Latest allegation against Stewart smells funny

I smell a rat in the woodpile regarding this latest alleged incident with Tony Stewart.

	Tim Packman

After the Indianapolis incident, the devil's advocate in me said that there will be a time in the near future that someone may try to capitalize on this deal.

With Stewart being fined by and put on probation by NASCAR and his sponsor, I was wondering if this was going to be the ticket to fame for someone.

Look at all the attention that the last confrontation brought to Stewart -- and the photographer involved. At least it was done within a week.

I don't defend any of Stewart's recent questionable conduct. The spinning of Jeff Gordon at Bristol last year, the tape recorder and NASCAR official incidents at Daytona and the recent one at Indy were all obvious.

However, the latest one smells like 10-day old fish in the 98-degree heat.

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Allegedly, a female fan was shoved by Stewart in the garage area immediately following the Sharpie 500 at Bristol on Aug. 24. Then, Tuesday -- ten days later -- she came forward to file a complaint.

Not one or two days later mind you, but a week and a half after the incident. I hope this woman doesn't plan on a future as an overnight delivery person.

Smelling something yet?

The Sullivan County (Tenn.) Sheriff's Office didn't issue a press release about the investigation until Friday. It simply said that the sheriff and county district attorney general announced they were conducting, "...an ongoing investigation of an alleged assault."

At Richmond on Friday, representatives of the Sullivan County, Tenn., sheriff's department and investigators from the county's district attorney general's office came to the track to take statements from Stewart, his owner Joe Gibbs, his public relations representative Mike Arning and others.

OK, that's fair enough. That's what should be done to figure out what went down.

It appears that many of Stewart's fellow drivers knew of the incident prior to the official announcement. However, they didn't want talk about it because the more attention that is brought to matters like this, the more likely other incidents would follow.

That is, until the pre-race driver's meeting at Richmond when Dale Jarrett, the 1999 Winston Cup Series champion, got up and spoke in Stewart's defense.

	Tony Stewart has had a tumultuous Winston Cup career. Credit: Autostock

"As many of you may know, one our fellow drivers is currently involved in something," Jarrett said, standing in front of the group. "Tony, you are one of the big reasons so many of those fans are out here tonight. I just want you to know that you have our support.

"We'll do whatever it takes to be there for you and you have our support."

Need more food for thought?

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sullivan County Sheriff Wayne Anderson said that one of his deputies, Shane Christian, witnessed the alleged incident.

"What happened was, Tony Stewart was walking and came upon this female fan," Anderson told the newspaper. "During the course of this, he shoved her up against a trailer."

Keep in mind that there is only a few feet of space between each trailer the way they're backed tightly into Bristol's half-mile track.

The article said the fan was from West Virginia and was authorized to be in the pits. That's fine, but it seems like most everyone is allowed in the pits lately. We've even joked that driver introductions were going to be canceled at some races because every fan had seemingly met all the drivers personally in the pits before the race.

The sheriff also told the newspaper that Stewart continued on and the woman was talked to by the deputy who witnessed the scene. She said she wanted time to think it over.

Think it over.

To me, that screams of thinking it over with lawyers, family, her banker, her hairdresser and anyone else that wanted to hear.

Then, 10 days later, she contacted the sheriff's department.

I smell a rat.

Tim Packman's column appears every Saturday on NASCAR.com. The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.