No news that I have seen. Just for those who have not heard or read, following are the statements from Joe Gibbs and Tony Stewart.
JOE GIBBS, TEAM OWNER, JOE GIBBS RACING:
Statement on Bristol Motor Speedway incident involving Tony Stewart:
"After the Bristol race, the next week - I can't remember what day it was in there - we became aware that there was an upset fan. At that point, I went and talked to everybody that was with Tony from the time he was at the car after the race until he got to the hauler and got out of the hauler because we did have somebody assigned to be with him. So, I went and talked to those people. Basically, what they all told me was, they saw nothing out of the ordinary. At that point I just kind of dropped it and figured that was probably the end of it. Later on we find out that this person had decided to fill out some kind of a report and start a process - some kind of legal process.
"Basically, here is what our number one interest is. We want every single thing - whatever it is - truthfully, to be said about this. We would like for it all to be out in the open. In every way, we want to try and cooperate. I think that is what every single person in our group has done. We want every single part of the process and everything that happened, we would like for that to come out in this process. Basically, that is just about all that I think I ought to say at this point."
(ARE YOU SAYING THAT YOUR ARE STANDING BEHIND TONY AT THIS POINT?) "From every bit of research and all the people we had, I'm not even sure of exactly what all happened on the other side, but I can tell you that from our side we had people with Tony the whole way and followed him the whole way, and I think the simplest thing I can say is that all those people have said that they saw nothing out of the ordinary.
"I don't think it does any good to draw conclusions. We've got a process that's in place here. I think everybody, just through common sense out there, would say, 'Hey, we've got to just kind of work our way through this and hopefully it just gets worked out in the right way.' Whatever the facts are the facts are. That is the way I look at it. That's what we want to have happen."
ON THE PROCESS:
"They just explained to me it is a process you go through and we entered that. I'm sure that they are probably going to be moving forward fairly quickly, I would think."
NO ACTION AGAINST TONY AT THIS POINT ON YOUR END?
"No."
WAS A PERSON ASSIGNED TO BE WITH TONY FOLLOWING WHAT HAPPENED AT INDY?
"Well, yeah. To be quite truthful, we kind of felt like it was prudent on our part. I wouldn't say 'assigned;' we just wanted to make sure we had somebody there to be with him. I guess you could say it's 'assigned,' but the bottom line is, we were just concerned because we were in the situation where we couldn't afford anything else to happen, really."
Tony Stewart Statement regarding Sullivan County (Tenn.) Sheriff's Office investigation.
HENRICO COUNTY, Va., (Sept. 7, 2002) - The following is a statement from NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver Tony Stewart regarding the ongoing investigation by the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office into an alleged incident between Stewart and a fan following the Aug. 24 Sharpie 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
"In light of the ongoing investigation into the alleged incident following the Bristol night race, it would be inappropriate for me to comment in any great detail until law enforcement officials have completed their investigation, interviewing anyone and everyone who has knowledge about the events that transpired in the moments following the race.
"I am personally cooperating with the investigators, and I have advised all the people who work with me to cooperate as well. I am confident that once the investigation is complete, I will be cleared of any and all accusations.
"I will say, however, that I did not assault anyone. In fact, I am shocked and truly at a loss as to why someone would make such an allegation."
