NASCAR needs to overturn Tony Stewart fine

The comments were pointed, said in a manner to draw attention to an issue many had voiced concerns about but had not yet received the response they wanted.

What Tony Stewart sought was for NASCAR to revise its rule allowing teams to dictate the number of lug nuts used to fasten a wheel. Having seen the volume of loose wheels increased in recent weeks, Stewart recognized that if changes weren’t enacted, and soon, the consequences would likely be dire.

Not that the issue needed additional studying. Throughout NASCAR’s existence it had always required teams apply the maximum of five lug nuts, and the rule worked. Wheels were largely secured and teams didn’t try to gain valuable positions by fastening only three lug nuts, a strategy that is now commonplace since officials stopped regulating the practice prior to last season.

“I’m P.O.‘d at NASCAR about it, to be honest,” Stewart told reporters for USA Today and NBC Sports last Wednesday. “For all the work and everything and all the bulletins and all the new stuff that we have to do to superspeedway cars and all these other things that they want us to do for safety, but we can’t even make sure that we put five lug nuts on the wheel.

“It’s not even mandatory anymore. It used to be mandatory. Now all the sudden, it’s a smart thing to not dictate.”

A day later, NASCAR responded by fining Stewart $35,000. NASCAR CEO and Chairman Brian France told the Associated Press Sports Editors that Stewart was “wrong,” essentially dismissing the remarks as bombastic and strongly defending the sport’s safety initiatives.

Yet roughly 24 hours after handing Stewart a fine he didn’t deserve, NASCAR said it would reevaluate its policy because of concerns expressed by drivers. On Monday, the sanctioning body went even further with a rules bulletin sent to crew chiefs reverting to its previous guidelines that all five lug nuts be on wheels at all times or else significant penalties would occur.

What changed in a matter of days and how did NASCAR go from standing by its existing lug nut procedures to amending them outright?

With good reason, the timeline suggests Stewart was the catalyst to spur change. His words had near universal support, with the Sprint Cup Drivers Council even taking the unprecedented step of promising to pay Stewart’s fine.

It wouldn’t be a leap of faith to suggest that, had Stewart not spoken up in the manner he did, teams would still be permitted to apply as few lug nuts as deemed necessary. Few drivers have the star power of the three-time Cup Series champion. His words were not meant to demean NASCAR, but to voice a valid concern on the compromising of safety.

Seemingly then, Stewart should be expecting a refund, right? There was a clear safety issue that wasn’t being addressed despite multiple complaints, and he got the right people to pay the proper attention to it until it got fixed. The league’s action in changing the rule seemingly vindicates Stewart’s comments even after the fine reprimanded those same words.

Ah, not quite. NASCAR doesn’t operate that way, not even in its more progressive state where it regularly works with separate confederations representing drivers and owners. It may have been wrong in fining Stewart, but admitting so publicly is too much.

It’s irrelevant that Stewart was the catalyst for immediate and necessary change. From NASCAR’s viewpoint he was wrong for saying what he said and how he went about doing so, and he should not have questioned the sanctioning body’s commitment to safety.

Closed case. Except it shouldn’t be.

Stewart was right in saying what he said, and the increasing number of loose wheels in recent weeks is ample evidence of the issue becoming more prevalent. Thus, the problem required immediate attention and if NASCAR needed encouraging then Stewart certainly provided the necessary motivation.

For that he should be commended, to the tune of a $35,000 reimbursement.