Tony Stewart: Champ or Chump

Tony Stewart is proving to me that he is a Chump, not a Champ. He had another on-track altercation with David Gilliland during Happy Hour practice at the Michigan venue. David had old tires, Tony had fresh tires. Tony managed to run up on David's rear, and David became loose and then Tony made contact with David.

First off, I watched the NCTS and the Cup racing at Michigan, and I marveled at the wide track, and views of three and four wide racing. You cannot convince me that Tony was forced to get that close to David, when they were the only ones at that point of the track. Tony was being an arse and trying to spook David.

Second, have you ever seen such a tantrum? Glares, Snarls, Stomping his way to the NASCAR hauler, and Slamming of sliding door at the hauler. Oh my! How fearsome! The only things missing were the holding of breath until blue in face, and the flailing of arms and legs while on the ground, and don't forget shrieking at the top of the lungs. I mean really, Tony, if you insisit on having a tantrum, I am sure there are several three or four year old children who can give lessons.

Third, David had one short interview about the situation. Tony wailed to any and everyone about it, and in fact held court on it with a posse of reporters. He declared that David had apologized, but that it wasn't enough.

Tony, after his last issue with David, used his radio show to declare that he and David had talked, but that he did not believe David was sincere. I have no doubt that Tony was still bearing a grudge. How ironic that David does not have a venue in which to rail against instances like this.

Tony claims that drivers should run a full Busch series first. Tony, you should have also. I am sure that at least one more year may have given you some more maturity before stepping up into the big leagues. In fact, you may have even had a win in the NBS, something David had, and you didn't before running in Cup.

You mentioned Kasey Kahne being wrecked by David at Vegas. No sir, Kasey wrecked himelf. He got loose, and spun. David never touched him. Yet, both you and Kasey show a distinct lack of class by claiming David must not be that good after all.

NASCAR.com had a headline that declare GILLILAND WRECKS STEWART. How interesting is that, as all of the damage to Tony's car was on the right front, ahead of the midline. David had damage on left rear. Who ran into who? And then, today we watched corporate shills on Race Day claim it was all David's fault, and that it was David's responsibility to apologize. (BTW, Mr. Excitement, he already had!) It is ironic though, that Jimmy and Kenny both were sitting there on a Home Depot stage, and surrounded by Home Depot hard hats. Jimmy Spencer used to speak up, now in the last few years, he only speaks what the sponsors want. At least the boys in the booth at the time of the incident, Kyle Petty in particular, declared that it was a case of old vs new tires. Mr. Spencer, I trust Kyle far more than I do you!

Finally, Tony....look inward. Since you have been racing in Cup, you have had issues with Gilliland, JPM, David Ragan, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Mike Bliss, Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers, Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte, Scott Wimmer, Greg Biffle, John Andretti, Ryan Newman, Kenny Scharder, Bobby Labonte, Kenny Irwin, 2 Photographers, 1 Reporter, Several NASCAR officials
and who the heck else? At this rate, by the time you quit NASCAR, there will be no one left for you to harass.

Tony, you have TWO Championships. You have a chance to become a leader who can help new drivers, rather than one who verbally and physically attacks them. I am sure you are looking for respect, but at this rate, I don't see that ever happening. Right now, you are no Champ, but you are one helluva Chump.


Click to see video of incident

Tony Stewart's Prelude to the Dream

Yes, I did it! I paid the PPV for the Prelude to the Dream.

I have been rather peeved with Tony Stewart since Tony decided to put David Gilliland into a position of "he has to learn......" I even posted my anger on my blog, and was surprised that a long term blogster who is a fan of Tony agreed with me. In fact, Tony has been on the edge, again, and I am just counting the races until there is a major blow-up!

However, I paid the money to watch the Prelude to the Dream. Yes, it was Tony. But, in more ways than I can count, it was not about Tony.

It was about many 'names' of NASCAR joining up for a good cause. It was about, for many drivers, getting back to their roots. (OMG, I now know where Jeff Gordon, Kasey, Tony and several others get their car control!) For other drivers, it was a new learning experience. (Rumor has it that Harvick gave lots of advice to the newbies. I wonder if JPM ever trusted where exactly his clutch pedal was located! And why did Denny say..."I learned to not believe Harvick!" followed by a huge grin!)

Bill Elliott and Ryan Newman 'got into it' with awesome amazing twists, turns, and one upside down car. The drivers both got out of the cars. and started describing how it happened with great glee and HUGE grins!

Tony put on a great show. It took a huge amount of planning and a huge amount of commitment. As much as I 'have issues' with Tony, he did a darn good job.

And BTW, for those that missed it, Austin Petty did a wonderful presentation on VJGC, and that kid could easily have a future in broadcasting.

I really enjoyed watching this event, it was a great deal of fun!

Battle of Champions

Today, the NASCAR fan world is holding their breath over the impending doom to be applied to Kurt Busch, for his pit road transgression at Dover. While perusing the message boards, and listening to the commentary on "Morning Drive," I discover that there is a wide range of opinion on What To Do With A Man Like Kurt" (hum a few bars from The Sound of Music!) It is my turn to add my thoughts.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will remember from my Tony Stewart rant that I am no longer a Tony Stewart apologist. However, in this case, he was certainly the lesser of two evils.

Tony has a habit of being stubborn and unrelenting while in his car. This year, he is demonstrating a need to be proved right, and to teach lessons. For example, after David Gilliland moved out of line at Talledega, Tony feinted as if he was going to follow, and then Tony closed the gap. He then claimed on the radio "He (meaning David) has to learn to not do that." At the time, I marveled at Tony choosing to teach a lesson in this manner.

During Dover, he was an instigator in the situation. By insisting he was not going to give up a spot, when there was over 125 laps remaining. Tony himself has claimed folks race too hard too early in the race, and yet here he was doing the same thing. The battle then ruined two potential winning race cars.

However, my commentary on Tony in no way clears Kurt Busch of any blame. Kurt totally blew it by taking an aggressive stance on pit road, and putting a pit crew member in jeopardy.

Many Kurt Busch fans are taking a firm stance that is surprising. "The Pit Crew Guy had plenty of time to jump out of the way!" Huh? If it were me, I would have been jumping also, as I have no way of knowing if the angry driver is going to stop on time! When Carl Edwards spun Tony, he didn't get in much trouble! Another HUH? If you haven't figured it out from the penalties at the first race of the year, NASCAR has escalated the penalty process!

As I type this, I am hearing a rumor that Kurt will be forced to sit out Pocono. He will lose 175 points by not being allowed to race. I am also hearing a rumor that there were some issues with his car, that will cause a further point loss of 100, and a monetary penalty of 100K.

If the rumor is true, Kurt will effectively be out of the Chase.

It is a shame that two Champions cannot meet off track and clear the air. Now, there are negative consequences for one of the teams, and the sport as a whole.

I guess there is no way to fix idiocy!

***************

My condolences go to the family of Bill France, Jr. There is no denying the impact he had on the world of motorsports.

Miscellanea from the Marbles

NASCAR moves fast, and not just the cars. The news and rumors move even faster! I am taking a moment to comment on some of the items that piqued my interest.

• Cingular is the new AT&T! So far, it is AT&T 2, NASCAR 0. Many have hailed the judicial decision as being right and just. But is it really? It may indeed be a deal breaker for our sport. IF NASCAR cannot enforce the exculsive part of the Sprint-Nextel contract, will the series sponsor hang around?
  

AT&T has won so far. It appears that the next round of court briefs will not receive judgment until later in the summer. Even if AT&T loses the next round, they have been able to rebrand their car, and their new brand will be in front of the consumer's face every Sunday.

• The greatest conversation of the last two weeks is the Monstor Job Search for Junior's New Ride. Amid all of the speculation, the 'net has been busy with conjecture on Teresa Earnhardt's part in 'driving JR away.' We then discover that SR left everything to Teresa. I had personally wondered why JR was asking for 51% of the business, when there were other children that would not have been able to take part in the same level of the company. And I have to wonder just how difficult it was for Teresa. By JR's own admission, the stepmom-stepson relationship was rocky for years. I can't help but feel there are two sides to this story, and the truth is somewhere in the middle.

• The Black Helicopter squad is still active. NASCAR apparantly is still attempting to control the way the races end. The latest entry claims that Casey Mear's win was another award for the Hendrick organization. Sorry, the kid won that race, fair and square.
  

• Speaking of Conspiracy Theories....the media is not immune! I heard, on my favorite Satellite Radio, two different members of the Talent Pool claim that NASCAR is forcing Goodyear to give the crappy tires to the SMI tracks. Hmmmm!

• One great suggestion that came up a few weeks ago on Sirius, was to have NASCAR Contol be live on one of theSirius Driver Feeds! Now, that is a GREAT idea! Listening to David Hoots during a race would give the home-bound race fan an opportunity to hear the decisions from NASCAR while the race is running. I LOVE this idea. I don't currently utilize the Sirius Driver Feeds, because my drivers are not part of the line-up. Instead, I pay NASCAR.com for their Trackpass scanner. Having NASCAR Control on one of the Sirius feeds would be a bonus!
  

• And speaking of NASCAR.com, I love the Raceview! I know many have issues with it...but I saw a first hand 'view' of the wrecks (my driver included) at Charlotte. It is well worth the $$ for me!

• Father's Day is next month, and I just finished reading a charming article by Dorothy Schrader, daughter of Kenny! Check out Growing up a driver’s daughter. It is very charming, and gives great insight into the lives of the driver's families.
  

• And finally, I must thank Humpy for a wonderful Memorial Day show. The salute to the military was inspiring and touching. The bagpipes version of Amazing Grace, followed by Taps, left me weepy. Then the reuniting of the family of a military service man made me run for the tissues. God Bless all of our military, those who serve abroad and at home, and the family members who continue to support their heroes.