Tony Stewart, excited over winning at the track he cherishes more than any other, got a little carried away in his postrace interview. The expletive he uttered could cost him a penalty later this week.
“It was an unfortunate incident that we did not anticipate,” said ESPN officials in a statement.
NASCAR officials said they will address the issue at the beginning of the week. Vice President Jim Hunter said there could be a penalty or a loss of points.
“The drivers should clean up their language in my opinion,” he said. “There are a lot of young kids who look up to these drivers. I’d prefer they use the English language.”
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who cares… wow a little cuss word most kids learn by the time they are 5 anyways…
Exactly! But Jr. got points taken away for cussing so Tony probably will too.
OMG! This is a little silly. I thought it was when Junior said it and I still think
it is. Like the person above said. It is the same things that these children learn
by the time they are 5. I can’t believe that the “officials” are turning Nascar into a
sissy sport. I watched the entire race and I also watched the post race interview. I
think Tony knew exactly what he was saying when he did it and I, being a fan, appreciated
it. All nascar fans put up with some type of Drama over their favorite driver and I
respect Tony for looking strait into the camara and saying exactly what he wanted to!!!
I just hope he doesn’t say I’m sorry for it on Monday!!!
Can someone post what he said with sh*t or f*ck! Becaquse I didnt see the end of the race!
He said… “Thanks to all my fans for putting up with the BULL@#%^ each week.” Don’t
take that as a direct quote but it was something along those lines.
Whats to be said but TONY use “BS” it says the same thing and costs oh so much less…
Interesting! Thanks!
Whether you think it was ok for Tony to cuss on TV or if you think it was wrong the deal is on this board you won’t.
It’s just as easy to do what Sm0ke Fan has done above. There are some young people that read this blog and the arguments between posters get heavy enough from time to time that we don’t need to have a bunch of swearing. And I apologize for the swearing that we do miss…sometimes there’s too many posts to catch it all.
There’s a few of you frequent posters that insist on continuing this so I am simply deleting your posts. Next, you are banned. I say this because I that is my last resort.
If some of you feel this is wrong then you are welcome to email me and discuss this. My email is k h at auto racing sport.com (no spaces).
Cussing ruins a blog, bottom line, and I don’t want to have to resort to making this blog a registration only site for people to post, but unfortunately it may come to that.
Having said all this, I appreciate everyone’s participation very much.
Kenneth Holland
Editor and Owner
AutoRacingSport.com
I think that Stewart should be punished. it’s only fair since jr got punished when he said it. I do like tony stewart, I am from Columbus, IN and everyone here likes him, but i do agree that the language needs to stop. my 8 year old daughter was watching that yesterday and heard what he said. I am trying to bring her up with a good, solid religious backgound and if people she idolizes are cussing, then she will feel it’s okay to cuss. I am no saint, but i try to keep those word out of my home, not bring them in.
Congrats Tony on the win. Columbus loves you, but please, watch the language. thank you!
from a concerned mother!
I don’t think it’s that big a deal penalty-wise, but I think it shows that Stewart doesn’t have a whole lotta class. But then again, he’s always shown that he doesn’t have class!
when is he going to learn?
GROW UP NASCAR! RACING IS A DANGEROUS SPORT. WINNING IS EVERYTHING, SECOND IS JUST THE FIRST LOSER. A CRUDE WORD, SPOKEN BY A TIRED RACER AND IN THE EXCITEMENT OF VICTORY, IS WHAT IT IS, A NON ISSUE!
FORGET IT NASCAR! IT HURT NO ONE! IT IS NOT A BIG DEAL, UNLESS NASCAR MAKES IT A BIG DEAL. ALSO, WHO IS VICE PRESIDENT JIM HUNTER, HAS HE EVER DRIVEN IN A RACE AND WON?
NASCAR SHOULD BE CONCERNED WITH PHANTOM YELLOW FLAGS, FAN DISGUST AND EMPTY SEATS. IT IS A MATTER OF WHEN, NOT IF, THAT THE NASCAR BUBBLE WILL BURST. IT HAPPENED IN INDY CAR RACING, AND IT IS COMING TO NASCAR.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PASSION AND HERO’S IN NASCAR? IN 2007 NASCAR ,THE HERO’S OF THE PAST WOULD NOT BE WELCOME, EVEN DALE EARNHART, SR.! THE CURRENT FRANCE FAMILY ARE NOT VISIBLE, AND THE NASCAR PRESIDENT COMES ACROSS LIKE A FLAT TIRE. THE RACER’S, THE OWNERS AND CREWS ARE BADGERED TO DEATH WITH STUPID RULES, PENTALIES, AND FINES. JUST LET THEM RACE!
WORST OF ALL, THE FAN’S ARE IGNORED! NASCAR WAS FORGOTTEN THIER OLD FRIENDS FOR THIER NEW FRIENDS. NASCAR WAS TRADED DIE HARD RACE FANS FOR ‘FAD’ FANS AND BIG MONEY. SOON THE FAD WILL BE OVER AND THE MONEY WILL DRY UP.
I HAVE BEEN A MOTORSPORTS FAN FOR OVER 50 YEARS. I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN RACING PROMOTION, SPONSORSHIP, AND THE USAC INDY CARS TECH COMMINITEE 1970-80. I HAVE OWNED RACECARS, A RACE TEAM, AND DROVE RACECARS, AND I HAVE WON RACES. I NEVER MISSED AN EVENT (INDY CARS, NASCAR, F1) AT THE INDIANAPLOIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY FROM 1954 TO 2003. IN 2003, I STOPPED GOING TO THE BRICKYARD 400. ALL IS WAS IS A YELLOW FLAG FEST, AND THIS YEARS RACE IS A CASE IN POINT.
OH WELL, YOU WILL PROBALLY PASS ME OFF AS A NUT CASE, AND IGNORE ANOTHER FAN. BUT
MARK MY WORDS, NASCAR’S TIME OF RECKING IS COMING, AND SOONER THAN LATER. ALL NASCAR HAS TO DO IS LOOK AT THE DECLINE OF INTEREST IN THE INDIANAPOLIS 500, THE MESS IN INDY CARS, F1′S FAILURE IN THE USA, AND THE DEATH OF CAN AM. GROW UP NASCAR, BEFORE IT IS TO LATE!
THERE IS AN OLD SAYING IN RACING, “WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES ROUND.” THE NASCAR WHEEL IS ROLLING!
SINCERELY, DAVE FELSTEIN
Oops, guess my post got whacked because I put the dictionary definition of BS in there… Sorry about that Kenneth! If it comes to registration only, I’ll still be around!
Basically, I said it’s all irrelevant anyhow, thanks to the Chase. The precedent is there for a 25pt penalty from when Jr said a similar word in victory lane at Talladega. 25pts isn’t going to put Smoke in any danger of missing the chase and everyone is seeded based on wins, so he’ll be ok.
I also wondered if they would let it slide since Smoke said it on ESPN and Dale was on NBC… Big difference between what you can get away with on cable and network TV (in the eyes of the FCC, anyhow).
-Jeff
Jeff,
Thanks for the understanding. If you wanna throw some ‘colorful’ banter in your post, just put some characters in there to ‘censor’ the word, but you’re still making your point, if you get what I mean.
Don’t get me wrong, I have been known to use golf course language on more than a few occasions, and saucy language personally doesn’t bother me, but others aren’t keen with it and I’m trying to respect that so everyone can feel comfortable here…so thanks again.
Ok, now that I’m on here…I’ll bite on the issue! I don’t have a problem with the heat of the moment expletive but TV sure does with how hard the FCC comes down on offenders. That anger gets passed down to NASCAR and NASCAR has to take the heat for it. Now, having said that, why didn’t ESPN have a delay on their broadcast?
Now onto Tony (oh boy, here we go!): I do not know Tony but I have met him on several occasions. He wears his personality on his sleeve…what you see is what you get…there is absolutely nothing contrived about him at all. And I think he hates how NASCAR is so controlling (gee, ya think?). So in a situation like yesterday he was in the heat of the moment and when Tony sees that something needs to be said a certain way in that moment, he will say it. And he’ll later accept the consequences when he’s had time to mull it over. I like that about him.
What about when Kyle Petty cussed on air?? Nothing was done for that. I watched the race and didn’t even notice he said anything. Only way I knew was because they are making a big deal about it.
He should get penalized, Jr. did and so did Robby Gordon!! its only fair that he does too!!
Well at least he was telling the truth. His fans DO have to put up with ________. Go TONY!
Great post Dave!
Odessa, Kyle didn’t get fined because of who was providing the race on TV. The TV station itself got a big fine because of it though.
I don’t think a driver should get fined for cussing on the air as long as it doesn’t happen more than once. If it happens more than once, hit them with some type of fine. Just don’t take away points, cussing after the race has nothing to do with the performance of their car on the track.
I am thankful that cussing is the only big thing the cup series has to worry about for now. Think about the NFL and all that crap they have to deal with (dog fighting, drugs/steroids, club gun fights, rape charges)
I am glad that Nascar is such a clean sport for kids to watch and grow up around.
-Chris
NASCAR said two things previously when similar incidents occurred… They said that in Junior’s case he must be fined to prevent backlash (monetary fine) from the FCC and curb drivers from wanting to do it in the future. They also said it was “detrimental” to the sport and that it ruins the “family image” that NASCAR has been working so hard for (to fill it’s pockets).
I might be wrong but ESPN is carried on cable and I just don’t think the same rules do or should apply. Plus, its life and things are going on around us all at this very second which are indecent (to the FCC). Also, Kyle Petty’s incident was way different. I mean, you put a mic (or camera) inside a race car, what are you expecting to get? Nursery rhymes and finger puppets?
Anyways, I’m curious to see if Tony will get the same punishment as the others, or a even more severe fine/penalty, because NASCAR doesn’t seem to like discourse focused towards itself or their greedy family of companies. Its not about the words that were said, its about the thoughts behind them.
Tony knew exactly what he was doing and it was beautiful.
Oh, I didn’t know that the station got fined for Kyles slip up. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, most of the time myself or my son watching, don’t even hear what they say. I usually read about it later. And I agree with you Chris on being a clean sport. I don’t have to worry about my 8 year old picking a driver and having him be on drugs or a bad role model for him.
Hey Chris, you’re right. No drivers have been seen making it rain in a strip club and punching strippers in the face yet! If dropping an S bomb on live TV is the biggest controversy in the Cup series this year, then we’ll be doing good, IMO.
At least we don’t have an espionage scandal like F1 does
Tony knew exactly what he was doing when he said that on live television. He’s always looking for a way to be a controversial driver. I can’t say I always agree with how he handles himself, but he keeps the sport interesting. He knew he would be fined before he said it, and he should be fined. He’s a professional getting paid big money and should definitely know better than that.
I do not, however, agree with NASCAR penalizing teams and drivers by taking points away that they have earned. In a close points situation, a driver could lose the Nextel Cup simply due a single curse word uttered or some other “minor” infraction. You don’t see the NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB messing with team records. Why does NASCAR do it? If they want to send a message, hit them harder with fines, but quit messing with the point standings!!!
If they are going to punish the NASCAR drivers for stuff like that, then there are a lot of NBA players that should not be playing, especially in Tony’s home state! And the same state that held the Brickyard! I should know, I live here!
Whether it’s a big deal or not, you still can’t curse on
national television. NASCAR HAS to penalize the driver’s in some
way to help them remember not to do it, otherwise, guess who
gets in trouble? NASCAR! Even if it’s a minor word such as what
Tony said, there are people in this country who need a life and try
to criticize the TV station because they have nothing better to do.
The TV stations are dependent on NASCAR to keep there driver’s profanity
in check. If not, the TV station gets in trouble, thus it leads to
NASCAR being in trouble.
Let me just say I dont think Jr. should have been penalized but 25 points not that bad, so if Tony gets 25 points too then its far and wow big deal, hopefully he’ll get the point. but dont think he doesnt understand that its wrong. That being said I think its stupid to be fined at all, I get it “its a family show” well grow up, thats what happens when you get around people who dont share your thoughts on language. were not talking a couple of hundred people, were talking thousands and thousands who dont find it offensive, yet again the minority speaks for the majority! Yea kids look up to him and he should be carefu,l to to fine him for something 99% of the NASCAR population didn hear, its just to much
well, I find it funny that ESPN said “We didn’t anticipate this” WTF?!?!?!?! everyone SAW and HEARD Jr do it a couple years ago and THEN Petty do it the other weekend. what do you mean “we didn’t anticipate this”……. 3 words. 10 Second Delay!
Its not liek it matters, all drivers are reset to 5000 points once they make the chase, so Id say #$%@ after every race, its the wins that matter this time. Its only because of the new screwed up points system our genius Brian France came up with. The regular season doesnt mean anything, its crap; hos no value. So yeepeee, punish him pnish him, its not like hes gonna be taken out of top 12 so he wont be affected lol. The only good punishment would be to dock him his bonus points for the chase.
Its pretty lame. its the heat of the moment…and honestly, what kids nowadays dont hear cuss words in their everyday life? if their parents arent using it around them, you can hear it at school, parks, grocery stores, anywhere.
At the end of the day, it’s broadcasters that can get fined for curse words. 7 dirty words you can’t say on TV. There’s a reason and it’s censorship which unfornutately is at the core of America’s values. Take any basic mass communications class. There are rules and guidelines (regulations) that are set for radio and TV broadcasts. They can’t say certain words and S*** is one of them. Doesn’t matter what word is before and after it. It’s really that simple. Plus, ESPN is cable, they don’t have the 7 second delay like network TV. So it’s an even more pressing problem for ESPN and I’m sure somewhere in the paperwork this issue is addressed, therefore Tony gets fined. but money’s money and if he loses points, it’s not a biggie since we aren’t in the oh-so-suspenseful Chase yet.
First of all don’t you just hate how pc everyone in NASCAR has either become or is expected to be, secondly the FCC has changed there stance on the seven deadly words you can’t use on network television, they have always been laxer on cable television because you pay to hear what can be said every watch rescue me the language can be very colorful. The Jr fine at the time was because they were going to be fined over the word if i remember right.
25 points won’t hurt Tony but fining drivers for having personalities is ridiculous as far as ESPN they prefer to use the word bullcrap quite alot and they normally wouldn’t have a problem with it except now that they are owned by ABC and disney it could be a fine. However with all the slip ups in football they are used to it what happened to the 7 second delay anyway if they used it that could have been bleeped for the audience anyway
TNT messed up and didnt edit kyle but that was tnts fault however no fine came for it that i heard of.
%^&^ the family-style broadcasting, this is NASCAR not Mother Goose’s Nursery Time on ESPN. This isn’t “Nascar For Kids”..
Grow up NASCAR; The majority of the watchers are older folks. I was cussing when I was 8, and nowadays it’s not like kid’s parents arn’t sailor talking at home constantly. I grew up hearing curse words every other minute. Tony KNEW what he was doing. He KNEW that he wasn’t allowed to curse on TV.. but as a controversial driver, he had to thank his fans the only way he knew how; by breaking the rules. That’s Tony’s way of saying “This is as sincere as I can get.” There IS a 10 second delay and i’ve seen on live TV before the cuss words bleeped out. But the idiots in the station broadcasting booth thought within those 10 seconds, “OH, STATION POPULARITY! CONTROVERSY WITH TONY STEWART! DON’T BLEEP HIM! DON’T BLEEP HIM!”
Seriously, GROW UP. It’s not some baby sport and family oriented television broadcast. I took Tony’s words to heart and completely understood why he used the choice of words he did. He looked directly into the camera and said it like it is. For that, I applaud him.
Hmmm… I may be the only person here who watches ESPN when NASCAR isn’t on but they ran a couple of shows in the past few years where the language in them far exceeded what Tony said… Broadcast and cable TV are regulated completely differently. ESPN could care less about a 7 second delay… NASCAR might care (again). We shall see…
Anyone ever watch “The Brink” or “Playmakers”?
They are words out of the ENGLISH dictionary. Any kid can look up the F word or B word or A word or S word in any dictionary. Heck when I was in 3rd grade me and my friends would look up those words for fun in school. They are in the ENGLISH dictionary so they are ENGLISH words. You people are dumb. The words actualy originated from the poor makin up words back in the Shakespear’s day. The rich saw these are “evil” words cause only the poor used them. So they became “curse” words. It is sad how people see words as so bad. I find it quiet amusing.
What time a show comes on affects the language, and ESPN doesn’t have the delay. (The Brink was a movie about Knight, right? There are no rules when it comes to Bobby and I think the FCC understands that and submits. He did basically b****slap our Chancellor a couple of years ago at a grocery store. He can do whatever he wants and a movie about him follows the same rules.) On a more serious note, FCC guidelines have changed, but I’m pretty sure S*** is still a word that “can’t” be said. Of course, FCC won’t act unless they receive several complaints. I don’t think many people who care about decency watch NASCAR…
Like I said on some other board, I would really not be surprised if
he did it on purpose to make a point to Nascar that they can’t control
everything in the end. No matter how much they fine him it’s not going
to amount to anything; the drivers are millionaires, 25K or so will
indeed cost them, that’s one good party they can’t throw that year.
Boohoo. And if they fine him more than 25 points, like they did Jr,
they’re going to get blasted for being unfair again. However, they
don’t seem to care about how stupid they look so they might just
dock him more after all. Either way, penalties for this kind of thing
aren’t a big deal so why not have a little fun with Nascar.
i never seen someone wright an essay as a comment than amanda,but she gives good pts. well tony is a great driver BUT the only reason i dont like him is becuz of his once in a while attitude problems
Its true jr got fined an points taken away but part of that reason was because it was on network tv not cable,not saying im defending stewart im a jr an stewart fan but if doesnt get the same as jr did its probably cause it was espn.
You’re right but as far as people watching NASCAR who care about decency… I bet there wasn’t a real fan who was offended, but I’m sure people who have something to gain, in some way, will be calling. And, a however many second delay would just make me sad.
I just find it funny that ESPN said, “It was an unfortunate incident that we did not anticipate.” …unfortunate. ….anticipate. That statement smells like bulls**t to me. I really hope ESPN/ABC doesn’t end up in NASCAR’s pocket like Fox and NBC. Right now I am totally loving ESPN’s coverage.
I think Tony and Bobby are very similar in many respects.
To fine Stewart is not going to hurt him….Its only gonna fire him up and cause him to win next weeks race at Pocono ….. The money goes to charity…thats a good thing cause he can then write it off……..
I hope and pray that NASCAR fines Tony “Crybaby” Stewert $250,000 and dock him 100 racing points.
Let him be the poster child of what will happen to all other that follow his lead.
He is such a child. I wonder when he will ever grow up and clean up his act.
I could care less what he said on TV. I can probably make the drivers who curses the worst, blush! LOL! I thought
that’s why they have those delays. Give me a break people. It’s a word. A simple word. If that’s the worse
thing a NASCAR driver does…then hey, consider us lucky! But to be fined and reprimanded…so stupid.
Stop and think about it……All he said was ” This one is for all my fans that stick by me and put up with the bullshit every week!” Good god, this word is in the new Simpson movie ! The nascar drivers are people too, and I am sorry but kids hear these words very early in life. Is it Tony’s fault they didn’t “beep him out” fast enough? Let them be human !!
Sooo..let me get this right……people want to get upset because their little boy or girl hears Tony say a cuss word, but then it is ok to let that same little kid be a fan of a sport that started with illegal moonshiners who built fast cars to outrun the cops…..interesting.
i think Tony kinda deserves it. I mean even though it was one curse word Dale jr said
one curse word at Talladega in 2004 in the fall race and he lost 25 points plus loss fined money.
First, let me say that I HATE Political Correctness. That being said, I think it’s bull$#!+ when drivers get fined points and money for using profanity. However, Dale Jr. got 25 points for saying something similar to what Tony said yesterday, so to remain “consistent”, they need to dock Fat B@$+@/’/] 25 points as well. I hate him, but I’m also glad he said what he said. He did it just “to rattle NASCAR’s cage”, and it was needed.
I wish the CHODE would just hurry up and retire! He’s a punk and doesn’t deserve to be in Nascar!
You know they are gonna say what they want anyway and they know they are gonna get fined if they don’t care then so be it.
ima say he’s getting docked 25k and 25 points
the fact is this has NOTHING to do with racing, he said some words, does it have anything to do with how the race went down? no, did it effect the race in anyway? no therefore you cannot fine/dock points for things like that, how many points would bobby allison or richard petty have gotten if these stupid f$$king rules were in place (i had to) when they were racers. s**t they would have been barred from racing if brian france was running the show back than
NASCAR officials said they will address
the issue at the beginning of the week.
Vice President Jim Hunter said there
could be a penalty or a loss of points.
“The drivers should clean up their language
in my opinion,” he said.
“There are a lot of young kids
who look up to these drivers.
I’d prefer they use the English language”
If they fine one driver, they need to fine any
driver—-period
i do understand, appreciate and respect the
fact that our youth is being respected as
fans and as youth looking up to these drivers
as their heros.
HOWEVER; freedom of speech nazi car@!
the main reason i’m objecting to the
curseing is that other drivers
(jr) was fined and i believe that
tony should have the exact same fine
dollar for dollar, point for point
Ganjadude-I believe with everything you say, believe me, but the
reason Nascar fines the drivers is because it has the same effect as
slipping the FCC a happy pill in that situation. Nascar doesn’t want
to lose the more substantial amount of money that the FCC would fine
them if they didn’t do something about it.
That being said, ESPN can apparently get away with more than NBC,
which is where Jr’s slip up took place, according to the [[evil]]
FCC’s rules, though I don’t understand why but I’ve seen it said in
earlier comments.
My opinion, however, is that Nascar will still fine him merely for
the fact they want to control absolutely everything. And I hear all
this about all the money from fines going to charities, but I’ll
believe none of it’s pocketed when I see proof; not like Nascar’s
proven itself trustworthy enough to believe that one without it.
Ever ben in a school? Some of the language I get to hear daily, Is way
beyond Tony’s comment.. I have heard cuss word that would make a sailor
blush and these are primary age students.
rediculous, I guess nascar expects these guys to be robots and never say the wrong thing
i say let them say anything they want without a fine. we have something called freedom of speech. hell every show just about says bad words its just a thing
WELCOME TO THE LOVELY WORLD OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS & LIBERAL BS.
I am so sick of this crap because that is what this is.
Why don’t they just hire robots for all sporting events that take place live and on television then they do not have to worry about showing “THE HUMAN EMOTION OF THE SPORT”
If this keeps up, NASCAR will soon be hanging its hat up for good.
And my dream will have come true.
I detest the Commies who run NA$CAR.