Dr. Stewart and Mr. Tony

If its one thing you have to know about Tony Stewart is that he is not one to mess with when hes having a bad day. Just look at him during the altercation with the USAC official last Thursday night. Boy, was he pissed:



But the amazing thing is that even with the debacle on Sunday, Tony was in good spirits. I was expecting, and I'm sure a lot of other people were expecting, for Tony verbally tear someone a new one as soon as the race ended on Sunday, but instead he had this to say:

"Just a tough day," Stewart said in a statment via his PR person. "There are really no other words to describe it."

Maybe, Tony was just choosing his words carefully to avoid the possible firestorm he would receive from the press and NASCAR had he gone off about how crappy the tires were on Sunday.

Who knows. Hopefully, Tony can keep his cool like this more often.

Stewart Mum on Tires [Tampa Tribune]

Your Fourth of July NASCAR News and Notes

Truex's Car Impounded: Martin Truex Jr.'s primary car was impounded yesterday after it failed tech inspection when its roof did not match the templates set by NASCAR. That meant Truex and his team had to go to a backup car which meant they missed first practice and didn't get a chance to run second practice due to the rains that came on Thursday night. Truex was none too happy about the situation.

�Somebody made a big mistake,� said Truex. �That shouldn�t happen at this level of auto racing, but people make mistakes. We�ll go on.�

�It�s tough when you miss practice. Two hours of practice isn�t much to begin with, you miss one hour and it�s tough to catch up if you�re not right.�

Truex unhappy with team [Speedtv.com]

S**t happens, Chad Walter: Crew Chief for Jr Motorsports number 5 car, Chad Walter, was fined by NASCAR for dropping the s-bomb on live television during last Saturday's Nationwide race at New Hampshire. Walter recevied a $10,000 fine, while the team suffred a loss of both 25 driver and owner points. Chad Walter is also on probation and will have to have a bar of soap in his mouth until December 31st.

Boy, what a bullshit call. What? It's not like they can fine me, too. [Source: Jayski.com]

Amirola in the 8 for 2009: Dale Earnhardt Inc. announced that Aric Amirola will drive the full time in 2009. *Yawn* This is news? [Source: DEI PR]

Hylton and Kerry Earnhardt to race at Daytona tonight: The 1,000 year old man James Harvey Hylton and the lovable Kerry Earnhardt will particpate in the Nationwide Race. Kerry will drive a DEI car while Hylton will drive for Johnny Davis' car. [Source: Jayski.com]

Stewart still mulling over options

Boy, Tony Stewart must love the attention he is getting these days with no wins this season (more on that to come later) and lot options when it comes to picking up a ride next year. And now with Casey Mears being released from Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the year, Tony may have another option.

"There's no one in the garage area that's not going to look in that direction," Stewart said. "You've got to look at it. Absolutely."

Of course it is most likely that Mark Martin will take over the 5 ride at Hendrick Motorsports in 2009, but Stewart feels like the opportunities to maybe get a ride at Hendrick are still open and may affect his search for what ride he wants in 2009.

"It may be pushed back even more." Stewart said. "We'll wait and see. It's however long it takes to make the right decision. There's a lot of variables to look at. We've got all the information except what happened today. The good news is we still have time to look at it."

Stewart interested in filling Mears' spot at Hendrick Motorsports [ESPN.com]

Stewart maybe looking at sponsorship for Haas CNC team

Of course you've all heard by now that Tony Stewart may be looking into buying into the troubled Haas CNC team. Well sponsorship for those teams may be lining up already. ESPN.com has been reporting that if Stewart joins Haas CNC he may be sponsored by Office Depot or Old Spice, there have also been speculation that Stewart may leave Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the year and Joey Lagano may come to Sprint Cup racing sooner than expected because of Stewart's absence. Of course Stewart is mum on the situation and Joe Gibbs Racing says that Tony isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The second question is who will join Tony at Haas CNC if such moves do happen. Rumoured drivers include Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr., both drivers have contracts that expire at the end of the year. It also rumored that Truex may bring his Bass Pro sponsorship with him from DEI. UPS also may sponsor the second the car.

But for right now everyone is waiting for Tony Stewart's move and he isn't budging.

With Haas partnership possible, Stewart has eye on sponsorship [ESPN.com]

Zippadelli says Stewart has made his choice

Tony Stewart's crew chief Greg Zippadelli said that Stewart has made his choice on where he is going in 2009. "I honestly think the decision's made, I just don't think we all know yet," crew chief Greg Zipadelli said. Yeah thanks for narrowing things down, Zippy.

The last few weeks for the duo has been a struggle and their team is now 12th in the point standings.

"It just shows me that it's really not our time yet, I guess," Zippy continued. "For some reason, with all the other distractions we have right now, we're going to have to continue working and try to salvage the year. We're not in a very pretty place right now. As good as we've run, I think we should be parked up there next to the 18 car (of points leader and JGR teammate Kyle Busch).

"We really have run pretty good at a lot of places this year and don't have a lot to show for it."

The team is winless through 14 races this season, but if you have followed NASCAR for quite a while we all know that Tony doesn't turn on the fire until late summer. We can only hope they get things going by then.

Decision Time (ESPN.com)

Do it for the Children!

Its Wednesday, aka hump day, you had a hard day at work and you need a way to blow off steam, well boy do I have a solution for you. Tonight in a place call Rossburg, Ohio which is considered to be the suburb of nowhere there is a little short track they call Eldora and tonight track owner Tony has invited about 20 of his NASCAR buddies, two NHRA drivers and the 1,000 year old man himself, Red Farmer. Tonight these drivers, except Farmer, trade their normal machinery for dirt late models and for three hours tonight these drivers will battle it out to see who is the supreme master of the dirt track tonight.

But tonight it not all about great racing tonight, there is a hidden agenda too, its about children. NASCAR's most popular charity the Victory Junction Gang camp wants to open a new branch near Kansas City allowing sick children across the west to go to their very own camp. So remember folks it may cost 25 bucks (35 if you want in high def) for this broadcast tonight, but its all going to a good cause. So hopefully we'll have some good racing and no rain tonight, while Carl Edwards tries to defend his title and Bill Elliott tries to keep on all four wheels:

Now that looks badass

Usually when NASCAR drivers go to do testing they drive a usually plain boring looking car. Tony Stewart and the Home Depot team has defied those rules by coming up with this sweet looking thins for the Pocono test. Totally awesome.

Hat tip to Rusty Jarrett of Getty Images for this pic.

Pray for Mojo

Tony Stewart has had to part ways with his monkey, Mojo this week after Mojo has recently shown signs that he is growing up and becoming to aggressive to be kept as a pet. Stewart though found a good home for Mojo at the Louisville Zoo. Which is a happier ending than when I had to part ways with my montior lizard, Mr. Happy. I relased him into the wild and now the number of missing pets in my nieghborhood has increased, its not my fault that my lizard probably found Ol' Yeller to be delcious.


Tony Stewart's former pet monkey, Mojo, now resides at Louisville Zoo (Louisvillezoo.org)

Schatz to NASCAR?

Donny Schatz is another open-wheel driver who thinks that he can take his talent to stock car racing. Schatz said yesterday that he'll consider all options if Stewart decides to leave Joe Gibbs Racing to form a NASCAR team. Stewart acknowledged last month that he has considered opting out of the final year of his contract with JGR to explore ownership options. "I don't know exactly what Tony is thinking of doing," Schatz said. "If something else comes along, I'll evaluate it and maybe want to make a move. The main focus for us right now is to be on the dirt [tracks]. I feel like I can race with those [NASCAR] guys, and sure it's in the back of my mind. It's not something I'm dead-set on doing, and I'm not going to trade the ranch for it, but it's definitely something I would try given the right opportunity.

For race Schatz, a bigger stage? (Richmond Times Dispatch).