Officials reviewing Stewart's post-race outbursts
By Stephen Thomas, CNNSI.com
July 9, 2001
4:43 PM EDT (2043 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- For the second time in three races, an absolutely irate Tony Stewart ignored reporters immediately following a race and instead chose to vent his frustrations in a different forum.
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Tony Stewart finished 26th in the Pepsi 400.
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But whereas three weeks ago at Pocono Stewart was able to voice his displeasure with NASCAR's application of the rules in an appropriate fashion, he pushed the envelope of appropriateness after Saturday night's Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Just moments after Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s cathartic win, a disheveled and obviously angry Stewart emerged from his hauler, pulling a baggy T-shirt over his head as he marched past a small group of reporters without a word or a look. (Moments before, Stewart could be seen in his hauler tearing off his uniform so vigorously that some items on shelves fell to the floor.)
Stewart, angry that he had received a black-flag penalty late in the race for driving beneath the yellow line -- when he was running sixth and in contention for his third win of the season -- made a bee-line for the confines of his motor coach.
But as Stewart sped away, trailed by a dutiful employee who was, literally, watching his back, Stewart slapped, not once, but twice, at Winston-Salem Journal reporter Mike Mulhern's arm, knocking the veteran writer's tape recorder to the ground before kicking it under a nearby hauler.
Leaving the privacy of his coach, Stewart went to argue directly with NASCAR officials. The result, as countless millions saw on national TV, was that the driver had to be forcibly pulled away from NASCAR director Gary Nelson.
Though Stewart was ultimately removed from the situation, it took team owner Joe Gibbs and crew chief Greg Zipadelli well over an hour inside NASCAR's red truck to resolve the situation.
Stewart, who ignored the black flag and did not bring his car into the pits within the mandated three-lap window, was dropped from sixth to 26th, a difference of 65 points.
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Stewart (left) with NASCAR president Mike Helton in April.
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Long after the events in question, Gibbs offered a meager, almost plaintive, defense of his driver when a reporter asked him to comment on his conduct.
"It was just a racing thing where everybody was emotional, that's all," he said. "I don't think he ... I think what he was trying to do was state his case, is what I saw, you know? That's what I saw."
According to Mike Arning, Stewart's public relations representative, the driver was not only upset with Johnny Benson, who he felt had forced him below the yellow line, but was just generally upset with a host of indignities -- mid-season rule changes, a poor qualifying run, a rambunctious Happy Hour session Friday night. NASCAR's penalty was simply the final straw for the beleaguered driver.
"Tony didn't drive down there on his own was our contention," Arning said. "There was a donut on the right side of our car."
And the decision to ignore the flag? "I don't think anyone knew what to do," Arning answered, "so, we made the decision to stay out and race and hope that the situation could be resolved."
Lost in yet another post-race drama of Stewart's creation was the fact that Benson was driving his car no more aggressively than Stewart himself has been known to. Indeed, James Ince, Benson's crew chief, had an entirely different assessment of what transpired.
"Other than the fact that [Stewart] tried to pass down through the infield, that's the only thing I saw," Ince offered. "I know he was trying to get back up there like everybody was, [but] it was almost pretty big there at the end with him."
Ince was definitive in response to Stewart's charge that Benson forced him into a precarious situation. "There's a gas pedal on the right, brake in the middle," he said. "It was pretty clear in the drivers' meeting where the yellow line was. We didn't tell him to go below it."
Benson was not available for comment.
Nelson chose not to speak.
"We reviewed [the incident] on tape," said John Griffin, managing director of communications for NASCAR, speaking on behalf of Nelson, "we sat down with them and reviewed it, sat back down with them again. The result was the same: We felt that Tony attempted to, by going down on the apron, was attempting to advance in the race."
Knowing that Stewart is still on probation for having spun out Jeff Gordon on pit road after Bristol, NASCAR may cast a dim eye on Stewart's treatment of both Nelson and reporter Mulhern.
"We're going to take care of that later in the week," Griffin said early Sunday morning when asked about the likelihood of punishment for Stewart.
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