Tony Stewart will pay fine; Drivers Council will donate to charity
Tony Stewart is going to pay his NASCAR fine himself and the Drivers Council pledge to pay it will instead go to charity.
Stewart said Wednesday the group decided to give the $35,000 it said it would pay on Stewart's behalf to Autism Delaware, a group founded by Fox Sports NASCAR director Artie Kempner and his wife Marcie.
“I appreciated the Drivers Council support, but I didn’t want them to pay the fine," Stewart said in a release. "We decided as a group to donate the money to charity. “Artie is such a good friend to all of us and his foundation does a lot of great work.”
Stewart was fined $35,000 last week by NASCAR for the tone of his comments regarding the sanctioning body's rules on lug nuts. Five days after Stewart made his remarks, the sanctioning body changed the rule – something Stewart said he wanted done in the name of safety.
But Stewart's fine has remained in place. The council, a group of drivers that includes Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch, said hours after Stewart was fined that it would pay the fine because it believed Stewart had the right to speak his mind.
Hamlin will present the check to the foundation on behalf of the council at a golf tournament before the May 15 race at Dover. Fines paid to NASCAR go to the NASCAR Foundation.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
