By DAN GELSTON
Associated Press
LONG POND, Pa. -- Here’s another four-letter word stirring up trouble for Tony Stewart: ESPN.
Stewart (shown above sneaking a kiss from a surprised spokesmodel at the finish line after winning the Brickyard 400 on Sunday) said Friday he is fed up with the sports network and he didn’t even need to curse to express his frustration with the way he believes some of its analysts have unfairly criticized him. Stewart was upset ESPN
chided him for saying he was going to drink a case of beer to celebrate his July 15 win in Chicago, and one analyst even said later that Stewart was not a good role model.
Maybe it was the foul language.
When Stewart was celebrating his win last week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he cursed in his post-race interview at the finish line. The interview was live on ESPN, and NASCAR fined Stewart $25,000 and docked him 25
points this week for the inappropriate language.
Stewart talked to the media behind his hauler after qualifying on Friday at Pocono Raceway, and the former champ made it plainly — and cleanly — clear that he’ll pick and choose when to speak with reporters from ESPN.
“If every time we do an interview and you want to stand here and dig up dirt, you might as well go find somebody else because we’ll wait until you leave before we do the rest of the interviews,” Stewart said, responding to a question from ESPN reporter David Amber.
Stewart pointed around him and wondered why ESPN couldn’t ask positive, creative questions like the rest of the media. Stewart has had run-ins with the media before, however, but he took this opportunity to turn the tables and bash the network that is televising Sunday’s Pennsylvania 500.
“Every time we’ve got to deal with somebody from ESPN it’s a sharp knife trying to dig for dirt,” he said. “I’m not
saying they’re not fair questions. Do we always have to leave with a dagger on our back from ESPN? That’s all I’m curious about.”
Maybe he’s just upset because he didn’t win the oh-so coveted “Who’s Now” title.
Stewart, who had just won his second straight race when he dedicated the win to all his fans who pull for him and “take all the bullshit from everybody else,” understood why NASCAR disciplined him.
“They needed to do that and you understand why,” he said. “It’s just one of those deals that you’re so excited you’re not even thinking about what you’re saying. But NASCAR did the right thing.”
Stewart, fourth in the points standings, only wished announcers sometimes waited a few minutes before sticking a microphone in his face so soon after a race.
“Obviously, if we had 10 minutes to think about what we were going to say before we said things, it would give us a bigger advantage in not getting in those situations,” he said. “But that’s why this sport’s so exciting. You get to hear the emotion, you get to feel the excitement from drivers or the disappointment, depending on what happens.”