Me and Tony Stewart

By Mike Harper

Welcome to the media world Smoke.

Tony Stewart, two-time NASCAR champion and driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing can add "radio show host" to his resume. Sirius Satellite Radio, the Official Satellite Radio Partner of NASCAR kicked off the 2007 season early with the debut of Tony Stewart Live a few weeks ago, a show hosted by Stewart (a.k.a. Smoke) and NASCAR pit report Matt Yocum.

In a newspaper interview prior to the show’s debut Stewart said, "It's a great opportunity to talk about anything we want to talk about," and it didn’t take Stewart and his radio mates long to throw out their opinions about what NASCAR should and shouldn’t do.

I think the media suit fits Smoke pretty good. Actually, I was pleased to find out Smoke and I agree on something other than where to buy home improvement supplies.

In a column I wrote for the Spring 2005 issue of SpeedWorld Magazine titled "NASCAR Penalties Out of Control" I stated, "There’s a problem in NASCAR when drivers and crew chiefs violate a rule, but wait for days for NASCAR to decide the penalty. In other sports there are no gray areas. In the NFL if a player gets caught holding it’s a 15-yard penalty. In NASCAR, drivers have no clue what their penalty will be when they violate a rule because NASCAR comes up with it as they go. It’s time to standardize the penalties!"

In other columns I’ve written dating back to October of 2004, I’ve screamed it from the mountain tops that "NASCAR should set a penalty so that a driver and/or owner knows what the ramification will be if they break a specific rule." I say this for two reasons. First, by making up the penalty for a rule violation as they go, NASCAR opens themselves up to their critics and it gives the perception that they play favorites to certain drivers. Second, I’ve said time and time again in my columns that if the penalties were standardized, drivers would be able to measure the risk/reward to a rule violation.

During Stewart’s first radio show on Sirius he said, "That’s something with NASCAR that I’ve never understood. I don’t know if it’s the frequency of penalties and the fines that go along with it or to me it should be if you punch a driver it cost you this much, if you flip somebody the bird and it’s caught on TV it’s this much. If you say a bad word it’s this much. Let us know what it is because the risk might be worth the reward, I don’t know. I might be willing to pay $25,000 to knock somebody out."

I agree with Smoke.

If Smoke wants to break a rule and pay the standardized fine, then so be it. It’s his choice and he will know the consequences if caught. Under today’s process, NASCAR will think about the penalty and announce it the next day or two. In addition, the majority of the time it’s inconsistent with a penalty and/or fine that they’ve given to another driver breaking the same rule in the past.

NASCAR needs to set fines and penalties in such a way that drivers, crew chiefs and owners won’t want to break a rule. If you flip the bird it’s $50,000 and 25 points, period. Punch another driver, $100,000 and suspension for one race, period. Push another driver, 5 points and a "way to go" for increasing the ratings!

Stewart’s new role in the media will surely give the media something to talk about. He’s one of the most opinionated drivers and now he has a platform to share his views and in my eyes that’s a win-win for the industry. In the past, NASCAR has shut down such opinionated shows. Pit Bull on SPEED comes to mind and the original NASCAR Nation on SPEED comes to mind too. But shutting down Stewart will be a difficult task for NASCAR.

The good news is the ideas and opinions that have gone ignored by NASCAR could find themselves at the top of the priority list because it’s being talked about. The bad news is the same thing, the ideas and opinions that have gone ignored by NASCAR could find themselves at the top of the priority list. Funny how that works!

In the end, Tony Stewart and I agree on the subject of penalties. And my volume control on this subject just got turned up higher thanks to Smoke and his new radio gig. So Smoke, crank it up and preach it brother! I’ve got your back on this one.