Stewart and Goodyear: Tony Stewart may be in trouble both with Goodyear and his sponsor Home Depot for his latest controversy – post-race comments at Dover critical of Goodyear’s tires. Stewart is not alone in complaining but he has been the most vocal, and now there are indications Goodyear may be ready to pull its tire sponsorship of Stewart and Joe Gibbs’ second team too, with driver Bobby Labonte. “That’s between us and them, and it’s nobody’s business,” Goodyear’s Greg Stucker said. A Goodyear sponsorship is worth over $600,000 a year. Goodyear is the only tire company NASCAR allows to sell tires to Winston Cup teams. Goodyear’s exclusive position in the sport keeps most drivers and teams from criticizing tires, no matter how angry they might be. NASCAR’s Bill France, after discussions with executives of Home Depot, a significant NASCAR sponsor as well as primary sponsor of the Joe Gibbs-Tony Stewart team, overruled plans to levy a hefty penalty on Stewart for an angry post-race encounter with NASCAR officials at Daytona in July after being blackflagged for going below the no-passing line, according to sources close to the situation. A three-race suspension and significant fine, perhaps $100,000, had been proposed. NASCAR wound up fining Stewart $10,000 and extended an earlier probation to Dec. 31.(Winston Salem Journal)(10-1-2001) (9-30-2001) see the Sept 24-30, 2001 Archived News Page Jayski’s Silly Season Site Main Page This page designed by Jayski LLC, 1996-2012© All Rights Reserved. Jayski’s® is a registered trademark of Jayski LLC Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form without permission or credit.
