"They're talking about the tribute to Dale Earnhardt, well, five years from now, we're going to have to do another tribute to another driver because we're probably going to kill somebody [next week]," Stewart barked. "It could be me, it could be Dale Jr., it could be anybody out there.
"We're going to hurt somebody really, really bad next Sunday [in the Daytona 500]. We've got to find some way of calming this down."
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished second to Hamlin, was less critical of the conditions, chalking up much of the aggression to the nothing-to-lose mentality of the Shootout. With the Daytona 500 title on the line next Sunday, Junior said he believes the event will be less treacherous.
"Tony's got a point, it was dangerous in a couple of spots," he said. "It's just hard racing, but it's only going to happen in the Shootout. In the 500, it will not be like that. Everybody will be a lot more calm."
Hamlin sided with Earnhardt in the safety debate.
"There was some major hitting going on out there, but I wasn't complaining because when I was getting it I was out front," Hamlin said. "It's the nature of the race. I don't think you'll see that in the 500 because guys won't want to tear up their cars like that."
Something tells me the #5 is going to have a very difficult season if he doesn't calm down bigtime. Someone will Spencer him in short order like they did his big sister.