Tony Stewart doesn’t reveal much about Chili Bowl fan incident
Tony Stewart didn’t shed much light on his actions at the Chili Bowl Nationals on Friday night.
Stewart, a two-time winner of the indoor midget car dirt race, was in attendance to help with track preparation. Videos showed Stewart climb into the grandstands to have a conversation with an apparently inebriated fan who allegedly had been heckling Stewart throughout the evening.
“If anybody wants to know what happened, they should have been there to see for themselves,” Stewart said Thursday during NASCAR’s annual preseason media days at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “… I’m not going to waste my time on a NASCAR media day talking about an event that happened a week ago.”
The 2016 season is Stewart’s final season on the Sprint Cup circuit. He’ll be replaced upon retirement by Clint Bowyer in the No. 14 car.
The fan has been identified as a member of the Tulsa County (Oklahoma) Sheriff’s Office. The unit is investigating the incident, though it’s because of his actions and not those of Stewart. The three-time Sprint Cup Series champion was smiling during the exchange with the man. He did not make it physical and security pushed the man back into his seat after he made a move towards Stewart.
“They make judgments of us no matter what we do, so I’m not going to try to justify or explain what happened,” Stewart said. “Everybody that was there knew what happened. I think you guys are smart enough to see in social media now, people are coming out and talking about what happened, and we’ll leave it at that,”
Stewart’s defense of his actions isn’t unexpected. However, it was still odd to see a NASCAR champion – going in to the stands to have a chat with a fan.
Stewart also said Thursday that Bass Pro Shops would have a very limited schedule as a primary sponsor of his car in 2016. The company announced Tuesday that it would sponsor Martin Truex Jr. in nine races in 2016. Bass Pro has been a sponsor of Stewart’s since Office Depot left after the 2012 season.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
