The Spin Out Zone – The Indianapolis Star Gets Bumped

Hold on – here is the bump and the SPIN OUT!

Sit him down! Fine him! Throw him out of NASCAR! This immature driver needs
to be parked! These are some of things were hearing about Tony Stewart and the
situation that transpired after the Brickyard 400. Reports state that after Tony
got out of his car at the end of the Brickyard 400, an Indianapolis Star
free-lance photographer was either hit, pushed, kicked, bitten, slapped in the
chest causing the media to call for an immediate end to Tony’s 2002 driving
campaign.

Before we go any further, let me STRESS that I do not condone physically or
mentally abusing anyone! It’s wrong and should not be tolerated.

Unlike many in the world of the media, NASCAR did the right thing –
maintained Tony’s innocence until the investigation was completed. By doing this
they maintained integrity. In return they fined Tony $10,000 and placed him
probation. However, I think Tony MUST HAVE HAD a few good points that NASCAR
took into consideration or his fine would have been much, much more. For what
NASCAR did in taking a few days to look into the incident I applaud them and as
a FAN I support their decision. However as a FAN, like I have done with many
other drivers during their darkest hours, I will stick behind Tony because I SEE
a GROWING problem in NASCAR.

This is how I look at it and PLEASE hear me loud and clear Indianapolis Star.
ANYONE, who follows NASCAR as much as some of us do, know for a fact Tony
Stewart, has had a PROBLEM in the past with his temper. He is a fierce
competitor and he has an enormous RAW passion for racing very similar to my
fellow Houstonian during his younger days, A.J. Floyt.

I have several questions that I would like to ask the ALMIGHTY Indianapolis
Star. Why wasn’t the photographer snapping photo’s of Bill Elliott in Victory
Lane instead of chasing down the 12th place finisher? If this specific
photographer has such an infatuation for Tony, why didn’t he know about his
temper? Why would Tony, out of the blue punch someone who had nothing to do with
the race, because he was PROVOKED! Yes, I said it – PROVOKED!

Common people, when Tony gets out of his car, history tells us that if he had
a bad day he DISAPPEARS and he disappears quickly. It’s apart of him dealing
with his anger problem and it’s not for us to decide if that’s the best way to
handle it or not. Even during the IROC series, it’s NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU
DON’T, just look at Chicagoland for an example. Poor looser, perhaps, but it’s
how he deals with his issues. SO, when Tony gets out of his car after the
Brickyard 400 and he’s approached by this free-lance photographer and when
Tony’s doesn’t want to stand around with a smile on his face, to get away from
this photographer he begins trotting to his motor-coach. In a PAPARAZZI approach
to get his BIG PICTURE, Mr. Free-lance Photographer decides to run along side of
Tony until he can position himself in front of Tony, stop directly in front of a
running Tony Stewart to snap his shot. I am sure he blocked an all ready mad
Tony Stewart provoking a physical reaction. Could it be classified as a racing
deal? It worked for Jimmy Spencer and I don’t hear people asking for Jimmy’s
driver’s license since he found it necessary to move Kurt Busch out of the way
at 200 mph.

My point is – if someone has a problem, say they’re an alcoholic and this
person is trying to stop, would you run next to them holding a COLD ONE offering
them a drink? NO! So why didn’t this photographer knowing that Tony had a temper
back off when Tony began his trot to get away? Bottom line, he PROVOKED him
because the elite media in this country can get away with it.

Mike Helton, NASCAR President said "This type of behavior cannot be
tolerated and is in no way indicative of the manner in which our drivers, teams,
tracks and sponsors interact with the media. We take pride in our accessibility
and interaction with the media and we intend to protect that relationship."

I agree with Mike’s statement because as a businessperson you must agree.
NASCAR relies on media support and they do not want bad press. But, even though
NASCAR walks away looking good in this situation, NASCAR may need to look at
their policy of allowing drivers time away from the media to "get
control" after getting out of a 130+ degree car after driving 400 miles.
When driver’s crash, they get to spend time in the infield care center before
talking with the media, so to be PROACTIVE instead of REACTIVE, give them some
time!

The Indianapolis Star doesn’t see what they did wrong in preventing the
incident, but I BELIEVE both Tony and the photographer are at fault. Tony should
have never touched the guy, but the photographer should have never provoked Tony
into doing it.

The Indianapolis Star’s assistant managing editor of sports Tim Wheatley,
sent a letter to NASCAR demanding a response and wants assurances that this will
never happen again and wants their journalists to be able to do their jobs. I
would recommend to Mr. Wheatley that he and his managing editor of sports look
at how their journalist are doing their job and "train" away from a
paparazzi style of journalism. Get the picture, but understand the circumstances
as well.

One last issue and I’ll go away for another week. The Star hosts a columnist
whose name I will withhold. But, he wrote a column and called it "Stewart
Needs to Change His Ways" that ran this week. It was a rather good column
and I agreed with him on a few issues, however I disagree on others. I think it
is way too early to begin putting Tony Stewart under the same light as Bobby
Knight. Tony looses his temper and all of us agree that it is wrong, but give
the guy some credit. He has come along way this year. The columnist continues to
say how the end of Tony Stewart will not be pretty and people continue to make
excuses for him. Well, people support Tony and other drivers who have made past
mistakes. NASCAR is unlike any sport they allow FANS to become close to their
favorite drivers. Some FANS love their drivers as they would a child or a
brother, allowing FANS to forgive at much higher levels. You won’t find that in
any other sport! In closing, he mentions how SAD it was that people donated
money to Tony when he SPUN Jeff Gordon last year. Some FANS felt Jeff deserved
it and believe me Indianapolis Star, some FANS will donate money this time too
because they believe in their favorite driver, Tony Stewart!

This weeks SPIN OUT goes to – The Indianapolis Star! Colts – NO, Pacers – NO,
Tony Stewart – YES, THANK, THANK YOU we have a story!

Until next week, happy bumping!