Tony Stewart buys Bryan Clauson's helmet at auction, gives it to Clauson family

HoneyBadger

HoneyBadger

I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
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"Class act as always" is a bit of a reach unless we're talking about a different guy named Tony Stewart lol

But yes this was a great gesture by him.
 
I'm glad we got that cleared up.

Stewart has a very generous character and has demonstrated that for years. Beyond that, he's part of the tight community that races these dangerous tube framed, high horsepower weapons all over the country, night after night, week in and week out. His helmet and his money was lovingly given to a close friend's fiance, a woman he knows well.

Not sure what the primary ingredient is but these people ... drivers, crews, friends and family members who basically live and work together have bonds that far exceed those that are enjoyed by any group in any other form of racing.

I've seen it up close. It's very real.
 
I'm so sad for Tony that we still have idiotic fans calling him a "murderer" and other things in comments. It's wrong, it's uncalled for, and it undermines the heart of a great person.

Tony Stewart, especially in his final year in NASCAR, deserves so much better than that. Respect this man. He helped shape the sport you love. He's a decorated racer across every discipline he ever tried. He's one of the most generous people in the garage. But dimwitted people still draw false conclusions and flap their gums too much. It needs to stop.

I hope Tony knows how much the real fans who actually understand the sport are behind him.
 
ted@economy said:
I know that it is politically incorrect to mention , but Ricky , Danica and Kyle Larson were actually a big part of the tribute to their good friend Bryan.
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If they were then by all means they should get credit for it and I would commend them for it. As for Tony I commend him for what he did also. Class act and the family and most of his fans won't forget.
 
cheesepuffs said:
But dimwitted people still draw false conclusions and flap their gums too much. It needs to stop.
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As long as they have access to the 'net, it never will.


Many who don't much care for Stewart, the driver, acknowledge and appreciate the good things he, the person, does.

Those deeds won't be forgotten. One, in particular, struck very close to home for me.
 
ted@economy said:
Normally the mention of one of their names brings out the haters and ruins the thread . That would be unfair to Tony and his good deed
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IDK of anyone on the forum that hates any of the 3 drivers you mentioned unless you are using the words hate and criticize interchangeably which given the state of the English language today would not be surprising. I wonder what the new word/meaning for criticize is? I will cast my vote for "Chrytran" which means "feeling neutral" and the new word for hate will be "Clintrump."

Now it is time to try and use the new words/meanings in a sentence. "I am chrytran concerning Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard but I hate drivers on successful teams that don't accomplish what they should. I clintrump it when cup drivers invade the lesser series.....well I really don't clintrump it but I don't like it.

Tony is volatile, temperamental, prone to fits of anger and is sometimes his own worst enemy but at the end of the day my fellow Hoosier is a good man and has done many nice things for many people along the way.
 
I only brought it up because the three couples were very close . Ricky drove Bryan's car during the pace laps, Kyle drove in the race and Danica worked in his souvenir trailor .
 
I used the term "worshipper" because some folks seem to have moved way past "admiration" and "fan". "Fan" does come from the word "fanatic", does it not?

For some reason they are so "into" their favorite driver that he (she) can do no wrong.
Their driver never makes mistakes. Never cheats. Has no prejudices.

I suppose that comes from immaturity.
And I see a lot of that here.
When someone (me, in this case) makes a comment, which is simply my opinion, if it comes from my brain, they lack the intellect to respond with their own opinion and resort to name calling.

Some lack the simple kindergarten art of name-calling and chant, "troll, troll,troll!" all the time visualizing an extremely ugly little man that lives under a bridge, never having looked up the definition of internet troll.

Grow up. Grow a set. Interact with those around you. Learn something. Discuss something. Understand something. Entertain and be entertained.

If we can carry on a conversation I may convince you to cheer for the most talented driver this sport has seen in many years...
 
bustedknee said:
I used the term "worshipper" because some folks seem to have moved way past "admiration" and "fan". "Fan" does come from the word "fanatic", does it not?

For some reason they are so "into" their favorite driver that he (she) can do no wrong.
Their driver never makes mistakes. Never cheats. Has no prejudices.

I suppose that comes from immaturity.
And I see a lot of that here.
When someone (me, in this case) makes a comment, which is simply my opinion, if it comes from my brain, they lack the intellect to respond with their own opinion and resort to name calling.

Some lack the simple kindergarten art of name-calling and chant, "troll, troll,troll!" all the time visualizing an extremely ugly little man that lives under a bridge, never having looked up the definition of internet troll.

Grow up. Grow a set. Interact with those around you. Learn something. Discuss something. Understand something. Entertain and be entertained.

If we can carry on a conversation I may convince you to cheer for the most talented driver this sport has seen in many years...
Click to expand...

I love the indignant outrage!

I thought I said it well when I said Tony had nothing to be guilty of as he didn't do anything wrong. What are you supposed to do when some kid jumps out of his car and runs under your wheel?

Years back a woman blew an intersection and a friend of mine T-Boned her and she died. My friend broke a couple of bones and had lacerations but for the most part was fine and still is all this time later. Once he had started driving again I asked him what it felt like and he said that it felt strange to make left hand turns for some reason and he was hyper vigilant at intersections. A while later he told me that he could still see the lady's face in the car before impact and although it was upsetting he was OK as he did nothing wrong.

The key with Tony Stewart and my friend is the incidents they were involved in were not their faults and to feel guilty about something that is not your fault is daft wouldn't you agree?
 
What still hurts my brain about the original comment isn't so much the attempt at 'trolling', but its logic. Since he refuses to actually clarify what his important opinion means, I will wallow into the mud to attempt it. If we are to follow bustedknee's reasoning:

1. Tony Stewart feels guilty about the death of Kevin Ward Jr. in 2014 and his part in it.

- Ok, fair enough, that's entirely possible and even likely. Who in his position wouldn't struggle with that, whether he actually did anything wrong or not?

2. Two years later, Bryan Clauson dies in an on-track accident at the Belleville Nationals.

- If bustedknee has a point, it seems to be that Stewart's obvious grief displayed in TV interviews and social media over Clauson's death and his subsequent gifts and support offered to Clauson's family aren't due to the fact that he had known Clauson since he was a teenager and that Clauson had driven for Stewart's team and won USAC championships doing so. No. He did all of this because he is still guilty about Kevin Ward.

When Stewart reacted very similarly and offered similar assitance in 2013 after the sprint car racing accident death of Jason Leffler, he also didn't do that because Leffler was a longtime friend, teammate, and kindred spirit. He did it because he knew somewhere in the recesses of his mind that he might accidentally kill someone soon, and he better build up all the goodwill he can before that happens.

Similarly, all of the financial support, assistance with transportation, etc. that Stewart has offered to countless grass roots racers both employed by him and not employed by him both before 2014 and since 2014 has all been due to his feelings about Kevin Ward.
 
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Tony Stewart is probably the most generous driver in the NASCAR garage...and has always been that way. Not just with his money, but also with his time and advice. I've heard countless stories of him calling young drivers, unsolicited, and offering advice, encouragement etc. Almost no one in Cup does that...even "teammates." He also makes so many charitable donations and appearances, and requests they all be done off the record (I know this because I'm friends with his PR guys, who are constantly frustrated that they can't combat all the negative with all the positive he does, because he'd rather not promote that stuff).
 
Allenbaba said:
Tony Stewart is probably the most generous driver in the NASCAR garage...and has always been that way. Not just with his money, but also with his time and advice. I've heard countless stories of him calling young drivers, unsolicited, and offering advice, encouragement etc. Almost no one in Cup does that...even "teammates." He also makes so many charitable donations and appearances, and requests they all be done off the record (I know this because I'm friends with his PR guys, who are constantly frustrated that they can't combat all the negative with all the positive he does, because he'd rather not promote that stuff).
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I think a great many of us are well aware of Tony's generosity . You hear small things over the years , like 'Tonys plane was immediately made available to the family ,' etc. Too bad some folks will jump into every thread about Tony with their old opinions. I hope he remains close to this sport as an owner.
 
Allenbaba said:
Tony Stewart is probably the most generous driver in the NASCAR garage...and has always been that way. Not just with his money, but also with his time and advice. I've heard countless stories of him calling young drivers, unsolicited, and offering advice, encouragement etc. Almost no one in Cup does that...even "teammates." He also makes so many charitable donations and appearances, and requests they all be done off the record (I know this because I'm friends with his PR guys, who are constantly frustrated that they can't combat all the negative with all the positive he does, because he'd rather not promote that stuff).
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As a fellow Hoosier I know that the Rushville Rocket has done many good things for people and companies in Indiana.
 
Well, I have certainly enjoyed this thread but it seems to be winding down.

It went off track early on with the obsessive folks imagining posts and comments then resorting to name-calling.

But I learned a lot. Mainly, there are several posters that seem to feel they "own" the forum, maybe because they have been on here a lot longer than others or have logged more posts...
While others seem to feel they not only know everything about NASCAR but also racing and life.

And as always there are my favorites, the snowflakes, who get offended by everything that is said even though it does not involve them personally. Especially if it does not involve them personally.

This forum, any forum really, is a cross section of our society so it is easy to seseethe source of many of the current problems with our country.

I've mentioned the snowflakes, there are those who are ignorant of history - don't know or care what we had and where it went.
Those who just want an excuse to drink more beer.
Those who refuse to think for themselves...to the point they cannot think up a reply so they simply resort to name-calling. They can't come up with a name on their own so they keep repeating the last insult they heard.
There are even people that will dump their favorite driver because of someone else that also claims him as their favorite driver. It
concerns me that they most likely chose their president on the recommendation of Bruce Jenner.

I truly enjoy watching the animals when I go to the zoo.
However, did anyone notice the Kyle Busch thread that went away when the thread went awry?

This is bound to happen more and more if the know-it-alls continue with the name calling

Lets discuss racing.
 
bustedknee said:
Well, I have certainly enjoyed this thread but it seems to be winding down.
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Nice of you to wind it up again.

bustedknee said:
It went off track early on with the obsessive folks imagining posts and comments then resorting to name-calling.
Click to expand...
It went off track when you took it off track.

The rest of your mindless rambling attempts to place you on a higher plane than the rest of us. It had the opposite effect.

bustedknee said:
Lets discuss racing.
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I won't speak for anyone else but I enjoy discussing racing with people who actually know something about it.
 
bustedknee said:
I used the term "worshipper" because some folks seem to have moved way past "admiration" and "fan". "Fan" does come from the word "fanatic", does it not?

For some reason they are so "into" their favorite driver that he (she) can do no wrong.
Their driver never makes mistakes. Never cheats. Has no prejudices.

I suppose that comes from immaturity.
And I see a lot of that here.
When someone (me, in this case) makes a comment, which is simply my opinion, if it comes from my brain, they lack the intellect to respond with their own opinion and resort to name calling.

Some lack the simple kindergarten art of name-calling and chant, "troll, troll,troll!" all the time visualizing an extremely ugly little man that lives under a bridge, never having looked up the definition of internet troll.

Grow up. Grow a set. Interact with those around you. Learn something. Discuss something. Understand something. Entertain and be entertained.

If we can carry on a conversation I may convince you to cheer for the most talented driver this sport has seen in many years...
Click to expand...

Tony Stewart has lost his temper in the heat of the moment. Every driver has. Hell, we all have.

Doesn't change that he's a good dude with a big heart.

That's not worship.

Even Kyle Busch fans, who are probably the most loyal and devoted fans in racing, if not in all of sports, acknowledge his character and personality flaws. I'm talking about the real Kyle fans, not the ones who jumped on the bandwagon when he won the championship.
 
bustedknee said:
Well, I have certainly enjoyed this thread but it seems to be winding down.

It went off track early on with the obsessive folks imagining posts and comments then resorting to name-calling.

But I learned a lot. Mainly, there are several posters that seem to feel they "own" the forum, maybe because they have been on here a lot longer than others or have logged more posts...
While others seem to feel they not only know everything about NASCAR but also racing and life.

And as always there are my favorites, the snowflakes, who get offended by everything that is said even though it does not involve them personally. Especially if it does not involve them personally.

This forum, any forum really, is a cross section of our society so it is easy to seseethe source of many of the current problems with our country.

I've mentioned the snowflakes, there are those who are ignorant of history - don't know or care what we had and where it went.
Those who just want an excuse to drink more beer.
Those who refuse to think for themselves...to the point they cannot think up a reply so they simply resort to name-calling. They can't come up with a name on their own so they keep repeating the last insult they heard.
There are even people that will dump their favorite driver because of someone else that also claims him as their favorite driver. It
concerns me that they most likely chose their president on the recommendation of Bruce Jenner.

I truly enjoy watching the animals when I go to the zoo.
However, did anyone notice the Kyle Busch thread that went away when the thread went awry?

This is bound to happen more and more if the know-it-alls continue with the name calling

Lets discuss racing.
Click to expand...
Well, that was a little unnecessary..
 
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