Friday night at 7:30PM it will fall to Allen Bestwick to host the NASCAR Countdown pre-race show on ESPN. This week's Nationwide Series race is from Bristol, TN. That, however, may not be what is foremost on the minds of many fans.
There are a lot of opinions about what happened last week after the race that resulted in some of the harshest penalties ever levied in the Nationwide Series. Bestwick's task will be to add some facts to the story that ESPN had a very big hand in creating.
ESPN's Tim Brewer was called-out on Tony Stewart's weekly Sirius radio show for Brewer's suggestion that the two JGR drivers may have played a role in the insertion of magnetic spacers that affected the travel of the throttle cable on the dyno test after the MIS event.
Joe Gibbs assured fans that the drivers had no role in this incident and stated that JGR is going to appeal the points penalty and season-long probation that Stewart and Joey Logano received to the NASCAR commission. He made these statements Wednesday on ESPN2's NASCAR Now to reporter Marty Smith.
In the same show, ESPN Lead Analyst Dale Jarrett stated that in his opinion the drivers were not involved. That same Mr. Jarrett will be working the Nationwide Series race from Bristol and appearing on the NASCAR Countdown pre-race show.
Bestwick will be joined in the ESPN Infield Pit Studio by Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. Also on-hand will be Andy Petree upstairs in the announce booth alongside Jarrett. Finally, live in Bristol from the Tech Center will be Mr. Brewer.
All of these ESPN on-air personalities are going to have a role in the discussion of deciding if one of the biggest names in NASCAR was directly involved in cheating on a Toyota dyno test at MIS. That name is not Joey Logano.
It was Nationwide Series Director Joe Balash who told Stewart that ESPN had used his name when discussing the incident and how it might have occurred. That did not go over well with a current Toyota driver who is about to become a Chevy owner.
Stewart was hot and it would quite possibly be in the best interest of ESPN to address the issue before putting a live microphone in-front of Mr. Stewart on Friday night. If ESPN needs help with that decision, perhaps a single phone call to Goodyear would suffice.
Handling the reporting duties from the garage and pit road for the evening will be Jamie Little, Shannon Spake, Dave Burns and Mike Massaro. What they will add during the pre-race show on this Nationwide Series key story should be interesting. Once the race is underway, pit reporting at Bristol is a nightmare. The noise level in the infield can only be described as deafening.
Race coverage is scheduled to begin at 8PM and with a lot on-the-line at this time of the year, tempers are going to be tight. Fans saw good two-wide racing in the NCTS event on Wednesday, so perhaps the Nationwide Series will find room to race as well.
Last week, ESPN shocked many fans by leaving a live NASCAR post-race show seven minutes early to get to the stick-and-ball world of SportsCenter. Friday night the live Nationwide Series race coverage is scheduled to run until 10:30PM. Waiting to go on-the-air at that time will be yet another edition of SportsCenter.
There will be a new post up for in-progress comments on the Friday night ESPN coverage from Bristol at 6PM.
This post will serve to host your pre-race comments about the issues discussed above and any other TV-related opinions. To add your comment, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy directions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page.
Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet and join our Internet conversation.
I think it would be really interesting to see what Tony really has to say. He really has nothing to lose and frankly he needs to tell ESPN what he thinks about being accused of cheating. I do not think that he or Lagono had anything to do with it, but cannot believe that they did not have knowledge that something was not right when they pushed on the accelerator. I have a feeling that this was done before the race somehow and that the crew chiefs and the other crew members were involved and frankly I hope that Joe Gibbs fires the ones that were involved. I really feel for him because he has run a first class operation and deserves all of the credit that he has received and now this will definitely cloud his reputation in the garage area and that is just wrong unlike what happened to Michael Waltrip last year at Daytona.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, ESPN wont make mention of it. It was one of the Analysts opinion. Thats what they are hired to do is give their opinion. I never heard anyone on ESPN say "The drivers ARE the ones who put the magnets under the gas pedal." It was all speculation by Mr. Brewer. Once again I believe this whole thing is being blown out of proportion and words are being taken out of context. Its funny how the last few weeks when a major NASCAR story breaks it always seems to tie into NASCAR TV. I wish this blog would go back to is roots and stay on the topic of NASCAR television and not NASCAR news.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:08PM,
ReplyDeleteI have a couple hundred emailers and a ton of comments that suggest you might be a bit off-base.
The reason this issue is up is simply because of the on-going fuss.
We are the location to talk about what is going-on in the media, we not make stories that get distributed.
What we want is exactly what you started out to say. How you feel about this issue. If it is a big deal over nothing, just tell us.
We are going to focus on race coverage Friday and Saturday night just like we did for the Trucks on Wednesday.
I think ESPN has the ability to get all the parties together and clear the air, but I could start a new blog with the Tony Stewart email in the past couple of days.
Anyway, it should be interesting.
JD
It seems to me that Tony is now in a new world and now cannot think of just himself. It now should benefit him to try to get along with (and on) ESPN since he is still in the process of signing 1 or more sponsors for the 2nd Stewart-Haas car for 2009. I big part of the sponsor game is getting TV exposure that at least is not unflattering for the sponsor. Now he needs to "kill" them with kindness.
ReplyDelete"Splainin"...one of my favorite words I quote....and love the 'two-toned Ricky Ricardo jacket'.
ReplyDeletethe latter a line from 35 yr old Jimmy Buffett song :)
Still don't know what to make of all this but yes, Tony needs to think of more than himself but needs to clear the air...and maybe somehow take the higher ground.
After all, ESPN seems to make one blunder after another these days and then pretend it never happened.
An analyst's opinion is one thing. But to denigrate the reputation of a driver, with absolutely no concrete evidence, goes way beyond opinion. No matter how you feel about it, most casual observers of ESPN will take what's said by any of those analysts as truth. Most don't look at comments such as those given by the likes of Brewer or David Newton as "personal commentary". Most look at those comments as fact, pure and simple.
ReplyDeleteWill ESPN make mention of this issue? I highly doubt it. When have you heard of ESPN's Nascar analysts saying they're sorry for what they incorrectly reported? I can't remember anything. David Newton is the poster child for bad reporting, using unsubstantiated opinions to provide "breaking news". ESPN's apology will consist of what we've already seen on Nascar Now, but I highly doubt that we'll hear a full-on apology. That's just not ESPN's MO.
JD - "Stewart was hot and it would quite possibly be in the best interest of ESPN to address the issue before putting a live microphone in-front of Mr. Stewart on Friday night.
ReplyDeleteESPN may get a temporary reprieve: I don't believe Tony will be there Friday night.
He was scheduled to run his dirt modified at PIR Thursday night (the dirt track he co-owns in Paducah, KY with Dale Jr and Ken Schrader). However due to rain the race was rescheduled to Friday night.
There is definitely no love lost between Tony and ESPN. It'll be fun to watch what kind of jabs he gets in Saturday night.
What would make anyone here think that ESPN will go out of it's way to get any story correct? If they cannot even see that there are 43 cars on any given track at the start of a race and perhaps a few less at the end of the race then how are they going to get a complex story line correct?
ReplyDeleteI would hope that ESPN will setup up just four cameras for the Bristol race. Set them up high on the top of the grandstands and switch between them. This way we will see all of 43 cars not just the 10 or so cars they can only see.
You can go back to the very early days of ESPN and see that they still have their strange fetish for dropping everything to run Sportscenter . There were constant complaints in the 1980s about that .Yet here we are , decades later , and we are still forced to have to complain about something that should be obvious to ESPN .
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that all knowing , all seeing NASCAR has decided to punish two drivers for an infraction that probably had nothing to do with them . Take away points from the drivers . Sure . The cars were in violation of the rules . But how do we justify probations for the drivers when the they havn't been proven to have any knowledge of what went on . In fact the Gibbs organization has said the drivers were not involved .
I don't think either driver was involved and I think the magnet was put in place after the race when the crew member goes in to retrieve helmet, booties, water bottles, etc.. The magnet may have been in the car during the race but it wasn't in place until afterward. These guys are pretty ingenious and innovative, finding a way to put a magnet in place shouldn't be that difficult.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, since when does the driver not get penalized with the rest of the team?
What ESPN did was wrong because they specifically called the drivers out without proof. The drivers are part of the team and that's why they get penalized but this case shouldn't be tried by the media. All we know is that someone at JGR cheated - until there are real facts it is wrong to point the finger at any one team member.
The magnet may have been in the car during the race but it wasn't in place until afterward.
ReplyDeleteI find it amusing how many people with absolutely NO WAY to know things like this for certain are happy to make statements like this.
I am really happy to hear that Joe Gibbs is making the parties involved pay their fines and not the organization. I hope that teaches them a very valuable lesson and as far as the race is concerned, I may listen to it on MRN instead of the crap pouring out of Jerry Punch's mouth. It will definitely be more fun listening to it that way instead.
ReplyDeleteI read the apologies by the two crew chiefs and from what I understood from each of them that they knew about the a magnets but who put them there no one is saying just yet. Maybe we'll find out this weekend it's a very strange story to me. Of course when things disappear in my house, it's always the invisible gremlin that does it.
ReplyDeletefrom over on the earlier column about jgr:
ReplyDeleteanonymous said...
"It's relevant because the guys on TV are supposed to be asking the right questions (see the title of JD's piece) and that is apparently not happening. They're also not suppose to accuse people of guilt without having some kind of evidence, which is what some are upset about."
thank you, anon! that is my entire complaint in a nutshell.
as for tony needing to "play nice" w/espn this weekend b/c tony is now an owner and will need them for his team and sponsors: i don't think tony stewart will have any problem getting media coverage for steawart-haas racing next year. it's not as if he's a third tier driver at the end of his career with no championships in his pocket. he's beginning the transition from driver into driver/owner and will then move from driver/owner into owner. each step will be watched, analyzed, discussed. i stated this earlier and i stand by it: espn needs tony stewart more than tony stewart needs espn. tony will have the rest of nascar media at his beck and call and, given his history w/the network, freezing out espn, even if only for a while, would be understandable.
(and i don't think young mr logano's dad is all that happy with espn either.)
red, glad you brought up Joey. I just find it hard to believe that anyone at JGR would even *ask* an 18 year old kid to do this. Not saying he's never seen cheating in his young career, but this is a bit over the top, asking him to do something to 'fool' NASCAR inspectors at the start of his career. I'm assuming both drivers would understand what it does...but are we sure they'd have felt it if it had done beforehand (or could someone have given them a different explanation for why if felt strange?) I'm technically challenged here, just asking. As for Tony...there are reasons pro and con why he would or wouldn't, but again, the minute you even *ask* a driver to do this you're putting them in a tenuous position (and what if they said no, and you risk them leaking the info?). I just can't see someone asking him to put his new team at risk of its reputation. Not trying to be naive, just doesn't seem likely. I *like* Tim Brewer in general, but if he was off base here, someone needs to call him on it--he took the potential heat by saying it aloud. Yes, the driver does get a penalty whether he knew or not, but it does go to reputation, which for both of them, is important at this time in their careers.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking the 'crew memeber retrieving stuff' sounds unlikely UNLESS there really was no official watching (I have no idea how careful they are.) Cause I have to believe that it would take a bit of time, a guy upside down with his legs sticking out or a guy with 'Stretch Armstrong' arms, lol.
The magnets under the pedals during the race comment was just plain silly. That would tell me that the JGR Toyotas were running about what 150 more horsepower than the competition and the two drivers were sandbagging? At a superspeedway? That would be amazing, almost like when Jimmy Spencer alluded to Dale Jr. having extra power in the 2001 Pepsi 400 at Daytona. I think many posters allow their xenophobia cloud their judgment. One question on Brewer spouting off. Did Rusty issue an apology for his comments about the Newman/Penske split? I don't recall that he did. You have to wonder if ESPN is looking more into the Entertainment aspect of their name than the Sports aspect and trying to "make" stories and personalities. Wouldn't be the first time they did it and won't be the last. Also, I think we give the term "reporters" a little too much legitimacy. Face it, everyone is bucking for the next highest bidder. If some guy like Brewer or Rusty makes a half-baked assumption, he may grow stale on ESPN, but Fox, TNT, NBC, whoever will come calling in the future. Would Brewer or Rusty appreciate someone going into the way back machine and digging up their cheating from their days in the sport? Shoot, most "insiders" miss on 85% or more of their information, they simply achieve credibility on the 2 or 3 things they get right.
ReplyDeleteWOW... first of all lest anyone forget BOTH cars PASSED post race inspection. SO NO the drivers could NOT possibly have placed the magnets! The only people even remotely able was anyone handling the cars post POST RACE inspection. The only reason this is even an issue at all is because this move as stupid as it was was intended to slap NASCAR in the face for the idiotic and poorly veiled attempt by NASCAR to manipulate race results and appease whiners like Jack Roush. The magnet trick was designed to make NASCAR look bad for pulling horsepower from the cars when it didn't need to. It was cheating people cheating is an attempt to gain an unfair advantage in a competition. They were attempting to make NASCAR look bad. Great thought poor execution. The better move would have been to have the engines dyno'd by a totally independent organization. ESPN is nothing more than the TMZ of sports. Gossip rumor and innuendo is its forte now. Reliable intelligent and factual reporting is gone. Tony owes ESPN nothing and if I were him and Joey Id refuse to speak to anyone from ESPN. As far as Stewart Haas NEEDING ESPN its laughable. ESPN barely covers the sport while the races are going on. I get more info from my local non race fans than I do from ESPN. ESPN signed on to cover NASCAR purely for bragging rights not because of a love of the sport or any desire to bring outstanding coverage to it. So in perspective NASCAR mainly KING BRAINLESS ( oops I mean King Brian) and his jesters Mike Helton and John Darby have their panties in a wad because someone from JGR attempted to make NASCAR look bad. Its not a cheating scandal as much as it is an issue that NASCAR is trying to manipulate results and when someone fought back , and they method those people chose was WRONG, NASCAR punched back in a fit of spoiled rage. Those at JGR who did do this should and will be punished by the team.
ReplyDeleteJD-Thanks for the laughs this morning. Starting with the title, then the picture, and then the column. Very enjoyable!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they were looking at the firewall as a part of the post-race inspection.
ReplyDeleteMy email said the spacer was inserted into a pre-made slot on the firewall and not on the underside of the pedal.
Lee Spencer over at Fox Sports has a good little article about the amount of work it took to set all this up.
JD
jd said:
ReplyDelete"My email said the spacer was inserted into a pre-made slot on the firewall and not on the underside of the pedal."
well, now. that's a new piece of information and, if true, could explain quite a bit. that's a SERIOUS piece of cheating going on, if true. wonder how the inspector found it, then.
another in a long line of things that make you go "hmmmm. . . ."
hey jd? i'm just thinking about "looking at the firewall" comment. is that a normal part of post-race inspection? if not, why would the inspector have looked there unless . . . well, fill in your own supposition here.
ReplyDeleteor give tim brewer a call.
NASCAR bans ESPN from all race track properties for several years and then brings them back to report on NASCAR races . Think there might be a bit of residual hatred by ESPN for the way they were treated ? Why should we expect any better coverage than what we're getting ?
ReplyDeleteThe Gibbs drivers should have the points taken away for the race , but i don't get the drivers probation . The crew , and specifically the crew chiefs , were responsible for any illegal parts on the car . They should get probation . But i don't agree that the drivers should .
If Tony , or any other driver should refuse to give any interviews to any media , it wouldn't bother me one bit . Stop the soap operas , just race .
I saw this posted on another website and thought that it was interesting:
ReplyDeleteListening to Moody this afternoon and the sports guy from yahoo said something about theres only 2 guys that could have done this. The crew guy or the driver. And it would have been too obvious for the crew guy to reach in there. Moody replies that the crew guy is responsible for grabbing the helmet, the gloves and anything else left behind like water bottles etc. He was told that it took the crew guy a little too long to do that, and THAT is what tipped off the officials suspicion.
Then he went on to say "Are you telling me that Tony Stewart was driving down pit road, removing his helmet, his gloves, his hans device, undoing his seatbelts, taking off his steering wheel and reaching down to slide that thing in? Have you seen him? My apologies to Tony Stewart but it would be dificult or near impossible. God bless Tony and all rotund guys everywhere but a lot of people would pay good money to see that attempt, it would be a Humpy Wheeler side show."
I just hope that someone reminds Tony that espn is not worth a $25,000 penalty when responding on tv to these inflammatory remarks.
ReplyDeleteanon 10:44, to use a Law & Order phrase, Jack Roush is not on trial here. If you read Lee Spencer's piece, as well as others, Jack's complaints are detailed and make a lot of sense--NASCAR created a problem by not allowing the other teams to make changes for that 'level playing field' (and personally, I don't care that much about particular manufacturers).
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I think I'm with JD in thinking this would not be an inspection item of the normal type...so it would make sense that the car could pass inspection with it in there. That wouldn't be a complete tear down. BTW, I don't think it's crazy to suggest they'd sandbag for one race to get an advantage for many races. I don't think that's what happened, but I don't think it's that far out there either.
I think part of the 'tough questions' not being asked by ESPN (yet) is of Robin Pemberton. Why not just say they were suspicious of a crew person's behavior (if that bit from Moody's show is true--and what an image, lol...) and that was how they found it. I'm just getting the feeling they don't want to admit someone got something past them, or almost did (and in that case, why not say, our officials caught them; it ought to be a compliment). If that isn't the case, he's basically throwing the accusation on the drivers.
NASCAR indefinately suspended seven JGR crew members. If NASCAR felt that the drivers had anything to do with this, they would have been indefinitely suspended too.
ReplyDeleteI have been very disappointed in the coverage of this story from the beginning. At its fundamentals, it is an engineering story based on NASCAR's approval of ALL manufacturers' parts and pieces and fundamental engine design. When Toyota wanted to enter the sport, NASCAR had to approve their engine design. TOYOTA had the benefit of starting with a clean sheet of paper and learning lessons that other manufacturers had learned as well from years of experience with existing engines. NASCAR's big mistake was in approving a Toyota design that made other existing engines obsolete.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, most fans aren't interested in engine design features and the NASCAR approval process. I have not seen any ESPN person offer a credible explanation of the underlying issues. And without an understanding of the underlying issues, discussions inevitably descend into subjective issues such as brand loyalty, driver reputations, the concept of fairness, etc.
Some commenters say Toyota earned their advantage through hard work and shouldn't be penalized, and the other manufacturers should respond. Chevrolet already has. They developed the RO7 engine which is now used in the Cup series. NASCAR refuses to allow the use of the RO7 engine in the Nationwide Series, supposedly for economic reasons. For those who say Toyota was penalized unfairly, why aren't you criticizing NASCAR for refusing to allow Chevy's best engine in the Nationwide series? The "penalty" assigned to Toyota in the Nationwide series never names Toyota but is framed in the reference of engine design. If Chevy's RO7 engine was approved for the series, Chevy would have the same plate restriction as Toyota.
For the technically challenged, I will offer this comparison. Suppose NASCAR approved a Toyota proposal to run a fuel-injected engine while other manufacturers are using carburetors. After a little development work, the fuel injected engines clearly have an advantage. When Chevy offers a fuel injected engine for competition, NASCAR says "No." Where's the fairness there?
The media in general (general reporting outside NASCAR or sports)does a terrible job on technical issues. Few writers have the technical education necessary to grasp technical issues and explain them to the general public. One might hope a media devoted to NASCAR could explain NASCAR issues, but that is obviously not the case. The best statement on the subject I have heard was made by Jack Roush, who is an engineer. Unfortunately, many people perceive Roush as a whining partisan and immediately disregard anything he says.
I saw Ray Evernham on Monday's NASCAR NOW and was extremely disappointed. He avoided the underlying technical issues and took a "boys will be boys" attitude. I have been one of the people who said I respected Evernham's racing credentials and would not tune him out because of personal life issues. As JD said earlier, Evernham is entitled to his opinions. Yes, he is. But if he continues to offer such ill-founded views, he will lose my professional respect as well as personal respect.
I did not see or hear Tim Brewer's remarks about the JGR drivers, so I only have people's comments to judge them on. If Brewer did not accuse them of a crime or moral turpitude, I don't think he owes anybody an apology. It sounds like he was saying that it was possible that they were involved. For those who say it was physically impossible, I think you lack imagination. For those who think Stewart or Lagono were above such things, you are kidding yourself. Before this happened, would you have thought this many people at JGR would conspire to subvert NASCAR's inspection process?
Tim Brewer had a long and successful career as a crew chief including two championship seasons. He has seen a lot, done a lot, and heard a lot of stories. He knows about driver involvement in cheating. Let's have a show of hands here: How many of us have championship crew chief as part of our resume?
I am tired of drivers trying to maintain an illusion that they are somehow separate and distinct from their crews when cheating is discovered. When they are winning, it's a team sport and the crew chief gave them a great car. When cheating is discovered, the drivers are naive little boys. Jimmie Johnson has a generally good reputation as a driver, but I have never heard him offer a word of criticism for his crew chief who happens to be one of the most penalized crew chiefs in NASCAR. If Johnson disapproved of such behavior, he could have asked for another. Instead, he accepts the wins, prize money, and championships that come from his association with Knauss. If Johnson, Stewart, Lagono, etc. accept the glory and rewards from being associated with a team that cheats, they have to accept the criticism as well when they are caught cheating. Besides, Tony Stewart is a big boy. Suck it up and move on.
Long-time observers believe NASCAR's first major commitment to reduce cheating came about 1992 when it hired Gary Nelson as director of competition and series director. At the time, Nelson was a leading crew chief who had won a series championship with Bobby Allison. He had won on every track where NASCAR raced and won with numerous other drivers besides Allison. Nelson was widely regarded as a most inventive crew chief and the most successful cheater. The general belief was that NASCAR had hired Nelson in accordance with the old adage: "Set a thief to catch a thief."
One of Nelson's most famous cheating schemes involved another NASCAR commentator-Darrell Waltrip. Nelson installed lead ballast in the form of very fine lead shot. The car made weight before the race; but on the warmup laps, Waltrip would slowly dump the shot so that it was not noticeable to observers. Waltrip would report over the radio in code when the dumping was complete. (Cars were not weighed after the race back them.) Drivers have a long history of participating in cheating, and I have no reason to believe that today's drivers are any different.
For readers looking for a reason to dislike Gary Nelson, he was one of the driving forces behind the car of tomorrow. Nelson left NASCAR a few years ago to start his own company.
I usually find myself offering a minority view when I post on JD's site. I suppose it is because I think that there is another view that needs to be considered. I am almost always critical of NASCAR, but I think they got it right this time. I have no personal feelings about Tim Brewer one way or another. In this case, I think he is the voice of great experience who has the advantage of understanding the culture of NASCAR competitors. I haven't seen anything that indicates he owes anybody an apology.
Michigan fan
JD thanks for the column & the Ricky photo - priceless.
ReplyDeleteespn has never done the right thing - so I've pretty much given up on them & realized they will smear peoples reputations at will & not give a rats a** about it.
I agree with several of the Anons who stated the obvious, the car -passed- post race inspections. That and the image in my brain of Tony doing the gymnastics described to put the whatever in place is well, even tho' he is "my" driver, too funny for words.
Now JD adds it was in/by the firewall thats even more interesting.
In a separate update Jason Radcliffe says he thought it up & is responsible, and altho' many were suspended indefinitely, 1 was just ID'd as " crew member" not a chief or tuner.odd. That was a graphic on Speed, not espn.
Also the Coach said the 2 drivers were not involved. He has my confidence,I believe him not timmy brewer.
And Tony owes espn zilch, zero, nada.
Last year & now this Tony has been 1 of the targets for espn, many times. If espn has a gripe with NA$CAR take it to NA$CAR, don't take it out on the drivers. They work for a different company, their owners. espn thinks in stick & ball framework of everyone is employed by the league. Ummm its not that way.Before anyone says its not true - re listen to the OTL, and any espn reports. Its in there. espn is clueless & useless.
Since ESPN apparently has no written journalistic standards, I would assume that ESPN's position would be that there is no need for any apology since no standard has been breached. I do not recall any apology by ESPN - or anyone else in the media - for the reporting in the Duke Lacrosse case indicating the players were guilty. Also, it would be nice if Lee Spencer would correct and apologize for the article she posted right before the Cup race in Chicago started reporting that HOF had been caught with 15 pounds of lead in a water container in the car.
ReplyDeleteIf ESPN wants to ramp up their reputation of being a hard hitting news entity, I would give my eye teeth to see someone, anyone on ESPN, confront Tony Stewart on his interview published in Rolling Stone Magazine. This has got to be one of the most terrible, and ill-advised interviews I've ever read. If the CEO of a major corporation who is considering giving millions of dollars to Stewart for his new race team, he would probably think more than twice after reading the things Stewart has to say. I think anyone, even Jamie Little, would do a bang up job asking Tony why he would do such an interview considering he's going around, hat in hand, asking for money for his race team. Come on ESPN. We know you love this kind of thing, so let's have at it.
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding me?? The Rolling Stone interview is a perfect example of why fans LOVE Tony Stewart.
ReplyDeleteMuch like Dale Sr. and AJ Foyt, he is a hillbilly millionaire that hasn't forgotten his roots. I'll take that any day over the corporate glad hands that call themselves racers.
Sorry, but you cannot insult 49% of Nascar's fans (women) by calling them the things that Stewart does. And I don't think you would have heard AJ Foyt using the language towards women that Tony did. Complete and utter disrespect.
ReplyDeleteMy wife is a NASCAR fan and she is insulted by your arrogance in thinking you speak for her. I'm insulted that you think that too.
ReplyDeleteSo let's see, 49% + 51% means you just insulted 100% of NASCAR fans.
See how silly that is??
Tell you what, walk through the infield of Talladega the 1st week of October and see how many people you can find that are insulted by Tony's comments.