From the Marbles - NASCAR

If this is what Tony Stewart's Sprint Cup ownership is going to be like, NASCAR's going to have its hands full real fast. At last Thursday night's USAC race at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indiana, Smoke went googly-eyed crazy on an officiating crew, assaulting -- in the legal, if not the racing, sense -- at least two of them. Seems that the crew wouldn't let Stewart's driver Tracey Hines back onto the track after a wreck, and things got really ugly from there. A civvies-clad Smoke came charging into the fray faster than you could ever imagine him moving -- he's the blur in the Home Depot orange oval below:


He then proceeded to yank the headphones off of one official:


He stormed off, and en route, shoved another official right in the chest:


And then seethed for awhile. (You can check out the full video right here at WTHR-Indianapolis's website.)

Hmmm. Wonder why nobody made a big deal of this one at Sunday's Brickyard telecast? Not quite the kinder, gentler politically correct image that Smoke has been trying to project now that he's an owner, huh?

On one hand, it's an incredibly stupid and immature move that's going to get him fined, without a doubt. On the other, Smoke's looking like a serious challenger to Mark Cuban and the '70s-era Ted Turner for most awesomest owner ever.

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1616 Comments

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  1. Marce
    1. Posted by Marce Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:16 pm EDT

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    OMG, is he trying to shoot himself in the feet before he even gets started?
  2. sarah a
    2. Posted by sarah a Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:04 pm EDT

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    uh to the response of the going to get fined... it happened at a USAC race... not at a Nascar race. It was not at the speedway it was at ORP. Nascar can't do anything about it
  3. Big Red
    3. Posted by Big Red Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:32 pm EDT

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    I like it.....!!!!!!!!!!
  4. Reven
    4. Posted by Reven Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:15 pm EDT

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    It was all that sorry ESPN broadcasting crew could do to just call the race. It was probably for the better that they weren't overloaded with any extracurricular activities.
    Greatly disappointing that Bestwik or the black guy didn't ask Rusty about his comments earlier in the week regarding Newman.
  5. Jay Busbee
    5. Posted by Jay Busbee Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:33 pm EDT

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    Reven--agreed on Rusty. That's going to be a separate post tomorrow.
  6. Reven
    6. Posted by Reven Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:15 pm EDT

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    Then again, all Rusty would have or could have said would be something like: "Man this is a big time deal where two guys were just going after it and driving the brains out of their hot rods, man, it was BIG, man."
  7. Carol
    7. Posted by Carol Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:19 pm EDT

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    Oh, man; that was funny. Tony could have walked all over that little guy...
  8. luckyguesser57
    8. Posted by luckyguesser57 Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:59 pm EDT

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    Tony Stewart does not deserve to be driver on the public roads let alone a NASCAR driver. He is a danger to any and all around him as a result of his immaturity. Time for Tony to bow out gracefully before he causes serious damage.
  9. Christopher B
    9. Posted by Christopher B Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:10 pm EDT

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    It's just what's needed in NASCAR--some old school scufflin' deals-lol
    You go Tony-give em' Hell!
  10. FAT N SEXY
    10. Posted by FAT N SEXY Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:13 pm EDT

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    Believe it or not, this is good for racing. Maybe not for smoke but it gets some attention to the sport!
  11. Spiderbandit88 - Read the Blogs, Not the Comments
    11. Posted by Spiderbandit88 - Read the Blogs, Not the Comments Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:08 pm EDT

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    God I love this man. He's the go-to guy when you need to get a point across.
    Not to mention he looks twice the size of one of those officials....
    Oh. Yeah. He is..
  12. Nixiechick
    12. Posted by Nixiechick Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:39 pm EDT

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    I'd love for Tony to pattern himself after Mark Cuban, at the very least we would get some great clips and at the best we would get some great results. No, physical violence isn't right, but at least guys like Tony and Mark are passionate about their sports.
  13. steve s
    13. Posted by steve s Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:18 pm EDT

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    Tony is the answer to all the bad decisions nascar high office makes and all the wimp drivers, in the name of security and money accept.... car of tomorrow, competion yellows, one tire company, restrictor plates,unknown reasoned yellow flag...etc...etc.,..etc. Point is Tony is the only real racer left to question nascar decisions without caring about hurting his stature in racing.... kind of reminds me of dale earnhart the best real race car driver ever.
  14. kinggeorge
    14. Posted by kinggeorge Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:21 pm EDT

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    I'm not sure which Tony I like best...Good Tony..or Bad Tony. Just got to keep those hands in your pockets Smoke...not good.
  15. Jase
    15. Posted by Jase Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:04 pm EDT

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    thanks to whoever wrote this boring article for wasting my time. like we really care... besides maybe the crew was wrong and should have let his driver back on.. who cares it wasn't on live t.v. and nothing to do with nascar.
  16. Jase
    16. Posted by Jase Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:04 pm EDT

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    why not write an article about something positive that we normally don't hear about drivers? how about that prelude of a dream of whatever dirt track that is he owns?
  17. BANZAI
    17. Posted by BANZAI Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:02 pm EDT

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    Just another classless act by something less than a bottom of the gene pool "big star" role model.
    Yep, someone I'd want my kid looking up to, no doubt! (not!)
  18. TCM29
    18. Posted by TCM29 Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:21 pm EDT

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    Right on Steve S-
    There was a time years ago when Nascar was made up of more people like Tony instead of a bunch of gussied up politically correct rich kids from the Bandelero series.
    Doesn't Tony look a lot like AJ in this clip? Reminds me of the time AJ whacked Cheever upside the head!
    I'm sure he will tone down his antics a bit when he is in his Nascar owner/driver trim, but keep in mind the reason he has USAC and WOO teams is so he can do his thing, and that's exactly what he does!
  19. HowardP
    19. Posted by HowardP Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:21 pm EDT

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    Before Earnhart there was a guy named Foyt that had a BIG pair that would take them all on.
  20. staceybj
    20. Posted by staceybj Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:39 pm EDT

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    Goodyear should be ashamed
  21. Jay Busbee
    21. Posted by Jay Busbee Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:33 pm EDT

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    Jase, we did cover the Prelude:
    http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Tony-Stewart-s-gonna-need-ID-to-cash-that-check?urn=nascar,86288
    Come on by more often. We hit all sides of the driving world.
  22. Donald
    22. Posted by Donald Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:46 pm EDT

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    tony stewart is apathetic jerk good year should apogize the viewers and espn and all the drivers for this kind of stupidity as well.what farce this was for the indy track . goodyear should be ashamed of themselves. anyone thinks stewart is a great guy is as ignorant as stewart is Ill be glad tosee him losenext and watch him get banned for his temper as nascar warns him for last time and he is banned from racing.
  23. Michelle
    23. Posted by Michelle Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:18 pm EDT

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    WAY TO GO TONY !!!!! Racing would be soooo boring without him. He is the best !!!!
  24. rayjkel
    24. Posted by rayjkel Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:31 pm EDT

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    i loved AJFoyt cuse he took no crap from no one and i love tnoy for for the same reason
  25. David C
    25. Posted by David C Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:39 pm EDT

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    I was once a fan, but I can't be a fan of someone who treats others like he does. I never see Tony with a chick, so maybe he has anger issues from having to stay in the closet.

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