Tony Stewart once had to be held back by crew chief Greg Zipadelli and team owner Joe Gibbs at the 2001 Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Stewart, known for his hot-headedness, was outraged with the fine NASCAR had handed him for his actions and conduct during the race.
In 2001, NASCAR slapped Stewart with a $10,000 fine and extended his probation until Nov. 21 that year. This was in response to Stewart’s actions that were deemed detrimental to stock car racing. The penalties were imposed following a series of confrontations involving Stewart after the race
NASCAR had also warned Stewart that any violation of his extended probation might subject him to another fine and/or deduction of championship points, loss of finishing positions in an event, and worse, a suspension from the sport.
Tony Stewart’s Incident at the 2001 Pepsi 400
During the Pepsi 400, Stewart received a black flag for driving below the yellow line, a rule officials had emphasized in the pre-race meeting. Stewart was in second place with four laps remaining when his car went below the yellow line. Ignoring the black flag, he continued racing, later claiming Johnny Benson’s car forced him down.
However, the decision to disregard the black flag was Stewart’s alone. Consequently, NASCAR penalized Stewart, dropping him to 26th place and costing him 65 driver standings points, a decision Stewart strongly opposed.
After the race, Stewart approached the NASCAR hauler to fight his case. On his way there, when Mike Mulhern approached him for an interview, Stewart knocked a tape recorder out of the reporter’s hands and kicked it under a hauler.
However, things hit the roof when Stewart attempted to confront the Winston Cup director, Gary Nelson. After things got heated, he had to be restrained by team owner Joe Gibbs and crew chief Greg Zipadelli.
Stewart was penalized under Section 12-4-A in the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series rulebook, “actions deemed by NASCAR Officials as detrimental to stock car racing.” In addition, the governing body also demanded that Stewart issue a formal apology to the NASCAR fans and a member of the media for his aggressive conduct.
A few days after the controversy at Daytona, Stewart offered a public apology to both Mulhern and Nelson and acknowledged that his behavior was inappropriate.
