Punishment coming for Stewart?

[kevnz]

Seems ole' Tony "Hot Head" Stewart may be getting punished after all.

NASCAR officials considering Stewart punishment

June 29, 2004

SportsLine.com wire reports   

 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- NASCAR officials spent Tuesday discussing what type of punishment to levy against driver Tony Stewart for an altercation with Brian Vickers after the race at Sears Point.

"His behavior at Sears Point is unacceptable," NASCAR chairman Brian France said. "Tony has to work within the same rule structure and behavioral expectations that we have for all of our drivers. One way or the other, we will figure that out."

Vickers was knocked out of Sunday's race in California following contact from Stewart. After the race, Vickers said Stewart came up to his car window and confronted him.

Vickers said the two were discussing the on-track contact and Vickers began to laugh about it. He claimed that Stewart then reached for him inside the car and "knocked the breath out of me."

"He hit the armrest and he reached in the car and he grabbed me in the chest and when he did hit me, it was kind of open palm," Vickers said after the race. "My team grabbed him and pulled him off of me."

Both drivers were summoned to the NASCAR hauler after the race. Vickers has publicly given his side of the story, but Stewart has remained silent. A spokesman for the driver didn't immediately return a call for comment Tuesday.

Stewart, whose temper has resulted in repeated run-ins with NASCAR authorities over the years, could face sanctions ranging from a suspension, monetary fine, deduction of championship points and probation.

Jimmy Spencer was suspended last year for punching Kurt Busch following a race. But in that case, there were audio and video records of the assault. In the current case, NASCAR has only interviews with Stewart, Vickers and other witnesses to go on.

A suspension also carries more weight in NASCAR's new points system, under which only drivers within 400 points of the leader with 10 races to go are eligible to compete for the championship.

Stewart, the 2002 series champion, is currently in fifth place and 307 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. Missing the Pepsi 400 on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway would almost certainly drop him out of the 400-point range with nine races to go before the title hunt.

Stewart's team would be able to race with a substitute driver if he were suspended, but Stewart wouldn't earn any driver points. All drivers ahead of him in the standings would extend their lead, while those behind him would close the gap or even pass him.

France would not speculate on what punishment Stewart will receive, but indicated it needed to be stiff to get Stewart's attention.

"Just how severe the punishment needs to be to make a point that we are not going to accept that, and punish somebody for what they did, that's something we are going to have to work through," he said.

Stewart has been in trouble with NASCAR plenty of times before.

He threw his heat shields at Kenny Irwin after a wreck his rookie year, then reached into Irwin's car as it passed by under the ensuing caution flag and took a swing at him.

Stewart also has had a shoving match with Robby Gordon, a shouting match with Jeff Gordon, slapped a reporter's tape recorder away, charged after a NASCAR official and punched a photographer in 2002 at Indianapolis.

Each previous confrontation resulted in fines, and Stewart has had numerous stints on probation. But he has never been suspended.

If NASCAR doesn't suspend Stewart, it could stir speculation that he was protected by the power of Home Depot, the primary sponsor of his No. 20 Chevrolet and also one of NASCAR's official sponsors.

[Kirkendall]

I like Stewart. I've always liked him.. however, he either needs to relax or have his ass sat for a race or two. He's causing more problems than not each week and this should have drawn the line.

[kevnz]

Well, Stewart has a history. That's the thing that has bugged me about NASCAR sitting on their hands during his blow ups this year. Those cars he's been wrecking aren't cheap, and he's gotten away with it too long. sit him for two races, but only sit the 20 team for one race (they need to be held accountable for the headcase) That way it would more than likely cost him any shot at the Cup this year...that will teach him lesson...It's called tough love

[BengalszoneBilly]

I USED to like Tony until he's demonstrated time and time again what a world class a**h*** he is! What a infantile chump.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Well the "punishment" has come down from Nascar...and it's practically NO punishment at all!

____________________________________________________________

Stewart, car owner fined; driver also put on probation

ThatsRacin.com Report

NASCAR has fined Nextel Cup driver Tony Stewart $50,000, pulled 25 driver points and placed him on probation until Aug. 18 after a post-race altercation with fellow driver Brian Vickers Sunday at Infineon Raceway.

Also, Joe Gibbs, the Washington Redskins coach who owns the No. 20 Chevrolets driven by Stewart, has been penalized 25 car owner championship points.

Stewart was found in violation of Section 12-4-A of NASCAR rules (actions detrimental to stock car racing; involved in altercation with another competitor).

"This action we’ve taken speaks for itself," NASCAR President Mike Helton said. "Tony Stewart is well aware of what is expected of him going forward."

____________________________________________________________________

Fined $50,000, and 25 measley drivers points! That's the amount of five or six positions in a race, that's all!

Talk about a slap on the wrist! How many times is Nascar gonna let him get away with this s**t! Forever I guess!

[Kirkendall]

Yea, that's pretty weak. They must go by the guidelines that having Stewart in the race, anything can happen therefore more people will tune in.

[kevnz]

Well, it's light, but it did already cost him 1 spot in the standings, plus who really thinks he can keep his nose clean for the next month and a half??? Not me...he's gonna lose it and gonna get parked.

However it does show a problem that NASCAR has, because they don't keep score. Stewart has a history, but since he wasn't already on probation they ignored his past...That's bullox.

[BengalszoneBilly]

This article says it all:

NASCAR talks while Stewart walks

By BOB HENRY; ThatsRacin.com Editor

Auto racing isn't like other sports.

That's what you and I, as race fans, have told our stick-and-ball friends for years, isn't it? When people just didn't "get it," we felt a need to try to explain - often unsuccessfully - as much as we could about the lure, the passion and the rest of racing as we know and love it.

NASCAR these days has a TV spot that makes a case for the sport's wholesomeness. It has the sound and look, even the warm and fuzzy feel, of a public-service announcement about some splendid government program. You might have seen it occasionally on race weekends.

It explains that NASCAR's heroes are different. They're good guys. They're such good guys, the line goes, that you should be plumb tickled and just plain proud if your kids look up to these heroes. The implication being, of course, that racing guys aren't like those other professional athletes.

And NASCAR has, indeed, been fortunate in that few of its stars seem to get arrested with any regularity, the way some stars in other sports seem do. Racing guys appear perfectly capable of going out of town to a race without the bar fights and even occasional homicides at parties that have made big headlines in other sports.

Only rarely do we have even a drug bust or drunken driving case making the headlines in racing. But they happen. And NASCAR's responses to those aren't going without notice.

Sure, there was that ground-breaking National Enquirer story earlier this season about some drivers who had a pretty wild weekend in Panama City, Fla. Turns out that no laws were broken, no one was arrested and, certainly, no one was hurt as a consequence of their actions.

Fans yawned appropriately and went about their business.

That happy NASCAR ad is right on the money about the overwhelming majority of drivers and crew guys, too. But it's a little hard on pro football, basketball and baseball players. If you buy into the argument that our sports merely reflect our society, you have to figure there would be more problems on the stick and ball side.

There are a lot more players there. The chances of a bad apple bobbing to the top of the barrel - and into the headlines - have to be greater just based on the overall numbers.

So, how do we explain Tony Stewart to our stick and ball buddies? And how do those of you with young fans at home explain the slap on Stewart's wrist that has been administered by NASCAR?

To review a bit: Stewart's behavior during and after Sunday's race at Sonoma surprised no one. He wrecked a couple of guys during the race, flipped a few off and confronted one after the race. That's when he is said to have smacked rookie Brian Vickers in the chest while trying to pull him out of his race car.

Vickers said Stewart seemed to have really lost it when Vickers laughed at him. Stewart was trying to wreck him, Vickers reasoned, and it was nothing short of hilarious that Stewart was coming after him instead of vice-versa.

Earlier this season, there were other issues with Stewart. Last season there were plenty of others. But now, race fans, NASCAR has decided to take decisive action.

They're docking the guy 25 points and fining him. And - gasp! - they're placing him on probation. Oh, yeah, the car owner will lose some points, too.

No. 1, taking away 25 points doesn't hurt a bit. Unless Stewart and his Joe Gibbs Racing team completely fold their tent, they're still in NASCAR's new "Chase for the Championship" this fall.

No. 2, he's a multimillionaire, has cash the way Jed Clampett could only imagine. Stewart can pay that fine out of the change jar he keeps on top of the dresser. If he pays it at all, as opposed to someone else taking care of that for him.

No. 3, NASCAR's probation is a joke.

We all remember when Stewart's behavior embarrassed even his sponsor a couple of seasons back. Home Depot withheld a couple of the checks Stewart was due for representing the company. That worked well, huh?

NASCAR's new CEO, Brian France, used some pretty strong words on Tuesday when talking in the abstract about what NASCAR would do in the wake of Stewart's latest temper tantrum. But when it came time to do something in the real world, in real time, France and the rest of the brass at NASCAR blinked.

It didn't look great to some people when a rising star in the Busch Series was reinstated about a year after he was barred from the sport for violating NASCAR's drug policy. Some also wondered why a rookie Nextel Cup driver busted for drunken driving kept showing up at the track to race earlier this year.

It's probably not beyond the realm of possibility that some people even still expected NASCAR to step up to the plate this time. Those would be many of the same people who saw Jimmy Spencer suspended for smacking Kurt Busch after those two tangled on the track.

So, here we are only weeks after NASCAR credibility was being called into serious question after officials booted some calls, screwing up some races.

But Mr. France has cleared up those nagging little credibility concerns now. He's done it just like the bosses in other sports have done for years: By doing very little that really mattered at all.

That action, or lack of any real action, certainly speaks for itself.

[IfItsBrownFlushItDown]

I would have hoped at the bare minimum they would have pulled him from winning it all. TAKE ENOUGH POINTS AWAY TO WHERE HE'S OUT OF IT!

What's he gonna do if he wins it all? Or better yet...what the hell is gonna happen if someone wrecks him? I'd keep all tools away from Tony after races from now on.

Say Tony wins the Cup. He gets out of his car, grabs the Coke thats on the car, and throws it at the first guy that interviews him because "he addressed me as Tony, and not Mr. Stewart."

Im sticking with my straightjacket plan from the other thread....

[Sox]

Another article about Nascar's blatent double standard.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?id=1832626

[BengalszoneBilly]

Good post Sox. That article hit it exactly on the head! The Nascar brass has no balls!