Tony Stewart, unleashed
Tony Stewart erupts in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
Actually it was last night on his weekly radio show. A big chunk of the transcript -- in which he rants about debris cautions, bottle-throwing fans and meeting with reporters -- is after the jump.
I think his dig at reporters was off-base. (Tony doesn't need help - just a reporter with a working tape recorder - to stir up trouble.) But his take on debris cautions and anti-Gordon sentiment is right on.
If Stewart bores you, here's your escape hatch: Dustin Long updates you on Junior's contract negotiations here. Dustin's also curious about how 3 fans feel about Gordon's 76th win here.
Check Dustin's blog in a little bit for something Rusty Wallace said today about Jeff Gordon. Remember a year ago, Rusty was questioning Gordon's focus on racing.
Or if you want to plow through one of Tony Stewart's greatest hits, click the link. ...
Tony Stewart on finishing second at Phoenix:
"I was ecstatic with the way we ran all day. I don't think we had the fastest car. I think our teammate (Denny Hamlin) had the fastest car and I think Jeff and I were just kind of tied on having what we had. It was literally a matter of track position with Jeff and I. There were parts of the run that I would be faster than him and vice versa. Knowing that Jeff had won at a track he hadn't won at before, it doesn't make the loss any better but you're at least happy for a guy.
"I wasn't at all frustrated that we had lost. Considering the way our weekend went last weekend I thought it was a great way to rebound and shows how tough the Home Depot team really is. I was disappointed for Denny because I knew he had the fastest car and probably should have led the whole damn race but he had a penalty that he had to go to the tail of the longest line for and that was pretty early in the race when NASCAR was making sure they kept as many guys on the lead lap as possible. The aggravation for me was I didn't want to go in the media center and bash NASCAR. I don't mind doing it on my own radio show but you do it with some of these other guys and they're going to write it wrong and make it sound worse than what it is or whatever. Which, it's bad.
"Anybody that thinks this debris caution stuff is the right direction for NASCAR I think you're crazy. We caught the pack. We caught Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick and no [sooner] than we caught them when a debris caution came out. Well, why would you do that when you've got three guys in a battle for the lead? I was coming so fast it was inevitable I was going to go around those guys and, of course, NASCAR throws a debris caution. Then, after I got home everybody was telling me how the TV [broadcasters] said if they could find the debris they would show it but they couldn't find it. I don't know how long NASCAR thinks they can treat the fans like they're ignorant before the fans finally start turning on the officials and say, 'Listen, let these guys race.'"
Stewart on skipping the post-race interview session:
"They ask you to stay for media stuff but with my reputation in the sport and with my outbursts and everything we've become smart enough to know if it's something where I'm going to make as ass out of myself, we're better off to actually just leave than sit there and create even bigger issues than what we did by not going this week.
"The only thing I was furious about was NASCAR. You have two cautions in a 312 lap race that are due to an incident and the rest of it is all debris. The thing that was ironic to me and that I thought was funny is that they sent us out for our first Happy Hour session on Friday afternoon before Busch qualifying. They sent us out on the racetrack, they had so much oil dry down from the race the night before that you couldn't even drive around there. Then, Kenny Schrader lost a motor in practice and everybody's sliding around, the times slowed down a half a second. And they threw the caution once and just because they drove the pace car around there a lap and couldn't see it, it wasn't there.
"So they don't mind us running around with crap on the racetrack in practice but, boy, as soon as there's one piece of rubber off of a tire on the racetrack, they're all more than willing to throw the caution to bunch everybody up and keep guys on the lead lap. I thought that was what racing was all about, being better than the rest of the guys."
Stewart on why he didn't go to the interview session after he cooled down:
"It's not an obligation. I mean, yes, that's what I'm there for Home Depot, too. But if it's going to create more destruction than it is good what's the point in even going? And NASCAR's going to say I'm not doing it right and Home Depot probably is, too, but when NASCAR can run a race right and not tamper with it every week like they're doing then we'll follow along with them. But it's hard to follow along and want to do that stuff when NASCAR won't even run a fair race."
"We get paid a lot of money to go out there and race but, to me, it's not all about the money. It's about the integrity of the race and the integrity of the sport and when I feel like our own sanctioning body isn't taking care of that it's hard to support them. It's hard to feel proud about being a driver in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series when they're throwing debris cautions. It's like playing God. They can almost dictate the race at that point instead of the drivers doing it. It's happened too many times this year and it's to the point to where you just get so frustrated it's hard to fathom why the fans, when TV is saying, 'Hey, as soon as we can see it we'll show it to you.' Obviously it's a topic of discussion or they wouldn't even say that. They'd go to commercial and skip over it. But enough of it has gone on that even fans are writing in, fans are calling in about it. At what point does NASCAR get the hint? I guess that NASCAR thinks, 'Hey, wrestling worked and it was, for the most part, staged so I guess it's going to work in racing, too."
Stewart on the negative fan reaction to Jeff Gordon's tribute to Dale Earnhardt Sr. during his victory lap:
"To tie somebody like Dale Earnhardt in wins like that is a historic moment in our sport, let alone the fact that I think it was one of only three racetracks on the schedule that he had not won at in his career. That really disappoints me to see that fans think they have to throw stuff. If you want to throw stuff go into your back yard and throw stuff at each other. Save the kid's play for home. He was showing respect to a man that he had a lot of admiration for."