Frustrated Stewart leaves Phoenix without talking, could be penalized by NASCAR
Quote selected text Published April 23rd, 2007 in NASCAR News
Tony Stewart was so upset after last week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway that he talked about retiring. He was so upset after Saturday night’s race at Phoenix International Raceway that he didn’t talk at all.
Stewart left the Phoenix track without fulfilling his post-race obligations and that could prove to be costly depending how NASCAR president Mike Helton and series director John Darby handle it.
“There’s a lot of pressure,” crew chief Greg Zipadelli said after being left to defend his driver. “There’s a lot of pressure on us to win. I feel it every day.
“It is absolutely no fun when you come to the racetrack [and don't win], and it seems like the longer it goes, the more pressure gets built. You feel it. As much as you want to ignore it, it’s still there, you know.”
“This is our eighth race of the year, and probably four or five of them we should have won and didn’t,” Zipadelli said. “We’ll leave it at that.”
- Stewart in hot water again after uttering obscenity on camera-UPDATE 2
- Stewart fined 25 G’s, docked 25 points by NASCAR for foul language
- Statement from Tony Stewart Regarding Pocono Incident
- Frustrated Stewart falls short at Charlotte
- Kenseth and crew chief penalized for Busch violation by NASCAR
Penalized for not talking, what a bunch of crap, jr got penalized the same ammount of money and points as Jimmie Johnson did for cheating at daytona the year after, and he only said that aint shit compared to what my daddys done here. This is getting rediculous, they shouldnt have to talk to the media if they dont want to, yes wed and theyd like to hear from em, but its the drivers choice if there that angry. If he does it a million times, then talk to him, to see whats wrong dont fine him, he’ll be sure to retire then!
I agree, but all pro sports have that stipulation about talking to the media. I don’t think they should be fined, if they can get outta the track without talking, all the better. My biggest gripe with this is after Martinsville, they didn’t even let Gordon get outta the car before they shoved a camera and mic in his face, but after Phoenix, Stewart is allowed to beg off a interview…
this is so stupid. im NOT by any means a Stewart fan, but i also think that if he is penalized that its really lame. He didnt want to talk, i know when im pissed off i dont want to talk to anybody either.
i think Tony was in a no win situtation. Either he was going to say something in the heat of anger and get in trouble or he wasnt going to say anything at all and get in trouble.
nascar needs to lighten up and let the drivers vent themselves.
I got to be honest, Tony Stewart had EVERY reason to walk away without speaking to anyone. I know that if it was me, I wouldn’t have had ANYTHING nice to say and that’s probably what he was feeling. If he had stayed and talked, he might’ve said something to be fined for anyway. No matter how you look at it, he was screwed. He deserved to win that race! Many races this season to be exact! I’m a diehard Stewart fan and know that my driver can’t win every race, but someone needs to investigate the hendrick team. That’s not right! YOU GO, TONY!!! You Rock!
This just goes to show all of the Stewart fans, that their driver is the biggest cry baby in NASCAR!!!
y is he going back to his old ways and being such a little baby!!!!
last weekend was stupid and now this…
wtf is he thinking….
how about talking about this and that start realizing that the most popular drivers in cup are a bunch of winey babies who need to be dropped. but the idiot populace that somehow thinks that dale jr. is still a down home southerner and that jimmie johnson somehow is not a faggot. look at the real racers. you dont see rudd, marlin, schrader and the like whining. give me a break. this series has gotten way to commericalized. get a life!
Dale Sr. did all the time when he was mad. One time he just said had a wreck watch the replay!!!!
The person who deserves to win a race is the person who drives past the finish line first, right? Or did I forget what the rules were? Jeff deserved to win that race because he drove better than Tony. It’s that simple.
WTF..is this racing anymore, or is this a big drama reality show where all the drivers have to talk into the camera about why they are mad? IF SOMEONES MAD, DONT GET IN THEIR FACE AND BOTHER THEM..tony is right, hes damned if he does and damned if he dont.. seems like everyone needs a reason to pick on tony, which ISNT fair.. yeah, he has a slight temper problem..yeah, he gets a little frustrated more than the other drivers, but that’s what makes him so much better of a driver than everyone elce..he’s so wrapped around his career and what he does, that OF COURSE he’s going to get upset when things go wrong. leave the guy alone if he’s angry..why the hell would the media bombard someone who is upset? LEAVE HIM THE HELL ALONE AND LET HIM COOL DOWN! im sure he will make a statement when he’s good and ready. I know what it is..nascar is worried about the ratings on tv dropping..us fans who have stuck with racing for 5+ years will ALWAYS be loyal to the sport. why do they need better ratings? you cant force people to watch something they dont like, and confrontation with tony isn’t going to raise the ratings, that’s for sure.
this is all getting out of hand, like most of the people above me stated.. cameras and interviews are NOT nascar.
Mandajay..you are right, i believe that there is something going on with the hendricks team..and why hasn’t anyone investigated this? I think that they have something they are hiding. Anyone notice that the hendrick’s cars arnt good right from the start and luck just happens to come their way and they end up winning near the end of the race?
Can someone say odd?
They didnt fine Casey when he lef6t before the race was over. He didnt talk to any reporters.
I’m not a Stewart fan but, seriously fining the guy for not talking to the media that is just scewed up. At least give the guy a chance to calm down. Not that I wouldn’t want to see him get in trouble just if he does I want it to be something worth hearing repoters talk about it over and over again
What happened to a fine going to Busch for leaving the track BEFORE the race was over and not telling anyone? Oh, I guess that was just chalked up to “miscommunication”. Tony is damned if he does or doesn’t plain and simple. As for the comment about the Hendrick cars and how their running. Yes, I wonder too how those cars manage to run like they do and then end up winning. Gordon is hte only guy I know that has been 2 laps down in a race and came back to win it, nevermind the 42 other drivers that were out there, minus say 5 -8 that were off the track for one reason or another. He has to be the luckiest guy I have ever seen to always get the lucky dog, get missed by a mere inch during a wreck, and somehow come out first while on pit lane while everyone else was on track. I understand the reasoning/rules. But it is IRONIC that those caustions and “l;ucky streaks/breaks” Just happened to happen to ALWAYS work in his favor.
And talk about whiny… Gordon is king of that… Now becomes Johnson and baby Busch’s. This is a soap opera, not racing. Get back to the racing and leave the BS at the gate.
Regardless of sponsorships and media obligations, their real people and real emotions. Give them a break on the “drivers post race opinion” Geesh.
He could of talked and told them his cars handling went to hell…. Oh he would be in the same boat as he is in now. Boy you just can not win with NASCAR!
Kyle Bush did the same thing at Texas. Hell he didn’t even get back in his car after it was fixed.
NASCAR is trying to make things the way they want it and they don’t seem to realize how artificial it makes things and how disgusted it makes long time fans. I think NASCAR has become too close bedfellows with FOX and NBC. Hopefully they break out of this zombie like phase soon. It is frustrating to watch a race on FOX (or NBC). They try to get cute camera angles and shots that make a story that THEY think is epic and gets ratings. Just cover the race and let the drivers be who they are and it will be great. They also practically block half the screen to show sponsor logo graphics and have Mike Joy (or anyone) do some song and dance about some sponsor that we couldnt care less about at that moment and then have more commercials during a commercial break. They have sponsors on the cars and in the stands, isn’t that enought?!? Tony not talking takes a piece of their pie away (they think). We all know what Tony is thinking and we’ll live without seeing him. They always say, “Its about the fans, its about the fans!” If they really believed that then WE wouldn’t have to put up with this crap and NASCAR would leave Tony in peace if he didn’t want to talk after a bad performance and they wouldn’t fine Junior for saying “shit” when there wasn’t one “real” race fan who wasn’t completely thrilled along with Junior. Freedom of speech? I mean, I know the FCC could possibly lay a fine down on “somone” for him saying that but why can’t NASCAR be a little rebellious? Why wouldn’t we want to see the pure emotion of racing? NASCAR (as it is now) is greedy. I hope Brian France is proud of running something great into the ground. Tony retiring might wake them up. We all know he has more championships in him no matter what happens this year or even the next (whether you like him or not).
yup nascar jusgot that much more gay. fuck em. hendrick gets around all the rules. it aint raqcin. it jus who can pay who off. if micheal w was drivin for hendrick there woodnt have been nothin found in his manifold.
You know this is getting to be to ridiculos on the penalties.I think NASCAR is loosing the
fans with the COT,and with all of these stupid penalties that they are loosing a lot of
money,so I think they are trying to come up with a way to get money.
Yes… Nascar is just rigged so Hendrick and Jeff Gordon can run as damn well as possible… Gordon won on Saturday because of the luck he got from the caution…that and his good handling car. If it was Jr that got the break from the yellow, most of you would just shrug it off as nothing, THATS THE RULE….Nascar didn’t bend anything by letting Gordon take the lead when everyone pitted. I’ll admit Nascar is slacking a bit with penalties and enforcing rules, but I am starting to think the COT is not a bad thing…if you look at the finishes of those 3 races, they were close to the end.Anyways… Tony is kinda obligated to talk to the media after the race, but they won’t fine him, Nascar will make a bad choice for punnishing someone for being upset after a race
How in HELL do ya’ll who’ve said so get that he’s a whiner out of
this situation? If he’d talked to the media he would of said
something to get himself in trouble, and I agree, I sure as hell
don’t wanna talk to anybody when I’m pissed off. It’s impossible
to whine when you’re not saying ANYTHING. Whining involves
vocalizing, and the issue here is that he didn’t. Open your eyes,
kiddos.
It is absolutely ludicrous, the idea of penalizing a driver for
damn media obligations not fulfilled.
I’m only 19 but by god I’m a traditionalist when it comes to
racing. Since when did the sport I love so much shift to involve
the realm of media relations? I thought this was Nascar, the
National Association of Stock Car AUTO RACING, not the Auto
Racing Interview Hour. They take too long talking to em all anyway.
So he spared the fans an on-camera temper tantrum because he knew
that’s what he’d do, and did us all the favor [[when most drivers
would of taken the opportunity to rant]] and ya’ll STILL bash him
for being a whiner. That doesn’t even make sense.
And the sad thing is, even though Brian France and Mike Hilton are
making [[in what my opinion are very]] bad decisions left && right,
Nascar’s STILL a growing sport. What happened to the good ol days?
I would pay money to have been able to watch in the 70s and before,
when all this shit didn’t happen and it all went the way it should
of. Men, their cars, their talent, the track, the crews, a Sunday
afternoon, and a race. Not a media circus, a RACE.
And I must add on, the guy shoved a reporter a few years ago &&
gets sent to anger management. Now he does Nascar the favor of NOT
doing anything like that, and he’s possibly getting penalized?
I repeat, it’s ludicrous.
Especially after Kyle Busch got away with worse last week.
I’ll tell you who the whiners are: its all you who are crying because Gordon won the race fair & square. Yeah, he caught a break with the pit stop, but he had the fastest car and the way he retook the lead from Stewart at the end of the race was just flat out great driving. You Stewart fans think that anytime a Hendrix car wins, they had to have cheated. BS! They just happen to have the best engine program, great crew chiefs and are doing a better job with the COT than some others. And all 43 drivers have the same contractual obligations to be available to the media after a race. You people think Stewart should get a free pass because he can’t control his temper when he loses a race. There are 41 other guys out there who also lost but have to follow the rules.
Yes, he actually is contractually obligated to stick around and chit-chat to reporters and (if he didn’t notice all those patches and decals on his ensemble and vehicle –promote sponsers– no matter how pouty he gets about coming in silver.
Tony Stewart is such a disgrace to NASCAR and more of a whiner than my 2 yr old.
Beth, im sorry you have to think that we are defending tony just because we are fans of his..when it comes to debating an issue, you cant bring up that another driver is better than another.
like i said, tony did the right thing by not talking and getting angry. and beth..if you cant say something mature, dont say it at all.
umm…….and what is the reason that kyle busch wasnt fined for leaving the track like a little bitch??? nascar should just start penalizing the fans…oh wait they already do. they get us by taking away races at some of our favorite tracks………nascar, your about to lose your fanbase!!!
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, poor Tony.
adam, your right.. why wasn’t pansy ass busch penalized for leaving while the race was still going? he got hit and threw a tantrum and left.
I am not a Tony fan, but I think he did the right thing too. If you remember his interview last week, he was getting nudged about what he was saying on camera…. he was just frustrated then, can you imagine what he would have said being mad. I dont blame him for not talking.. he probably would have gotten penalties out the rearend.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I dont believe there were any mention at all about fining Kyle for leaving the track and not talking. Drivers decline to comment all the time. They dont get penalized. So why Tony? Also, they were talking about penalizing JP for that little gesture he gave the camera, haven’t heard anymore about that. HMMMMM bet he dont get one. I think Nascar has their favorites. But that is just my opinion.
Come on Nascar, lets just let the guys go out there race and if something happens let them settle it OR say it like they did in the good ole days, without having to worry about getting penalized.
This is all just a big bunch of B.S. I know that if I was pissed, I wouldn’t want some pain in the butt reporter sticking a microphone in my face. If they fine Tony Stewart for it then they need to fine all of the other drivers that leave before the race is even over. I am not sticking up for Tony or anyone else but I feel that if NASCAR wants everything to be fair then they need to make all of the penalties the same!
I believe killer68 is right. The top finishers are required to do the media tour. The reason kyle Busch was not penilized was because he was out of the race long before the checkers fell.
I do not think Tony should be penilized but I believe that he should be warned that he he does that again he will be penilized.
I talked to one of my customers yesterday and he is a Gordon fan. He too was wondering why Gordon did not go a lap down when he was in the pits when the yellow came out. Everyone one else in the pits went a lap down. Why not Gordon too. That is why Tony is pissed off because NASCAR is not consistent with the rules.
Gordon being a lap down had nothing to do with Tony being mad, Tony Stewart is a racer he wants to win he had one of the best cars all day long and Gordo beat him fair and square that doesn’t mean he has to like it.
As for Gordon not going a lap down it was all a timing issue, he had passed the start finish line before the caution came out and he was close to the front (2nd) of the pack- so it was just luck that he came down pit road and the caution came out.
Tony,
Then where is the formal complaint from Stewart, Zipadelli or Joe Gibbs Racing? People grow up, its a rule, they showed what happened on video. It’s a RULE and now you haters have to live with it. Tony Stewart is NOT upset about the ruling on pit row. He is upset that another race slipped away, he’s upset that his car’s handling went away later in the race. Why do the haters have to make it a Gordon vs Stewart? Gordon hadn’t won a race in something like 26 races, do you think NASCAR would have cared if that streak went one more race? When your driver wins, celebrate..when he loses, deal with it, learn from it…DON’T blame it on some deep, dark X-Files like conspiracy!
Oh and for the record, I think Stewart is a hell of a driver, I don’t root for him come race day, but he drives the hell out of anything he’s in.
What’s said is I know I’m wasting my breath. Or increasing my chance of carpel tunnel. But I have to say what I believe. There is so much BS on these NASCAR sites!
I’m not debating the Stewart/Gordon who should won bit at all.
My point is this:
Yes, being a top finisher he is “contractually obligated” to bleat
at the media for a few minutes. But WHY is that part of it? That,
in itself, is the ludicrous part. And to top it all off, they’re
talking about penalizing him for it when they haven’t anyone else.
And notice I’m not saying they don’t penalize the Hendrick drivers
for it? I’m saying they don’t penalize ANYONE for it. So don’t try
to make this into that debate by saying it is when it’s not to
everyone involved, either. They either need to do what they say
they’re doing and make everything even, or what they really need
to do is shove this media obligation bullshit under the rug. I see
their paint schemes every week and the 8903477342 commercials
during the race, I don’t need to hear the 30 second long list
spill from their mouth afterwords as well.
If you’re not a Tony fan why even complain of what he didn’t or did do? I’m sure you didn’t even want to hear what he had to say anyway. If he was upset and had nothing good to say then he did good otherwise he would of been fined and we would be posting under a different title “Frustrated Stewart leaves Pheonix after using explicit language, could be fined by NASCAR” then we’d be reading posts like, my kids were watching, I don’t have respect for Stewart, he should be banned from NASCAR.
It’s like his fans say, he was in a lose, lose situation.
Tony shouldn’t be fined I think he should be applauded for knowing when to not talk. I did read that the top 3 are suppose to go to the media room after the race, don’t know if that is true or not.
Now everyone knows what Jeff Gordon goes thru, he is always blasted for whatever he does. The only driver I can think of that isn’t is Jr. Don’t get me wrong, I like Jr., I just think he can’t do anything wrong where alot of fans are concerned.
Tony, Jeff and Jr. are all great drivers and are very different people, they should all be applauded for what they do. We need different attitudes and different personalities in the sport, makes it fun and keeps it interesting. The drivers are fine with each other, it’s the fans that cause all this ruckus over nothing.
Only 2 words….Drama King!
obligations are obligations just like rules are rules!
Maybe a whinner . I think other wise . He just is an emotional motivated driver. If he thinks the king of drama and whinning Jeffey won the race because of that pit . Which seems to be the case . Can`t a guy just walk off and be pissed. I mean nascar has become so politically correct it is sick. Montoya is fined for the “gesture” I think JR was penalized for a word or two. Come on already . I get mad and walk off , I have slipped and cursed in front of my kids . Has the world become so metro sexual that race car drivers should send each other a bouquet of flowers every time they do not agree. Sometimes a few choice words , a bump from a fender , camerman tossed makes the world go round.
Life is stressful racing must be ultra stressful . Perfection rarely is achieved in any walk of life.
I say allow a guy a fall from grace a time or two and lets move on . .
Yeah he shouldn’t get penalized, but its pretty stupid that he wouldn’t talk, why not, he finished 2nd, which is good. I hate him, and always will.
Tony Stewart running his mouth again saying if he had enough money to retire, he would and just walk away from NASCAR. He has got to be one of the weirdest drivers out there, last year when he said ” Bump drafting has no place in Nascar” he comes out and gets into with Matt Kenseth. Then there was Pocono where Carl Edwards slid in front of him,and Tony being Tony swerved and spun out Carl Edwards and another driver. He is gonna kill someone one of these days with his temper, I am really surprised that Home Depot has stuck with his mouth as long as they have.
“Someone’s going to get killed out there……..Move out of my way Matt!” Sound familiar? When Tony shuts up and just races, I might be able to stomach him, until then………….What a hypocrite!
NASCAR just needs to get over themselves and realize they can’t have control over every single aspect of a race. Some things just have to occur naturally. Even if it is a little bit out of control. What is civilized about racing? Not much. Its raw and real. NASCAR needs to stop trying to make it pretty and fake. Screw the sponsors, its about the drivers and the teams. The real teams and drivers would be racing somewhere even if there weren’t fans watching or much money being paid. NASCAR better watch out before they push everyone who cares too far.