Home Depot gives Stewart fine, probation

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. -- The Home Depot, sponsor of the Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiacs driven in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series by Tony Stewart, made a statement Thursday that stopped one step short of indicating what it would do in the event of a further transgression.

	Tony Stewart Credit: Autostock

The home improvement retail company "fined" Stewart $50,000 -- which will go to the United Way of Central Indiana for a variety of children's after school programs -- and placed him on probation for the "remainder of the 2002 season."

NASCAR on Tuesday fined Stewart $10,000 and placed him on probation through Dec. 31, 2002 for allegedly assaulting freelance photographer Gary Mook after last Sunday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The company's statement, which was issued after consulting with the publisher's office of the Indianapolis Star-News, for whom Mook was working Sunday, made no mention of what would occur if the previously volatile and often moody Stewart made any future mis-steps.

"Tony Stewart's actions following the Brickyard 400 do not at all represent the values and beliefs of the over 290,000 associates who comprise the backbone and spirit of The Home Depot," Hugh Miskel, director of sales promotion for The Home Depot, said.

"We value our relationship with the media, fans and competitors of NASCAR, and the behavior displayed following the Brickyard 400 will not be tolerated from any member of our race team now or in the future."

At any rate, many longtime observers of the sport said the move -- whatever its true import -- was more than rare.

"In my years at NASCAR, I can't remember this type of thing happening, " NASCAR vice president for corporate communications Jim Hunter said. "It's very unfortunate that Home Depot was put into this position. This is the first time I can remember this type of thing happening and hopefully it will be the last time I ever know of."

Hunter was a journalist covering motorsports in the Carolinas in the late 1950s and later formed a career in industry public relations, racetrack management and with NASCAR, which he first joined in 1981.

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"With us, the issue is not about money," Hunter said. "We're very confident, from our conversations with Tony Stewart, that he gets the message."

This is the second consecutive season that Stewart has been put on probation. In 2001, he was involved in an incident on pit road at Bristol in which he drove his car into Jeff Gordon's following the Food City 500, for which he was placed on probation.

Less than three months later, Stewart ignored a black flag for an end-of-the-race rules violation in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona. In the garage area after the race, he shouted at NASCAR Winston Cup director Gary Nelson before slapping a reporter's tape recorder out of his hands and kicking it under a transporter.

For that, Stewart was fined $10,000 and his probation was simply extended through the end of the season. But at that time NASCAR's statement said further violations "may subject Stewart to a fine and/or loss of championship points, and/or loss of finishing positions in an event and/or suspension from NASCAR."

This season NASCAR has exhibited a "get tougher" attitude and has already docked several drivers and team owners points for a variety of violations and also sat fellow Winston Cup driver Kevin Harvick out of one race for a questionable on-track move.

Following the incident at Indy, Stewart acknowledged he had an anger management problem and said he would seek professional help for the disorder. On Sunday, Stewart, an Indiana native, was second in the Brickyard 400 with less than 30 laps remaining when his car's handling deteriorated and he fell to 12th at the finish.

Stewart said he was making arrangements to meet with Mook to offer an apology.

"This was my heart attack -- my wake-up call," Stewart said. "There is no excuse for what I've done. I'm very sorry, and I don't really expect anyone to forgive me.

"Meeting with Mr. Mook is now my first priority. He didn't deserve any of this, and my apology to him needs to come face-to-face, as soon as possible.

Stewart has driven Home Depot Pontiacs for Gibbs since 1999, when he won the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award. Since then, he has won 14 races but has almost continually been under some type of scrutiny for his mercurial behavior.

"I know I have a problem with keeping my emotions in check," Stewart said. "After all of this, I've felt as low as I've ever felt. But it's probably exactly what I needed to make me seek help -- a hard fall like this will tend to jar you back to reality."

"Tony has made a commitment to us and we've made a commitment to him," Gibbs said. "He knows he needs help in controlling his emotions and we're going to do all we can to help and support him. All of our resources, as well as the resources of Home Depot, have been made available to Tony."

Miskel, despite his harsh words, concurred.

"We support Tony Stewart and Joe Gibbs Racing and we will help provide any and all resources needed to see this situation through," he said. "We have always viewed our sponsorship with Joe Gibbs Racing and our relationship with Tony Stewart as a partnership -- and despite the events of the past week, those beliefs have not changed. We remain committed to Tony Stewart and Joe Gibbs Racing."

Gibbs, the NFL Super Bowl winning coach who had plenty of practice dealing with volatile personalities in that aspect of his career, has remained patient and said his belief in Stewart remains strong.

"He has been an integral part of this race team for almost five years now, and we want him to be an integral part of our organization for many years to come," Gibbs said. "We're confident incidents such as this one are in the past and won't be repeated in the future."