From the Marbles - NASCAR

The fun just keeps rolling on for Stewart-Haas ... and Tony Stewart's feud with Goodyear has a brand new chapter.

Saturday morning, new teammates Ryan Newman and Stewart ended up wrecking into each other, causing all kinds of headaches for Stewart-Haas before the season even begins. And anybody who had Day minus-1 in their "When will Tony Stewart's first blowup of 2009 come?" -- winner, winner!

The deal: In practice, Newman's right-rear tire blew, sending him spinning lengthwise up the track. Stewart, drafting behind him, hit him broadside. Newman's car -- his second this week, after the Duel wreck with David Reutimann -- was, by his estimation, "junk," and looking at it, it's hard to disagree. Stewart will have to go to a backup car for the Daytona 500. What that means for Tony is that he'll drop from fifth down to the back of the back to start the race Sunday. Smoke will be driving the car he finished third with in the Bud Shootout earlier this week, while Newman will be driving the car that had been designated the 14's secondary backup, a dedicated superspeedway car with a history of runs at Talladega and Daytona.

In an interview afterward, Smoke hammered Goodyear, saying "apparently this is their marketing strategy, to get press. I'm tired of talking about them, tired of it being an issue. Talking about them now isn't going to change anything; it falls on deaf ears."

Some unfortunate reporter decided to ask Tony the standard mindless media question -- "How's this going to affect your chances of winning the 500?" -- and Smoke shot back, "I don't know, rocket scientist. I'm sitting here with a backup car. What do you think?"

He continued on: "We've got a lot of work to do. I'm pissed. I'm not happy, I'm not cordial. If two guys wrecked, that's one thing, but the manufacturer has the sole deal, they don't have any competition, and they can't give us a tire to keep us from having wrecks."

Stewart said Newman will be going to his California backup car, the backup to his backup. And he finished off with some advice for Goodyear executives:

"Don't bring 'em anywhere near me."

UPDATE 1: When asked about the "deaf ears" comment, Stu Grant, Goodyear GM of Worldwide Racing, replied, "Tony is a passionate race driver and extremely frustrated right now with the condition of the race car and unfortunate circumstances...That's what you hear in his comments." However, he didn't exactly do anything to defuse Stewart's criticism. Grant added that "at this point in time, evidence points to a classic case of a punctured right rear [tire]."

UPDATE 2: An hour later, when told that Goodyear claimed the tire failure was a result of a puncture, Newman responded, "I'm sure they would." He added that "a punctured tire doesn't lead to [the damage] it did."

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2011 Comments

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  1. Anita
    1. Posted by Anita Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:41 pm EDT

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    GIVE THEM HELL !!!!!!!!! their tires ain't no GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!
  2. Pamela
    2. Posted by Pamela Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:37 pm EDT

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    Amen...tony ..tell them....we need more tire companies to come forward....
  3. GOTSMOKE?
    3. Posted by GOTSMOKE? Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:14 pm EDT

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    Anyone got another question for Tony ?
    Givem HELL Smoke !
  4. jake
    4. Posted by jake Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:33 pm EDT

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    NASCAR needs more guys like Tony willing to speak his mind and care what anyone thinks about it you look at the recent track record of goodyear in NASCAR it just isn't that good find someone else like Hosier or Cooper some one that can make a tire that doest blow out after three laps of racing
  5. GOTSMOKE?
    5. Posted by GOTSMOKE? Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:14 pm EDT

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    Well get after it MarkE !!
    Not real sure your 72 Pinto could keep up,GoodYears or not.
  6. Dan
    6. Posted by Dan Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:45 pm EDT

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    If the same thing happens at Daytona that did at Indy they'll have to give away tickets for the next race ay Daytone and perobably other plasces too!! Give'em hell Tony!!
  7. Julius P
    7. Posted by Julius P Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:55 pm EDT

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    Goodyear has a monopoly and I HATE monopolies,..it always results in a worse product that would otherwise result with COMPETITION. Tony is right and Newman will perservere. After all its only one race! GO TONY and RYAN!
  8. JR
    8. Posted by JR Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:35 pm EDT

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    Why is good-year the only tire?,,,,,,they give the owned by one family, the Frances a lot of money to keep all the good tire companies out!
  9. zeke
    9. Posted by zeke Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:23 pm EDT

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    Anyone who has watched racing over the last two years can see that on these "BIG EVENT" tracks, such as daytona and Indy, that the tires suck and as fans who watch, it is really disappointing to see guys crashing after ten laps cause the tires suck, and I'm no stewart fan, but for him and newman it really stinks....
  10. JR
    10. Posted by JR Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:35 pm EDT

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    Why is good-year the only tire?,,,,,,they give the owned by one family, the Frances a lot of money to keep all the good tire companies out!
  11. ssgwallaceiraq
    11. Posted by ssgwallaceiraq Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:38 pm EDT

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    Cry Cry some more
  12. hammer
    12. Posted by hammer Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:08 pm EDT

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    give them hell smoke maybe you should all go on strike.when nascar starts to lose money you'll then get the rubber you need.It all comes down to the almighty dollar
  13. peachtreediva
    13. Posted by peachtreediva Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:05 pm EDT

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    Tony is right! Goodyear ruined the Brickyard and they are on the way to doing it again at the Daytona 500. I wish Tony and Ryan could afford to just park their cars tomorrow in protest. Of course that won't happen because of the sponsors, the money, yadayadayada....but Goodyear needs listen up already!
    That's the only way to get Goodyear's attention is for the drivers to stage a wakout at the biggest race of the year.
  14. Alden B
    14. Posted by Alden B Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:49 pm EDT

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    Smoke needs him some Hoosier Dirt Tires for sure. Look out for Sadler and Edwards cause it aint the tires with them. its the steering wheel.
  15. rumrunner
    15. Posted by rumrunner Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:33 pm EDT

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    Tony has every right to be pissed,as should all the teams that loose a car due to the tires. What nascar should do is this, if it comes down to tire faluire they should make goodyear pay the price of the car? But we all know that dip stick brian wouldnt want to piss off his bread and butter!!!
  16. Rocky
    16. Posted by Rocky Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:37 pm EDT

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    I have a question, whenever something like this happens, Does goodyear pay for the car that was damaged?
  17. howboutdemSaints-mp
    17. Posted by howboutdemSaints-mp Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:06 pm EDT

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    Tony - don't let up on Goodyear. Maybe if more were as vocal, something might happen. Wish that even the sponsors would start putting pressure on Goodyear. I don't want Daytona to be like the Brickyard. That was just a joke and a disaster.
  18. iron350
    18. Posted by iron350 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:25 pm EDT

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    remember when G . Bodine ran the Hoosier tires? Goodyear complained . Hoosier had a good tire, some thought too good
  19. Corri R
    19. Posted by Corri R Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:43 pm EDT

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    Go back to go carts - how stupid is that? Tony can drive - Rookie of the Year, 2 time Cup Champion, and they even had to invent the Triple Crown for his three series Open Wheel Championships all in the same year. Get informed Mark.
    Goodyears in NASCAR are crap. Tony is totally right and at least has the balls to say something unlike the drivers who try to stay "politically correct" all the time. He is representative of what NASCAR used to be all about and the old school drivers that made NASCAR exciting - on and off the track.
    Go Tony !
  20. REDTAIL
    20. Posted by REDTAIL Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:34 pm EDT

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    if goodyear ruinins another race they better get that blimp out of gun shot range.
  21. jhawk_67207
    21. Posted by jhawk_67207 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:34 pm EDT

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    mark is dumb! remember the brick yard mark! also if you have been watching even the ole might dale jr had blistering tires! maybe when jr wrecks something will be done! nascar i hate to say it is beginning to suck!!
  22. Robbie P
    22. Posted by Robbie P Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:47 pm EDT

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    go carts mat be to fast for him! grow up like most of the other drivers have!!!
  23. honk honk
    23. Posted by honk honk Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:07 pm EDT

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    Un-freakin believeble!! I agree with Hammer, that it all comes down to the all mighty dollar. The past has shown that Goodyears track record with their tires hasn't been the greatest. Almost every race it seems that one driver or another has a complaint about their product. Whats it going to take for Nascar to wake up an do something, before someone gets killed!
    There is nothing I like better than to watch a great race on a Sunday afternoon (well almost anything) rooting for your driver having a few cold ones...... but when it comes down to worrying about when their tires are gonna blow because of an inferior product........ sucks!! Wake up!!!! NASCAR!!! If it is all about money, cut your vacations shorter, fly a little closer, executives all over the country are taking pay cuts, why don't you and give the drivers and the fans what they want!! Because ultimately, without them, and us as fans, your going lose so much more in the long run, than you could gain in the short.
  24. Robbie P
    24. Posted by Robbie P Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:47 pm EDT

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    By the way, not sticking up for good year !!!!
  25. Dale aka Elad
    25. Posted by Dale aka Elad Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:34 pm EDT

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    I would also like to comment on the jerks that write the headlines about Tony.They provoke him on purpose just to create hype and negative publicity for Tony.My advise to them is that since Tony doesn't have to worry about the owners now,He might feel less restrained to clean your clock if you ask for it.Knowing the media's intentions,if I were in his shoes I would have lost it and felt good about it.You poke and you jab and you get hit back.Go Tony!!

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