Posted on 06/27/2004 7:01:21 PM PDT by Wolfstar
SONOMA, Calif. - Tony Stewart again finds himself in the middle of controversy, this time involved in an alleged physical confrontation with rookie Brian Vickers. Following Sunday's Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, Stewart brought his No. 20 Chevrolet to a rest on pit road, exited his car and hurried quickly to Vicker's car.
Witnesses said the two engaged in what appeared to be an amicable conversation at first, with Stewart leaning over the driver's-side window of Vicker's car.
After a few moments, Stewart became quite animated, began reaching into the car and tried to pull Vickers out, witnesses said.
Members of Vicker's team quickly grabbed Stewart and hustled him away from the car. Stewart and Vickers both made a trip to the NASCAR hauler after the race.
Late Sunday, NASCAR President Mike Helton said the sanctioning body was still gathering information about the incident.
Vickers, who remained at the track well after Sunday's race while Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon celebrated the win, said he had no idea why Stewart was upset.
"He hit me earlier in the race and then he wrecked us in Turn 11 and that's why we spun there. Then after the race he came over to the car and then it just went from there.
"I was still strapped in the car with my helmet off. He came after me in the car. He reached for me and knocked the breath out of me. It was not a fist and he didn't hit me in the face."
Vickers said he laughed when Stewart yelled at him because he had no idea why Stewart was so angry.
"He said that I laughed about the situation and when I laughed I pissed him off and that's why he did it. I'm not going to lie to him and say that I didn't smile about it," Vickers said.
"Somebody is upset at me because they wrecked me and I thought it was funny."
Vicker's car owner, Rick Hendrick, was not made aware of the incident until after Gordon's Victory Lane celebration.
He said he would withhold comment until he learned more about what had happened. Stewart was unavailable for comment after the race, a team spokesman said.
Stewart has been involved in a couple of physical confrontations in recent race seasons, including striking a photographer following the 2002 race at Indianapolis, and slapping a reporter's cassette recorder from his hand in 2001.
For your info, in case you want to ping the NASCAR list. Tony Stewart's in trouble again. This time he went after Brian Vickers while Brian was still strapped in his car after today's race.
Simple, Tony had a bad day and still hasn't learned to keep his temper from exploding. One day he'll grow up, today's just not that day.
sounds to me like somebody needs to whip stewart's butt for him. a little attitude adjustment would do wonders for his personality flaws...
I saw the article. Thanks.
Smoke is about to become ashes if Helton has the right stuff.
Little Tony can be a loose cannon at times. He almost lost his sponsor, Home Depot, after a similar incident not all that long ago. Sometimes you just can't wise up a chump.
Individuals with personality disorders such as "Tony" has will never "grow up"! Tony is a "man-child".
These "Man-children" are in and out of the court systems everday. OJ, Scott Peterson and whoever the lastest "road rage" type boy that you can read about any day of the week in your local newspaper or see on TV is. Need I not mention
Pete Rose and BillyJeff. All those "man-children" are time bombs ready to go off. Tony went "off"!
don't see many badd asses in nascar able or willing, just a bunch of sissy boys cepting maybe junior, and the jurys out there still.
I read that somebody (JR, I think) loved f 9/11. He is on my list.
Helton's a coward . He's been lost without Dale Sr. being there to whisper in his ear. They had a Col.Klink/Col. Hogan type relationship. He's steering the good ship NASCAR toward the reefs and is too afraid to admit he doesn't know his @$$ from a hole in the ground.
I'd love to see someone like Rusty Wallace retire from driving and take over the ship. Though I think Rusty probably wouldn't give up his current business income unless they really made it worth his while.
"a little attitude adjustment would do wonders for his personality flaws..."
Best attitude adjustment would be to lose some points, perhaps about 100 ought to do it!
They said before the race that Jr. had his entire crew go see Fahrenheit 9/11 as a way to bond.
Maybe Coach Gibbs ought to bench his @ss.
The good news out of this weekend's WWF'Racing..
Joe Gibbs racing will be adding a 3rd car with Federal Express as the sponsor.
Can DHL be far behind?
back to anger management class for him :)
bookmark for the real story
Sitting out a few races might be a better attention getter.
The thing about Stewart is that he's truly talented, and can be a pretty nice guy when he has his head screwed on straight. But it's almost like there are two Tony Stewarts: the head case and the big-hearted guy who does great work for charities. The brilliant driver who's won IRL and NASCAR Winston Cup championships and the guy who ping-pongs off of every other car on the track. The grunge guy who looks like he never takes a bath - and the guy with boyish good looks when he cleans himself up. I hope he gets himself straightened out.
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