Much has been said here and elsewhere about the comments by Tony “Smoke” Stewart on his radio show, where he compared today’s NASCAR to the professional wrestling genre.
As a young adult in the early ’80s, the TV in my house was ALWAYS tuned to TBS on Saturday afternoon for Georgia Championship Wrestling, and announcer Gordon Solie’s gravely tones rolling out of the TV speaker.
And I would marvel that my soft-voiced, mild-mannered wife would undergo a metamorphasis into a loud, rabid wrestling fan.
In case you wanted to know, my favorites were Mr. Wrestling II, Magnum TA, Sting, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Arn Anderson, Mike Jackson, the Road Warriors, and many others. Anyone remember the Mulkey Brothers?
Yes, I knew it was fake, but was able to somehow suspend such beliefs for that hour when I was transported to a place where good versus evil was obvious as much by the color of the wrestling tights or singlets the men wore as anything else. Or, if he was a Texan, check out the color of his cowboy hat!
The definition of “fake”, by the way, meant “pre-determined outcome”, and in no way should be taken as minimizing the phenominal physical condition those guys had to be in.
So Smoke says that NASCAR is like wrasslin’?
I don’t buy it.
That will undoubtedly shock some people, but so be it.
NASCAR is doing what it can to level the playing field and keep the racing safe.
Whether you agree with that or not, NASCAR is going to be in the middle no matter what they do.
While running this website (and others) over the last 11 years, I’ve learned quite well that it is impossible to please everyone.
And so it is with NASCAR. No matter WHAT they do, someone is not going to be happy about it.
Suppose they stop doing debris cautions altogether… the first time Kevin Harvick is racing Junior and runs over a piece of something or another and wrecks, all the Havick fans will be putting down NASCAR because they didn’t clear the track.
And at the same time, all the Junior fans would be loving it in this instance if he gets the lead because Kev wrecks.
I’ve been a big proponent of NASCAR showing the debris to the TV viewers every time they have a caution. And I still think that’s a good idea, because NASCAR has a perception problem with their fans right now.
So, should NASCAR put Tony Stewart in a figure-four-leglock because of his negative comments? (I just saw on Jayski’s site that NASCAR didn’t allow the #20 Home Depot team to unload the car until Tony Stewart went to the NASCAR Hauler to discuss his comments about NASCAR and the debris cautions/staging races)
And does Mike Helton even know how to do a figure-four, or are they going to have to bring in the Nature Boy?!??
Let your opinions be known in the comments section below.
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Car Listings
nascar rules just ask tony. for telling the truth he is fined and put on probation. guess they (nascar) just want to make a statement as to who has the power! shame shame shame maybe the fans should so nascar who has the real power!!!!!!!!
Yes, some of the debris cautions are legitiment safety concerns. However, those of us who have watched, been associated with or a race driver have seen to numerous to mention phantom debris and I assure anyone that the roll bar protector is not dangerous to anyone or any thing. After watching NASCAR racing for over 40 years, without a doubt NASCAR uses debris cautions to affect race outcomes if it suits them. Period. I will never be convinced otherwise.
I totally agree with Curt. How many years has it been since anyone won a race by one or more laps?Nascar isn’t trying to select the winner, but they are trying to keep all Stars on the lead lap to keep the fans attention, and this frequently results in someone winning who should have been one or more laps down.
Jim
I sure do get tired of so many yellow flags. A lot of them have to do with the debris but a lot of times a car will spin out in the infield or even on the track with no cars close to them, make a quick recovery, not hit anything and go on but Nascar has to put out yhe yellow flag which I don’t think is necessary.
Anyone who thinks Tony is sincere in his apology is crazy! He was forced to spout that b.s. by “Big Brother.” Tony should bail out of NASCAR while he is still young enough to race in a real league. I love Tony Stewart for the courage to say what every other fan in America has been yelling at TV screens for years. I have stopped watching NASCAR this year because it is too fake. I hate the way NASCAR has watered down the sport, fining drivers for exercising their right to free speech and promoting the “young guns” to suck in women viewers. Let them race, let them talk, and let them curse-I’m sick of the PC mentality in NASCAR. In commenting on Stewart’s situation, Jeff Gordon himself said NASCAR is not a sport, but “entertainment.” If I want entertainment, I’ll go to the circus.
Tony you are a hero.No other driver has the guts to speak the truth out about what Na$car does to help the “stars” with the fake cautions.Please do not use the Na$car “integrity” in your operating instructions at Eldora……………
Well… ALL racing is entertainment. It’s just that some series are more entertainment than racing, and that pretty well describes NASCAR. I remember reading somewhere that NASCAR oficially describes their events as “Your Motorsports Entertainment Experience”. NASCAR has made Tony a very rich person, and provides good incomes for literally everyone connected with the activity. No one is allowed to make big waves or really critisize anything without jeapardizing their income. I repeat my earlier request regarding arbitrary actions: PROVE THESE DON’T EXIST. Show every piece of debris, and provide pit lane speed logs (I bet the TV network could do this with their GPS telemetry if they dared).
Yea Tony!! Tell em about it. This so called governing body is so fragile about its image as well as its rules, with only random consistancy. I skipped school in 69 to attend my first Winston Cup Daytona 500 and was addicted! Over the past decades the politics within this FRANCAR organization apears to have become nothing more than controls for greed and monoply of the once free spirited sport. Hats off to Kentucky Speedways suit against big brothers controls. My interest has gone back to the roots of racing, local short tracks-run what-u-brung action..
Tony was not fined for what was said. he was fined for not complying to the rules-which are in the application for the race. He was obligated to appear at the media center if finished first or second in the race, which he chose not to do. Like everyone else when you express a strong opinion you better be prepared to back it up or back pedal. Smoke chose to apologize. That disappointed me. I agree with him and think the debris should be shone on the air like a football replay. If you complain about something offer an alternative. NASCAR and Tony should be careful or they are going to jump the shark.
Skipper
Too bad Tony backed down. I find it impossible to believe the cars are upside down at Daytona and no caution.
And we get the Jaques Debris cautions every race when nobody can seem to spot anything posing any danger on the track. I don’t think NASCAR want to pick winners. But like I heard DW say once they would like about 10 cars coming to the checked flag side by side.
From about 1994 through NASCAR was appointment viewing for and about this time last year I started losing the fire. It took me a year and finally to seeing other people unhappy with the direction of NASCAR to see. I could probably write 50 pages explaining what I find is going the wrong with NASCAR but we all know.
Tony didn’t back down. Tony always says what he believes to be true, and that’s exactly what he did after his meeting with NASCAR. Trust me, if he didn’t accept what they had to say he would never have said he did. Tony always says what he believes to be true. If you didn’t know that already, you don’t know Smoke very well!
Shirley Jo
I have got to get something off my chest! I love racing in general and stock car racing in specific, but this top 35 in owners points thing is making me insane!
I’ve raced for a living in the past and EVERY time I went to the track I knew if I wasn’t fast enough that night, I went home, the fastest cars raced period!
Now I’m not writing this because I’m a fan of MW, but he is going home from ‘Dega even though he was faster than at LEAST 16 other cars!!! That’s BS!!!!!!!!!!! If the fans want the fixed events, watch wrestling!
It used to be the top 35 was a way to protect the teams and sponsors that supported NASCAR, but now you have big name/money sponsors going home and going home EVERY week because of some lame rule. I’m sure NAPA and Red Bull to name a couple think the protection the other teams is getting is wrong as well.
I’d love to see a ground swell of fan outrage about this stupid rule and get NASCAR to put on a real race for a change!!!!!!!!!!
The king is naked!
of course Mike doesn,t agree with Smoke he knows who butters his bread and it sure is not us race fans!!!
Smoke was not fined for his radio comments, he was fined for snot attending the post race interview session at Phoenix. So everyone should calm down.
His contrition on the other hand, seems a bit Jekyll and Hyde. As often as Smoke spouts off and then tucks his tail and whimpers, you have to wonder if you can trust anything he says. Sure NASCAr spanked him hard. Sure he can say most often the cautions are valid.
But we all know that they seem a bit odd at times and often ill-timed.
But that is the imperfect system you get with human judgment.
This si not 1980 when drivers race and drive over eveything on teh track unimpeded. This is NASCAR 2007 when every chunk of rubber has to be removed fomr the track in case it gets sent into the stands and beans a fan.