Stewart still not letting up on Goodyear
By Jeff Owens - Executive Editor
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Chris Graythen / Getty Images
HAMPTON, GA - MARCH 07: Tony Stewart, driver of the #20 Home Depot Toyota, watches during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 7, 2008 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Tony Stewart continued to take Goodyear officials to task Wednesday for what he said was an unacceptable tire at Atlanta Sunday and what he says are lingering problems with the company’s NASCAR tires.
Stewart criticized the company during a press conference at Martinsville Speedway on Wednesday, saying he stood by his harsh comments at Atlanta and will continue to talk about what he perceives as widespread tire problems.
"It wasn't a situation that we're just trying to beat a company up,” Stewart said. “We don't want to have to even say bad things about it to begin with. … We want a tire that is safe every week and that's competitive every week. That's all we ask out of them. To us that's their responsibility as the exclusive manufacturer in the series. That's their responsibility to do that every week.
“We felt like, as drivers, we were let down this particular weekend worse than some of the other weeks when it may not be a huge complaint but it is a complaint. When year after year the same problems keep creeping up, and some years it seems like its getting worse and worse, like the technology in NASCAR keeps growing but Goodyear is starting to fall behind in that category, we're not saying it because we want to hurt them. We're saying what we said this past weekend because we want to get somebody's attention in the company to where they're going to do something.
“Do something productive. Do something to make a change, make a difference. Give us something better than what we've got. If that's what it took to do it, then it's the right thing to do.
“Did it hurt the company? I'm sure it probably did. That wasn't our intention necessarily but I don't want to sit here for the next 30 weeks of the season and ride around on a tire like I rode around on last Sunday. That's not my idea of a good time. So, if you've got to speak with a loud voice to get somebody's attention, if that's what it takes to get something done, then that's what you've got to do.”
Stewart called the Atlanta tire “pathetic” and said it was the worse tire he had raced on in his career.
Goodyear issued a statement on Monday saying that it brought what it thought was the best tire for the Atlanta track and was satisfied with its performance.
Stewart took offense to Goodyear’s statement, criticizing the company on his Sirius Satellite radio show Monday and then again at Martinsville on Wednesday.
“If they firmly believe that, then they need to ride in the car with us next time we go to Atlanta with those tires on and tell us if they think that is the right thing to do,” Stewart said Wednesday.
”I firmly believe that what we had was a fiasco last weekend on the tire side. This week I don’t mind taking the two or three days [to talk about it] and I’m sure I’ll be talking about it this weekend. I believe that this is a cause that’s worth fighting for.”
Stewart said he and other drivers have had closed-door meetings with Goodyear officials, but “nothing has ever got done.
“We’ve talked about the quality. We’ve talked about repeatability. Talked about quality control with them,” Stewart said. “There’s a lot of issues that we’ve talked about with them that, still in my opinion, have never been resolved. It’s like, when is it going to get resolved?’’
Both Goodyear and NASCAR officials have said that NASCAR’s new car has posed a greater challenge for Goodyear, one that may persist early this season.
Stewart says that’s no excuse.
“After all the years they’ve been doing this, it’s not like they’re a brand-new tire company that just started,” Stewart said. “By now, you would think, surely by now they would have found middle ground.
“Their excuse of saying there are a lot of places we’re going to for the first time this year [with the new car] and we’re not going to know what’s going to happen. Well, they knew last year we were going to all these tracks and it was all going to be new. Why did they not do more testing than what they did to prepare for this year?
“To me, that is their responsibility of being the sole tire provider for the series. It’s their responsibility to make sure they’ve done their job before we get there.”
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