They're a group of people I trust, and if they tell me the stuff is out there I believe them."
Stewart said his frustration over debris cautions has been building for weeks, but said he should have gone to NASCAR directly instead of talking publicly about his concerns on the radio.
Stewart said he declined to go to the media center after finishing second to Jeff Gordon at Phoenix for fear his frustrations about the matter would boil over. He said he also was sick, fighting a 105 degree fever, when he did the first 90 minutes of his two-hour show on Sirius NASCAR Radio on Tuesday.
"I was sick and I still wound up saying things I shouldn’t have said," Stewart said.
Stewart said he regrets that some NASCAR officials took his remarks as a personal attack on them.
He also said he now understands that his contract and the entry blank for NASCAR races both include language about attending postrace media sessions. "You guys have been 100 percent right about that and I was 100 percent wrong," Stewart said.
Stewart also said he is sure his remarks have hurt the sport, unfairly.
"I know I did a lot of damage," he said. "I am my own worst enemy. You can't fix stupid and I say a lot of stupid things."

Answer:
 "He's like the Rosie O'Donnell of NASCAR," four-time series champion Jeff Gordon said. "Controversy is something that he's used to. To me, it brings a flavor to the sport."
To me, this sums up Tony the Tiger in a nutshell.

Answer:
 That beep-beep-beep?
Shows some taste...

Answer:
 Shows some taste...
Care to explain?

Answer:
 Seems the name calling ranks right up there with throwing crap out on the track..
I dont care for Jeff Gordon but agree with Shark that he earned it and deserves the respect for the victory.
Every sport has to have its villians... choose whom you wish!:D
And if you watched the race the announcers said they always show the debris on the track but the incident Smoke was talking about no NASCAR trucks ever came onto the track to pick up debris..
WHY?:eek:
I have it on TiVO if you care for a copy..
Yes Smoke is my driver, But I feel anyone else that would have been up front also would have been in a rage..
BTW you remember last year when Robbie Gordon threw a piece of padding off his roll cage the get a debris time-out?
I know its hard to tell te difference between a piece of steel and foam, and safety is the biggest issue.. But when nothing is on the track?
A lil WWE isnt it...:floor

Answer:
 Seems the name calling ranks right up there with throwing crap out on the track..
I dont care for Jeff Gordon but agree with Shark that he earned it and deserves the respect for the victory.
Every sport has to have its villians... choose whom you wish!:D
And if you watched the race the announcers said they always show the debris on the track but the incident Smoke was talking about no NASCAR trucks ever came onto the track to pick up debris..
WHY?:eek:
I have it on TiVO if you care for a copy..
Yes Smoke is my driver, But I feel anyone else that would have been up front also would have been in a rage..
BTW you remember last year when Robbie Gordon threw a piece of padding off his roll cage the get a debris time-out?
I know its hard to tell te difference between a piece of steel and foam, and safety is the biggest issue.. But when nothing is on the track?
A lil WWE isnt it...:floor
I'm not following where the name calling complaints are coming from. It's a little silly to say calling someone a whiner is like throwing trash on the track. Calling him worse still wouldn't rank anywhere near throwing stuff on the track.
Or are you referring to the beep-beep-beep in David Pool's story from the Charlotte Observer? That's his immitation of a truck backing up ...... you know, garbage trucks, school buses, fork lifts all beep when they back up. Tony was backing up from his original statements.
:confused: