Stewart disputes NASCAR
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Tony Stewart took a verbal swipe at NASCAR on Saturday, insisting friend and competitor Dale Earnhardt Jr. should not have lost points for cursing during a live TV interview last weekend.
Instead of leading by 13 points, Earnhardt enters today’s Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway trailing Kurt Busch by 12 points after the third of 10 races in NASCAR’s new playoff-style championship format. Junior was fined $10,000 and docked 25 points for using inappropriate language during the interview in Victory Lane at Talladega.
Stewart, long NASCAR’s bad boy, is no stranger to penalties. Most recently, he was fined $50,000, had 25 points taken away and was placed on probation for allegedly hitting Brian Vickers during a post-race confrontation in June at Sonoma. The severity of Earnhardt’s penalty irritated the 2002 series champion.
“I think we’re starting to nitpick and scrutinize way too much in this series,” the often outspoken Stewart said. “Since when does something that somebody says have an effect on winning the championship?
“What he said didn’t cheat anybody on the racetrack. It didn’t have any effect on how the race was run. That (penalty) can have an effect on millions of dollars and how their sponsors have to handle this now, and the pressure it has put on their team. It’s been totally unfair to him and his race team.”
Stewart also wondered what other missteps might result in a penalty from NASCAR.
“What’s going to be the next thing?” he asked. “If we don’t show up to the car for practice on time are we going to lose 25 points for that next? Where is it realistically going to end?”
NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said he talked with Stewart about his objections to the Earnhardt penalty.
“I appreciate Tony’s candor, and I think everybody else in NASCAR management appreciates that candor,” Hunter said. “This is another case that there is some strong disagreement.”
Meanwhile, the championship battle goes on with the top nine drivers bunched within 159 points of the lead.
Jeff Gordon, who has won two of the three previous Kansas races, is third in the points, followed by Mark Martin, defending series champion Matt Kenseth, Stewart, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, Jimmie Johnson and Jeremy Mayfield.