NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
  • Peg It on GarageMonkey
CUP: Tony Stewart On NASCAR Race Hub
NASCAR Sprint Cup champ speaks about troubles at Darlington and restrictor-plate racing.
David Harris  |  Posted May 15, 2012   Charlotte, NC
Defending Sprint Cup champ Tony Stewart spoke with host Steve Byrnes on NASCAR Race Hub. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Three-time and defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart joined NASCAR Race Hub tonight. He visited with host Steve Byrnes about the current season, along with his upcoming Prelude to the Dream charity dirt late-model race at Ohio’s famous Eldora Speedway.

In the following excerpted quotes, Stewart reacted to his Darlington (S.C.) race this past weekend, along with his thoughts on Talladega (Ala.) and restrictor-plate racing.

Steve Byrnes: Darlington and Kentucky are the only tracks you haven’t won a race, and you almost checked Darlington off the other night.

Tony Stewart: Yeah, we were close. It didn’t start out looking very good, but I was really, really proud of (crew chief) Steve Addington and our crew. They did a good job in fighting with it all night, getting it relatively balanced at the end, to get it in the top-five there at the end. I thought that maybe on that last restart, that was our only shot at getting by Jimmie (Johnson) who was just way too strong, but we ran out of fuel there. We battled back from a broken clutch and running out of fuel, to finish third. We’re pretty happy with that.

Byrnes: What actually wound up happening with the clutch? After a certain point, your guys had to push you off after the pit stop.

Stewart: I was using the clutch pedal to kind of push myself up in the seat, kind of resetting myself (at) the caution. I don’t know what I broke yet, or found out exactly what it was, but I broke it by pushing on the pedal too hard, I guess. I’ve never had that happen before, but the guys have done a really good job of getting us out, using the starter to get us rolling, get it in gear, and it amazed me how easy it was to get it out of the pit stall doing that.

Byrnes: You guys are always honest about this, so I’ll ask you the question, if you had not run out of gas, were you good enough to catch the 48?

Stewart: No. I wasn’t. He let me stay close enough saving fuel. If he wanted to go, he was going to drive away from us. We were still of a little bit, and I think the 18 (Kyle Busch) was worried about fuel. I think Jimmie was worried about fuel, and during that clutch issue, we were able to come in a couple of laps later and get a splash of fuel, so we were in a little bit better shape than they were from that standpoint. My only shot was if he spun the tires on the restart and we didn’t run out of fuel and actually got a good restart.

Byrnes: At Darlington, we had a little controversy with Ryan Newman and ‘Big Andy’ (Gasman Andy Rueger). That’s what you call him, had an altercation there with Kurt Busch. Have you talked with Ryan or anybody on the team about what happened?

Stewart: I haven’t, but I’m going to talk with (Stewart-Hass Racing Competition Director) Greg Zipadelli and find out exactly the details of what happened, and figure out what we need to do as an organization to address it. The only thing I could do afterwards - because I didn’t know the details - is the only other Indiana guy on the team is the one that gets in trouble. It’s us southern Indiana boys that get in trouble all the time.

Byrnes: After Talladega, and I made the point and said that Tony was being sarcastic, but I’m pretty sure you were making a point. Or, that you had something to say about the racing there. What were you really trying to get across?

Stewart: It’s hard. It is hard for NASCAR to find a package that everybody likes. It’s hard to find something the drivers like; it is hard to find something the fans like. It’s a difficult position for them to be in. It’s already hard enough running 200 mph, touching each other around the race track. It’s harder to do that, then having to stare at gauges all day long, and having to try to find clean pockets of air to cool your car off. People said I was whining too much about it, but the people who are whining are sitting behind computer screens and telephones, and have never driven a car (at) 200 mph, to know what we are talking about. It was a lot more than what we needed to deal with.

Byrnes: Tony is it also because, and other drivers have said this as well, you guys like to be the difference makers. You like being able to make a difference. But at Daytona and Talladega, you’re just watching gauges, and just going along for the ride. Do you feel, not helpless, but like it is out of your control?

Stewart: That, and there’s nothing that differentiates the better cars than from the ones that aren’t as good. Qualifying does that, but once you get into the race, the slowest car in the field has just as good of a shot at winning the race than the fastest driver in the field does. You want to have that control as a driver… to control your own destiny. But at the same time, it’s not the way it is a restrictor plate races. It hasn’t been that way for the 14 years that I’ve been in this series. But at the same time, like I say, it’s hard for NASCAR to find that balance. You can’t have us running 220 mph out there, so you have to do something. If there was an easy solution, NASCAR would have found it by now. It just seems like we keep adding things to the equation that make it more difficult. Make it unnecessary, and that aren’t really changing the racing, but making it more complicated inside the car.
david_harris's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Harris

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2013

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.