Down in the Pits: Tony’s in trouble once again
|
Tony Stewart, who started from the pole, had a strong car most of the day and was running in third when he mysteriously faded over the final few laps and finished 12th. He pulled his No. 20 Pontiac into the garage, hopped out and abandoned the car next to one of the empty bays at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
As he hurriedly walked off, he swatted his hand in the air when approached from behind by a man. Gary Mook, a free-lance photographer for The Indianapolis Star, was following and Stewart broke into a trot to get away.
Mook ran alongside him, and Stewart turned to him and threw several punches — connecting to Mook’s chest and stomach – before he was pulled away.
Stewart, an Indiana native, then sprinted out of the garage area.
Mook, who refused to discuss the incident with the media, approached car owner Joe Gibbs by the team’s hauler and told him the story. The two then talked at length next to the truck and were seen exchanging business cards.
“I talked to the gentleman and I feel confident we don’t have a problem there,” Gibbs said. “We had a good discussion. That’s all I really need to say about it.”
But Stewart does have a history of run-ins following races.
He’s been known to push past cameras and reporters as he hurries out of the track following disappointing performances, and he was fined following an altercation at Daytona last season.
“Our car just seemed to go away,” Zipadelli said. “It got tighter and tighter, frustration set in and it was all over from there. We surely had at least a fourth place car all day and I don’t know what happened at the end, other than — like I said — frustration set in.”
Stewart has a different method of interacting with the media.
On Sunday, he landed a punch on Mook’s chest as he made his way through the garage to the Joe Gibbs Racing team hauler. The 31-year-old driver, a native of the Indianapolis area, was frustrated with his 12th-place finish after starting from the pole position.
“We take pride in our accessibility and interaction with the media and we intend to protect that relationship,” said Helton, who cited Stewart’s actions as detrimental to stock car racing.
NASCAR will require that Stewart make formal apology to Mook this week. Mook is a freelance photographer from St. Louis who was working the race for The Indianapolis Star.
When the Brickyard 400 ended, Mook ran ahead of Stewart, who flailed his arms at Mook, landing one punch on his chest.
Mook down played the episode after having a private conversation with Gibbs, who owns Stewart’s No. 20 Pontiac, during which Mook and Gibbs exchanged business cards.
Gibbs Racing and Stewart had no comment about the fine or probation.
To Stewart’s credit, he promises to seek counseling for anger management.
He told the Associated Press on Wednesday, “I need to do something to make it to where I can control my anger better,” and “It’s obvious over three-and-a-half years, I can’t do it on my own, so I’m going to seek professional help and get somebody that can help me learn how to control my emotions.”
My wife thinks that I should go with Tony Stewart, to his anger management class. She said that we are so much alike that we would have a good fight, because we both need professional help. That’s what all my friends have said to me and NASCAR is saying it to Stewart.
Instead of Tony going to anger management school, they need to make all the media go to etiquette school.