NASCAR will talk to Stewart, Newman before Chicago race (Update)
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| Tony Stewart |
Neither Tony Stewart nor Ryan Newman felt the need to apologize for their actions Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, but they reiterated they have put the incident behind them after spending more than 30 minutes with NASCAR officials Friday. Stewart and Newman, longtime friends, stood side-by-side for a few minutes afterward, answering reporters' questions and joking with each other in the Chicagoland Speedway garage.
"We don't have to apologize to each other," Newman said. Stewart chimed right in: "You've got to remember, we've been teammates. We've known each other since long before either one of us ever got an opportunity to come to NASCAR." Newman interrupted: "I'll text you an apology later." Newman, who drove for Stewart-Haas Racing from 2009 through 2013, said he didn't regret what he said. "They're just words, right?" Newman said.
"More often than not, we're men of our actions. It's just all about going out there and doing our job. We all know it can be frustrating at times, whether it's intentional or not. … I don't have any regrets about what I said. I am frustrated by the situations and the actions that came about in respect to all of it." ESPN.com
09/12/16 NASCAR plans to talk with Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman before each driver gets on track Friday at Chicagoland Speedway to discuss their incident and comments at Richmond, Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday.
"Certainly too late for us to do anything in terms of a reaction at track," O'Donnell said Monday."After you hear the comments from both drivers, disappointing in terms of how that played out and what was said on the air. We're going to take a look at that now that we've got some time and certainly talk to both drivers before heading into Chicago and go from there. We're still looking through everything to review the data and then have conversations with the drivers."
O'Donnell explained on"The Morning Drive" how they might talk to the drivers. "Any incident like that, we'll sit each driver down prior to going on the racetrack and make sure, probably individually, that they've talked," he said. "If they haven't talked, we'll make sure they're together before any of the cars go out on the track prior to that first practice." NBC Sports