NASCAR issued a $35,000 fine to Tony Stewart for his comments about drivers being allowed to pull out of pit road with loose lug nuts.
Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press reported the news Thursday. Stewart, who will return to the Sprint Cup circuit this weekend at Richmond International Raceway, made his comments Wednesday at a promotional event for Mobil 1.
“I’m beyond mad; I’m p.o.’d at NASCAR about it, to be honest,” Stewart said, per Nate Ryan of NBC Sports’ NASCAR Talk. “For all the work and everything, all the bulletins and all the new stuff we have to do to superspeedway cars and all these other things they want us to do for safety, we can’t even make sure we put five lug nuts on the wheel.”
However, while Stewart is still facing the fine, the Sprint Cup Drivers Council provided a statement to NBC Sports saying they will contribute to paying Stewart's fine:
We as drivers believe Tony has the right to speak his opinion on topics that pertain to a sport that he has spent nearly two decades helping build as both a driver and an owner. While we do not condone drivers lashing out freely at NASCAR, we do feel Tony was in his rights to state his opinion. We as a Council support him and do not agree with the fine. Therefore, we fellow council members have agreed to contribute equally to paying his fine.
NASCAR stopped policing lug nuts in 2015. As noted by Ryan, this is leading to a situation where teams are taking risks with the number of lug nuts they tighten to gain track position. This has resulted in multiple incidents with tires coming loose and causing accidents.
“If you only want us to put one lug nut on, then give us hubs that have one lug nut like an IndyCar or Formula One car, and then we don’t have to worry about it,” Stewart said. “But this is not a game you play with safety and that’s exactly the way I feel like NASCAR is treating this. This is not the way to do this.”
Stewart, 44, is racing in his final year as a full-time Sprint Cup driver. He’s also a co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, so perhaps that played a part in why NASCAR fined him so heavily.
Of course, Stewart has never been shy about sharing his opinions on NASCAR’s perceived shortcomings in the past. He’s been fined on a number of occasions for his actions on and off the track, most involving his legendary temper.
These types of fines are generally standard in all walks of sports, so it’s not a surprise NASCAR is making a statement. Stewart was questioning the integrity of the office by saying the sport was putting drivers at undue risk.
Whether that's the case or not, it seems NASCAR would have preferred Stewart to handle things behind closed doors.
