Stewart's arrival at 'Dega not what he had expected

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Members of Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 20 team arrived at Talladega Superspeedway shortly after sunrise Friday, ready to unload their orange and white racecar in preparation for the Nextel Cup weekend. NASCAR officials wouldn't let them do it.

They wanted a word with the driver first.

Tony Stewart was shaken out of bed at 6 a.m. to meet with NASCAR brass over recent remarks he made on a satellite radio program questioning the validity of debris cautions. Series president Mike Helton, vice president Robin Pemberton and Nextel Cup director John Darby spent an hour chastising the two-time champion, who later backed off comments comparing NASCAR to pro wrestling and implying that events were staged.

"To be honest, the group that I spoke with this morning is a group of peers that I trust. If they tell me the stuff is out there, I believe them," he said. "I should have went to them instead of just saying it out in public. That's frustration that's been building up for weeks with me with all these debris cautions."

Winless on the season despite leading more laps than anyone else on the Nextel Cup tour, frustrated by debris cautions that have hampered his chances of reaching Victory Lane, Stewart blew off the media after finishing second to Jeff Gordon last weekend at Phoenix. He saved his animosity for Tuesday, when he vented on the weekly Sirius Satellite Radio program he co-hosts with FOX pit reporter Matt Yocum.

"It's like playing God. They can almost dictate the race instead of the drivers doing it. It's happened too many times this year," spat Stewart, who said he was suffering from a 100-degree fever during the two-hour program, which he left early.

"I guess NASCAR thinks, 'Hey, wrestling worked, and it was for the most part staged, so I guess it's going to work in racing, too.' I can't understand how long the fans are going to let NASCAR treat them like they're stupid before the fans finally turn on NASCAR," he added.

"I don't know that they've run a fair race all year."

The remarks infuriated image-conscious NASCAR officials, who were waiting when the garage opened at 6 a.m. Friday, and wouldn't let the No. 20 team unload its car off the transporter until after they had spoken with Stewart. Later, NASCAR penalized Stewart $10,000 and placed him on probation through the end of the year -- not for his radio comments, but for violating entry-blank stipulations obligating the top three finishers to meet with the media.

"It's a little tender for me to sit down right now," Stewart quipped. (Continued)