posted on Jul, 13 2004 @ 06:02 PM
Crew chief Baldwin fined $10,000 in Stewart fiasco
July 13, 2004
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (Ticker) - Crew chief Tommy Baldwin owes NASCAR $10,000. Someone may owe Tony Stewart an apology.
Baldwin was fined Tuesday for instigating an altercation on pit road with Stewart's crew chief during Sunday's Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Stewart, an aggressive driver on the track and a temperamental personality off it, was involved in an incident on a restart that saw him collide with
Kasey Kahne, knocking the young star out of the race.
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Baldwin and team owner Ray Evernham accused Stewart of intentionally running into Kahne, who appeared to get a slow jump on the restart. While the
race continued, Baldwin confronted Greg Zipadelli, Stewart's crew chief, and a shoving match between members of both crews ensued before the men were
separated by NASCAR officials.
Evernham called for a suspension, while Stewart maintained he did nothing wrong.
Baldwin, who called Stewart "a moron," was fined $5,000 for "actions detrimental to stock car racing" and $5,000 for not assuming responsibility for
the actions of his team members. He was placed on probation until December 31.
"NASCAR has made its decision; now it's time to move on," Evernham said in a statement. "I understand why Tommy and the team reacted the way they did
in the heat of competition."
The accusations hung heavy over Stewart, who already is on probation until August 18 for an incident last month.
Stewart was fined $50,000 and docked 25 championship points for confronting fellow driver Brian Vickers after the Nextel Cup Dodge/Save Mart 350. He
rear-ended Vickers at the end of the race, then grabbed him by the uniform in the garage area
i think nascar wimped out on this one, stewart gave him a classic shot on the left rear and put him into the wall...if you watch the replays you can
see tony cut to the left as or soon after he hit him,,,tony knew what he was doing, do i think it was intentional.....you betcha