NASCAR's Damage Control?

NASCAR officials definitely were not happy with Tony Stewart for his comments earlier in the week and they decided to do damage control and add some PR spin to the whole thing today.

Stewart had to show up at the hauler this morning bright and early at 6 AM for his little meeting.  They would not let the team touch the car or anything on their hauler until he had that meeting, which has the team a bit miffed, to say the least.

It was clear that Stewart and the #20 team were not happy and then came the spin in the media center.

With officials watching from the back of the media center, Stewart made these comments (see if you can spot where the spin comes in)...

"I know I did a lot of damage," Stewart said. "I'm a lot of times my own worst enemy."

"To be honest, the group that I spoke with this morning is a group of peers that I trust. If they tell me the stuff is out there, I believe them," he said.

"I should have went to them instead of just saying it out in public. That's frustration that's been building up with all these debris cautions."

Did you notice where the spin came in?  It was right after his first statement.  The rest seems more like NASCAR damage control, rather than Tony Stewart. 

Anyone who's been around NASCAR for any length of time knows Stewart speaks his mind, sometimes even when he shouldn't, but those last two paragraphs didn't sound like the Tony Stewart I've seen over the years.  I think that's just what NASCAR wanted him to say.  Whether you love him or hate him, you have to admit that those above statements, other than the first line, sure didn't sound like Tony Stewart.

Now, the new article also says "penalties forthcoming", which surprised me because an earlier article on the subject said...

Although NASCAR has a policy that prohibits obscene language and gestures on television, the sanctioning body has no rule against criticizing its officiating. The NBA and NFL both fine its participants for criticizing the referees.

Hunter said NASCAR had no plans to punish Stewart for his remarks about officiating, which is done from a tower above the race track by a team of eight that includes NASCAR president Mike Helton and competition director Robin Pemberton.

Will we see NASCAR and Hunter go back on what they said?  I guess we'll find out later today, since they said penalties were expected to be announced later Friday.

Damage control?  PR Spin?  Your thoughts?