Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart blames today’s “vanilla and wimpy” drivers and social media culture for problems with racing.
A number of recent crashes and feuding drivers led star Kyle Busch to blame a lack of mutual respect for causing issues.
Stewart went a step further this week in his appearance on “The Kenny Conversation” on Kenny Wallace’s YouTube channel.
Stewart blames drivers for not addressing issues they have with a fellow competitor right away, at the race track. Instead, they wait to air their grievances on social media.
“It’s sad in our sport how vanilla and wimpy all these drivers are,” Stewart said (via Yahoo.com). “They literally won’t confront each other at the track. They’ll just sit there and wait till they get home and beat on each other on Twitter where nobody has to face anybody.
“We grew up in a different era. I remember drivers coming up in the lounge, and it wasn’t always bad … but if you did something wrong. … They would literally come in your trailer and talk to you in your own lounge. … Talk in each other’s motorhomes after practice was over, after the race was over.
“You handled it, and you did it eye-to-eye. You did it face-to-face. You did it as men.”
You can call Stewart many things: Three-time Cup champion, championship-winning team owner, Fox Sports NASCAR analyst, race track operator, etc. You’d never call him “vanilla and wimpy.” Stewart said he learned his lessons about mutual respect early in his NASCAR career.
“Dale [Earnhardt] Sr. and Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Gordon … all these greats that I raced with … they taught us the etiquette of how to do it the right way, and if you didn’t do it the right way, there was an easy fix for those guys,” Stewart said. “They turned you around and backed you in the fence, and when you’re sitting there, sliding down the racetrack or stopped … you have that time to go, ‘I think I made a mistake,’ and you had to figure it out, but that’s how you learn.”
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.