Stewart Defends Goodyear Criticism

Stewart hammered Goodyear

Tony Stewart defended his harsh criticism of the tires Goodyear brought to Atlanta last weekend and said that it was time to speak out after years of closed door meetings failed to produce a solution.

"You finally get to the point where, if you get frustrated enough, now it's gone from doing things in a nice, calm manner to I want to make sure I get somebody's attention about this," Stewart said Wednesday. He had called the tires "the most pathetic racing tire I've ever been on in my professional career."

Some of Stewart's critics dismissed the remarks, saying Stewart was just being his usual outspoken self. But many drivers have agreed that the tires were subpar, including former champions Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett.

"I think we are all pretty frustrated. Tony took it to the fullest," Kevin Harvick said. "But he's definitely right in the way the tire stuff has worked out. None of us really enjoy the way that we had to race."

Stewart said all the drivers were fed up with the hard tires at Atlanta, and he just drew the most attention because he was the most outspoken in his criticism.

"Everybody talked about (it)," he said. "Just nobody got real vocal about it until after the race. When you're stuck in a car for 3 1/2-4 hours and it drives like crap, you're going to be upset about it.

"Guys are screaming at their crew chiefs that it was the worst car they've ever driven. Well, it wasn't the crew chief's fault. It wasn't the team's fault. These guys spend millions of dollars to build these cars. It was the tire we were running and tires should never, ever be the deciding factor in a race." More at AP Article