Busch And Stewart On 6-Race Probation

AP
Published: February 12, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - NASCAR placed drivers Kurt Busch and
Tony Stewart on probation for six races Tuesday, beginning with the
Daytona 500.
The punishment stems from a confrontation between the two former
series champions, who wrecked in practice last week and then
carried it into the NASCAR officials’ trailer.
NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said the drivers were disciplined
solely for the on-track portion of their clash, when the drivers
deliberately used their cars as battering rams.
“We will continue to keep a check on this sport and won’t let
it get out of hand,” Poston said. “If there is a repeat between
these two, then we will take it much more seriously.”
Although Busch and Stewart confronted each other during a
closed-door meeting with NASCAR officials after the incident - and
it was widely believed that Stewart punched Busch, speculation that
no one would either confirm or deny - Poston stressed that nothing
that happened off the track factored into their discipline.
And while it was Busch who slammed his car into Stewart’s as
they exited the track, Poston said both drivers were punished
because they were involved.
NASCAR officials came into this season saying drivers would be
given more latitude to show emotion this year, and the relatively
light nature of Tuesday’s punishments would seem to support that.
Poston said the measures would have been more severe if Stewart
and Busch had rubbed fenders while pit crew members were working on
pit road, endangering their safety.
“We took a lot into consideration,” Poston said. “The drivers
do have greater latitude, pit road was closed, there was no
personnel on the track. It’s an emotional sport, there’s emotion on
the track. They should not have been banging each other after the
accident. But they were not banging each other on a ‘hot’ pit road.
That is very different and would have been dealt with much more
severely.”
But even as they take a more permissive attitude toward driver
misbehavior, Poston said NASCAR officials are going to begin making
probation more meaningful.
In the past, officials haven’t necessarily punished a driver
more harshly if he misbehaves while on probation. Poston said
that’s going to change.
“In the past we’ve used ‘probation for the rest of the year,’
but it’s never been something that’s been exercised. It never
seemed to really mean anything,” Poston said. “Now we are going
to take action. If you are on probation for an altercation with
another driver, and you have a second incident during that
probation period, we are going to take action.”