Stewart Accused by NHIS EMT: Tony Stewart has been accused by an emergency medical technician at New Hampshire International Speedway of punching him during the July race at the track. EMT Phil Jewett said Stewart punched him as he attempted to attend to Stewart following the driver’s wreck on Lap 121. “As soon as he saw me in the corner of his eye he swung at me and hit me in the left arm,” Jewett told The Concord (N.H.) Monitor in Saturday’s edition. Track officials were unable to confirm if Jewett was working this weekend’s race. Jim Hunter, NASCAR’s vice president for communications, said Jewett notified the Winston Cup series’ medical liaison the day of the incident and the liaison notified NASCAR President Mike Helton. Hunter confirmed that Helton spoke with Jewett the day of the incident and also spoke with Stewart. “That issue ended here. Outside of a ‘Get your hands off me’ gesture or that kind of stuff, we knew Tony was upset that day because he wouldn’t get in the ambulance and wouldn’t go to the infield care center,” Hunter said. “One of things they tell them in the safety meeting, is when the guys get out of the cars, don’t put your hands on them. They tell the EMTs that these guys are mad when they get out of the car,” Hunter said. “In this instance, we just felt (Stewart) just shrugged (Jewett’s) hands off of him.” Hunter said he considered the incident closed and was surprised Jewett chose to bring the issue up again. Jewett told the paper he came forward because he said Helton had told him he would investigate the incident and get back to him. “Nobody ever got back to me,” Jewett told the paper. “They didn’t get back to my supervisors or anyone from Raceway Ambulance. That’s another reason why I’m irritated about it now.” Stewart’s team spokesman, Mike Arning, said Stewart would not comment on the issue. Arning and others with the team could not comment because they were not with Stewart when the incident occurred. “NASCAR is the eyes and ears of the race and they say they couldn’t find any evidence of anything wrong and we accept that,” he said.(ThatsRacin.com) and more at NASCAR.com.(9-14-2002)
