The Tony Stewart black flag, good or bad call?

[Joe Fan]

Tony Stewart was blackflagged towards the end of the Pepsi 400, for going below and the yellow line and improving his position. It was obvious from the replay that he did the following but his camp argued that Johnny Benson forced him down there (which the replay clearly showed). I am sure that NASCAR argued that he could have applied some brake and backed out of the situation to the extent that the did not pass Benson. Passin Benson and improving his position is what triggered the violation. What are your thoughts on this ruling?

[FordPrefect]

I have very mixed feelings about this one, if he had backed off he might have caused an accident, the racing was very heavy and I don't think anyone was going to cut anyone any slack, well unless your initials were DEjr

I may have to watch the tape again but I was sure he crossed the yellow line prior to this incident, I though crossing the line was enough to get you hit by a penalty, is it only a crime if you improve your postion? Didn't Labonte also cross the line?

I do think he was forced down but in NASCARS eyes he broke the rules. I did enjoy hearing about his temper tantrum afterwards. A one to three race suspension may be coming his way.

But to answer your question, yes I think it was justified although it was a close call.

[KC]

There's no way he could have braked and rejoined in line, too much loss of momentum and he would have easily been struck from behind. I think that he got too much penalty. He could have been informed to resume his position behind Benson within two laps or face a black flag.

[EllisD696]

I tend to agree with you on this one. They should have given him the opportunity to get back in line before hitting him with a 20 position loss because of the black flag. I believe Labonte dropped below the line as well, however did not better his postition in the process. I think Steward was made an example of. NASCAR made a rule and he broke it, for whatever reason. I think NASCAR wanted to let everyone know that in the future when they make a rule, they mean it. I'm not a Tony Stewart fan, (actually i really dislike him)hehehe, but i believe he was done wrong in this situation. His temper-tantrum didn't seem to help his case to much either. $10,000 fine last i heard.

[Joe Fan]

I think perhaps that drivers like Benson should also get a black flag for sharply veering to one direction in traffic. On a restrictor-plate track, those kind of moves are just as dangerous as the potential hazards of the "below the yellow line" moves. If I remember correctly, the rule as Talladega was if you crossed over the line for any reason (whether you improved your position or not), you would get blackflagged. I think Ricky Craven was penalized for this at that race.

[Ax Slinger]

I've watched the replay on my VCR a dozen times, seen it on various news shows, and NASCAR's website. I just don't see how Stewart could have avoided Benson when he swerved towards him and not gone below the yellow line, or braked and avoided causing another huge pile up. I think he got ripped off on this one. Granted he has acted inappropriately on a few occaissions, but he still runs circles around most drivers. And considering he stood to take home well over a million dollars if he had won the race, I'd be pretty upset about it too. After all, no matter what they say, everyone in NASCAR and racing in general, is in it for the money.

[floid2000]

In traffic like that ,sometimes they're more or less hanging on. When the pack moved around, it looked like tony got sorta "blown" down the track. I figured ,No harm/ No foul but Nascar made a typically IGNORANT call.

[Speedworx]

Stewart is a victim of the NASCAR officials. They did him at Bristol for no reason, he was provoked. At Daytona he was forced below the line.

[Lee]

I purposley stayed away, for about a week, so as to let a this topic die down a little. My opinion, whether or not it was a bad call is not the issue. The issue, to me, is that Stewart acted like a punk, 5 year old spoiled brat! His childish behavior, slapping a reporter, knocking his recorder out of his hand, and kicking it under a truck, then assailing a NASCAR offical was completely uncalled for! Stewart had better thank his lucky stars that I am not in charge of NASCAR, because he would find himself on the sidelines, suspended for the rest of the year! This display was completely out of line!