Should Tony Stewart Be Parked?

Tumbleweed

Tumbleweed

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Yes, I know that there are only two more months before he retires from NASCAR but a lot can happen in that time, especially where Tony is concerned. In just the last two weeks in a row, Tony has been involved in a major on track wreck. In each case, the wreck appeared to have been deliberately caused by him. For that matter, he pretty much admitted on camera that he had deliberately caused the Richmond wreck in my opinion.

The latest wreck (at Richmond) was particularly severe, totally destroyed a number of good cars and could easily have resulted in serious injury or even death of other drivers (or even fans as well). Tony has a *long* history of incidents (both on track and off track) over many years (one of which involved the death of another driver in Sprint cars).These incidents have either been proven to be or suspected to be as a result of anger issues he has been known for over the years. Even though I remember seeing a number of these incidents at the time, I accepted Ryan Newman’s “invitation” to Google Tony and his anger. Here is a sample of what I found:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...op-10-tantrums-of-tony-stewarts-nascar-career

I think this most recent incident at Richmond was his most egregious one in NASCAR in a long time but NASCAR only plans to “talk“ to him (and Newman) to make sure that they play nice at Chicago:

http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm#20160912b

We’ve all seen how effective just “talking” to Tony can be. I think he needs to be parked for at least a race or two or maybe even for the rest of the season. Parking him for a race would seriously damage his hopes of winning the chase. Parking him for two races would probably end those hopes completely. Parking him for the rest of the season would effectively end his NASCAR career immediately.

For those reasons, I don’t think NASCAR will park him at all, even though I think he needs to be. I just hope we can get through the end of the season without someone getting hurt.
 
I would think that it would be fair to park him. He admitted that he did it and to me Ryan didn't have a choice in the last case since the 19 was pushing him. Right now it appears that Tony thinks that since he is done he can do what he wants.
 
Tumbleweed said:
Yes, I know that there are only two more months before he retires from NASCAR but a lot can happen in that time, especially where Tony is concerned. In just the last two weeks in a row, Tony has been involved in a major on track wreck. In each case, the wreck appeared to have been deliberately caused by him. For that matter, he pretty much admitted on camera that he had deliberately caused the Richmond wreck in my opinion.

The latest wreck (at Richmond) was particularly severe, totally destroyed a number of good cars and could easily have resulted in serious injury or even death of other drivers (or even fans as well). Tony has a *long* history of incidents (both on track and off track) over many years (one of which involved the death of another driver in Sprint cars).These incidents have either been proven to be or suspected to be as a result of anger issues he has been known for over the years. Even though I remember seeing a number of these incidents at the time, I accepted Ryan Newman’s “invitation” to Google Tony and his anger. Here is a sample of what I found:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...op-10-tantrums-of-tony-stewarts-nascar-career

I think this most recent incident at Richmond was his most egregious one in NASCAR in a long time but NASCAR only plans to “talk“ to him (and Newman) to make sure that they play nice at Chicago:

http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm#20160912b

We’ve all seen how effective just “talking” to Tony can be. I think he needs to be parked for at least a race or two or maybe even for the rest of the season. Parking him for a race would seriously damage his hopes of winning the chase. Parking him for two races would probably end those hopes completely. Parking him for the rest of the season would effectively end his NASCAR career immediately.

For those reasons, I don’t think NASCAR will park him at all, even though I think he needs to be. I just hope we can get through the end of the season without someone getting hurt.
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Believe it or not a lot of people eat this crap up and see drivers deliberately taking out each other plus fisticuffs and name calling as being passionate. I don't think you can even slap Smoke on the wrist because Nascar has a long history of allowing on track retribution with no real penalty. Serious issues to Nascar are things like if your car or a cylinder are 1/1000th out of tolerance.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
Believe it or not a lot of people eat this crap up and see drivers deliberately taking out each other plus fisticuffs and name calling as being passionate. I don't think you can even slap Smoke on the wrist because Nascar has a long history of allowing on track retribution with no real penalty. Serious issues to Nascar are things like if your car or a cylinder are 1/1000th out of tolerance.
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In most cases I would agree but doing it on the straightaway two weeks in a row deserves punishment imo.

It seems like he believes he is entitled. He already has a spot in the chase, throwing away a race prior to the chase was an option. He needs to be corrected.

But it won't happen. Nascar is too corporate dependent to ever make it happen. The opportunity to yap over a strong chase performance from Tony prevails.
 
NASCAR will miss guys like Tony. NASCAR needs the black hats (on the track---we know what tony does for people off the track). I think they will play newmans comments over and over and hype it...as in ...WILL NEWMAN pay tony back during the chase???? tune in to find out....
 
So , what are we saying ? Nascar should penalize the obvious ones ? The ones caught on camera ? The ones that aren't even denied ? You have to know that his stuff goes on all through the field , in every race . Most start out with the same pushing and shoving but don't end in cars getting wrecked. But the same intent was there , just a different result .I hope we aren't getting all Jimmie Johnson and banning rubbin altogether .
 
Acs said:
Nope. Policing "dirty" racing isn't the job of NASCAR. It should be handled by the drivers themselves on track or between the haulers.
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JMO but it is never a good idea to have the loonies running the asylum.

ted@economy said:
So , what are we saying ? Nascar should penalize the obvious ones ? The ones caught on camera ? The ones that aren't even denied ? You have to know that his stuff goes on all through the field , in every race . Most start out with the same pushing and shoving but don't end in cars getting wrecked. But the same intent was there , just a different result .I hope we aren't getting all Jimmie Johnson and banning rubbin altogether .
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Nothing would ever be perfect but if Nascar actually wanted to put a stop to this wild west BS a good place to start would be with the obvious stuff or when a driver essentially admits they took someone out intentionally. From that point they could decide if they wanted to police matter further.

I do think it is a matter of what an individual likes as some prefer polite people with a self of control and others like people who are easily provoked, have no control of their emotions and pop off inappropriately.

ToyYoda said:
I hope Tony at least sends him a fruit basket at Christmas.
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Maybe a membership in the beer of the month club too.
 
ted@economy said:
So , what are we saying ? Nascar should penalize the obvious ones ? The ones caught on camera ? The ones that aren't even denied ? You have to know that his stuff goes on all through the field , in every race . Most start out with the same pushing and shoving but don't end in cars getting wrecked. But the same intent was there , just a different result .I hope we aren't getting all Jimmie Johnson and banning rubbin altogether .
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Yes, other drivers have tantrums and it does go on all through the field. I think Tony is in an entirely different league however, both in the intensity of his incidents and the frequency. Even Kyle Busch, who is another of NASCAR’s most controversial drivers in my opinion (and who is not adverse to spinning someone out), doesn’t leave nearly the severity of the wreckage behind him that Tony does. An exception to that was the Ron Hornaday incident at Texas a few years ago and for which Kyle DID get parked.
 
DanicaFreak said:
NASCAR will miss guys like Tony. NASCAR needs the black hats (on the track---we know what tony does for people off the track). I think they will play newmans comments over and over and hype it...as in ...WILL NEWMAN pay tony back during the chase???? tune in to find out....
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I hope Newman makes him pay.
 
ted@economy said:
So , what are we saying ? Nascar should penalize the obvious ones ? The ones caught on camera ? The ones that aren't even denied ? You have to know that his stuff goes on all through the field , in every race . Most start out with the same pushing and shoving but don't end in cars getting wrecked. But the same intent was there , just a different result .I hope we aren't getting all Jimmie Johnson and banning rubbin altogether .
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Yes the most profound assholes deserve the consequences.
 
LouieLouie said:
ehemmm (clears throat) "Boys, have at it!"
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Yep, that's what I was thinking. NASCAR encouraged this, remember?
Skoalbandit33 said:
... I don't think you can even slap Smoke on the wrist because Nascar has a long history of allowing on track retribution with no real penalty. ...
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History didn't stop them from parking Kenseth for two weeks last fall. Was Tony's action any less blatant? Did it have any less effect on a potential Chase competitor? At least Matt only took out the car he was aiming for, with no collateral damage to others.

Should they park him? I think so. Will they? No.
 
I look over and see Dale Jr. who is sidelined and possibly facing retirement because of a concussion and concussion issues directly related to crashes at these speeds, and you have this moron out here intentionally sending guys into walls or wherever they happen to land because they race hard around him - he doesn't care.

I can't wait till the guy is gone. I don't care if he bought Bryan Clauson's helmet at auction and donated it or not, he's never done anything to convince me that he's a genuine human being. He seems to have pulled the wool over the eyes of a lot of folks on here over the years in that regard. He's not a Billy Badass, he's simply just an ass.

And Newman was 100% correct in saying what he did. Screw the PC crap. This looks absolutely terrible when you consider what this man has been involved in over the past couple of years. Doesn't mean he's guilty of murder, but let's stop prancing around the fact that the guy has serious issues.
 
AdoubleU24 said:
.... I don't care if he bought Bryan Clauson's helmet at auction and donated it or not, he's never done anything to convince me that he's a genuine human being. He seems to have pulled the wool over the eyes of a lot of folks on here over the years in that regard. ...
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Some of us can separate how a person acts on the job from how they act away from it. I've know plenty of people I hate working with but like personally. I know plenty of nice people I wouldn't as co-workers for five minutes.

I'm with you on some of your points. I don't know if Ryan Newman now agrees with what he said Saturday night. Many drivers react harshly when the mike is stuffed in their faces immediately after an accident. I've grown to respect the guys who wave off the reporter and keep walking silently to the hauler.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
NASCAR let John Hunter Nemechek keep his win so, no, NASCAR shouldn't do anything about policing on track racing anymore. If they let that dirty, no good, cheap sh!t slide, anything goes IMO.
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It is one thing if you are trying to win a race coming to the checkers and another thing completely if with malice aforethought you intentionally wreck someone because you're in a pissy mood.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Yep, that's what I was thinking. NASCAR encouraged this, remember?

History didn't stop them from parking Kenseth for two weeks last fall. Was Tony's action any less blatant? Did it have any less effect on a potential Chase competitor? At least Matt only took out the car he was aiming for, with no collateral damage to others.

Should they park him? I think so. Will they? No.
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I think parking someone is the last thing Nascar wants to as if it is a popular driver you will have the team owner, sponsors and networks mad but this issue may take care of itself once Tony retires. Regardless of all the things Shrub is he has cleaned his on track actions up as have Harvick and Edwards and young guys like Bayne, Stenhouse, Elliott, Blaney and Larson seem quite well behaved.
 
LouieLouie said:
ehemmm (clears throat) "Boys, have at it!"
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Right . And that was Nascar's reaction to fans like us screaming that we had had enough of the politically correct , no touch , no fighting , no swearing , racing . The constant penalties , the checking against previous penalties, the comparing one call over another call . Call him out in the driver's meeting , tell him to grow up , embarrass him in front of his peers . Whatever ! But I don't want to Nascar penalizing every incident . Judging intent . Judging retaliation .
 
AdoubleU24 said:
I look over and see Dale Jr. who is sidelined and possibly facing retirement because of a concussion and concussion issues directly related to crashes at these speeds, and you have this moron out here intentionally sending guys into walls or wherever they happen to land because they race hard around him - he doesn't care.

I can't wait till the guy is gone. I don't care if he bought Bryan Clauson's helmet at auction and donated it or not, he's never done anything to convince me that he's a genuine human being. He seems to have pulled the wool over the eyes of a lot of folks on here over the years in that regard. He's not a Billy Badass, he's simply just an ass.

And Newman was 100% correct in saying what he did. Screw the PC crap. This looks absolutely terrible when you consider what this man has been involved in over the past couple of years. Doesn't mean he's guilty of murder, but let's stop prancing around the fact that the guy has serious issues.
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No question Smoke has had more incidents then I can count and he has impulse control issues to say the least. However bad his on and off track issues have been he is a decent guy and has helped many people without any fanfare. In no way am I trying to mitigate his on track behavior but it doesn't preclude him from doing good things away from the track.
 
ted@economy said:
Right . And that was Nascar's reaction to fans like us screaming that we had had enough of the politically correct , no touch , no fighting , no swearing , racing . The constant penalties , the checking against previous penalties, the comparing one call over another call . Call him out in the driver's meeting , tell him to grow up , embarrass him in front of his peers . Whatever ! But I don't want to Nascar penalizing every incident . Judging intent . Judging retaliation .
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I don't know. I get what you're saying when it's actually a gray area. But this was blatant and the repeated nature of it makes NASCAR look awfully weak to let it go. They don't have to judge intent, Tony was clear that it was retaliatory and intentional. Even if he hadn't been, anyone with eyes knew it was.

If this isn't worthy of a penalty, I don't know what is. I guess to Andy's point nothing is. I don't agree about the comparison to Nemechek. No matter how over the top, he was going for a win and the other guy finished second. Yes the result of the action has to be taken into account. But since we know that NASCAR is always making it up as they go along, we'll find out where the invisible line is in a few weeks when the wind is blowing in a different direction.
 
gnomesayin said:
I don't know. I get what you're saying when it's actually a gray area. But this was blatant and the repeated nature of it makes NASCAR look awfully weak to let it go. They don't have to judge intent, Tony was clear that it was retaliatory and intentional. Even if he hadn't been, anyone with eyes knew it was.

If this isn't worthy of a penalty, I don't know what is. I guess to Andy's point nothing is. I don't agree about the comparison to Nemechek. No matter how over the top, he was going for a win and the other guy finished second. Yes the result of the action has to be taken into account. But since we know that NASCAR is always making it up as they go along, we'll find out where the invisible line is in a few weeks when the wind is blowing in a different direction.
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I don't think Nascar wants to draw new lines with a popular past champion in his final ten races . More likely they will bring the hammer down on a Carl Long .
 
ted@economy said:
Right . And that was Nascar's reaction to fans like us screaming that we had had enough of the politically correct , no touch , no fighting , no swearing , racing . The constant penalties , the checking against previous penalties, the comparing one call over another call . Call him out in the driver's meeting , tell him to grow up , embarrass him in front of his peers . Whatever ! But I don't want to Nascar penalizing every incident . Judging intent . Judging retaliation .
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Ted, no one needs to reinvent the wheel here. If there is a case where it is obvious to all that a driver has crossed the line Nascar should take action. This BS with Tony Stewart and the stuff with Kenseth and JLo last year plus poor Danica trying to teach David Gilliland a lesson cannot be tolerated. I know there was an incident between Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer at some point and I am guessing it was a chase race as I didn't see it. Apparently Jeff deliberately took out Bowyer because he was mad that Clint had roughed him up a few time previously.

I know you have said the drivers can't be trusted when they are radioing in about debris being on the track so if they can't be trusted with a small thing like that how can they be expected to police themselves?
 
gnomesayin said:
I don't know. I get what you're saying when it's actually a gray area. But this was blatant and the repeated nature of it makes NASCAR look awfully weak to let it go. They don't have to judge intent, Tony was clear that it was retaliatory and intentional. Even if he hadn't been, anyone with eyes knew it was.

If this isn't worthy of a penalty, I don't know what is. I guess to Andy's point nothing is. I don't agree about the comparison to Nemechek. No matter how over the top, he was going for a win and the other guy finished second. Yes the result of the action has to be taken into account. But since we know that NASCAR is always making it up as they go along, we'll find out where the invisible line is in a few weeks when the wind is blowing in a different direction.
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A driver's intent is important but on the other hand whether the guy acts with malice or negligence the end result is the same. You can't have a driver on track that routinely misses shifts on restarts or one that drives into corners too deeply as even though the driver's intent is not to cause mayhem it still happens.
 
If there is a track where it was safe to retaliate, it's a short track. Heck, you often hear the commentators pointing to the short track as the places to seek revenge. Death of another driver or fans? Avoid the ridiculous hyperbole.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
A driver's intent is important but on the other hand whether the guy acts with malice or negligence the end result is the same. You can't have a driver on track that routinely misses shifts on restarts or one that drives into corners too deeply as even though the driver's intent is not to cause mayhem it still happens.
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Absolutely, and you should punish and sanction against reckless behavior. But we prosecute and sentence differently for murder vs. attempted murder vs. negligent homicide for good reason, all taking into account both the intent of the crime and the actual result.
 
On track shoving, beating, and banging has been a part of Nascar for decades, particularly at short tracks. Stewart and Newman racing for position at Richmond was nothing so unusual, typical short tempers at short tracks, and the 19 pushing the 31 from behind was a big factor in the unfortunate outcome.

The prior week at Darlington, where Stewart hooked Brian Scott in the quarter panel while four laps ahead... that was a much more egregious example IMO. Nascar should have called the 14 to the pits and spent about 5 laps discussing the need for Tony to come to the hauler post race.
 
I like Tony, I like the drama, I like the men in the cars to speak their mind and stick up for what they think is right, and I think it would be ludicrous to penalize him. Newman will pay him back if he's still feeling the same way he did on camera. Mike Helton and company don't need to get involved.
 
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