Tony Stewart is up to his old tricks again, hitting people and crying foul, only this time, the people he is attacking aren't camera men or fans seeking autographs. Stewart attacked Matt Kenseth, driver of the Rouch stable number 17, at 190 miles per hour during the Daytona 500. What makes this extra-ordinary, even for Stewart, is that he waited til they, and 40 other cars were racing into a turn, an act that could easily send a man to the hospital, or just as easily sent him to the cemetery. I wonder how it would have washed with NASCAR fans had it been Tony Stewart that sent the late Dale Earnhardt into the wall and his subsequent death at Daytona back in 01'? This could have just as easily have happened to Kenseth or any other driver on the track on Sunday. Luckily, they all walked away. But what about next time? Tony Stewart is going to wind up killing someone very, very soon.

His on track attacks of other drivers are constantly overlooked by NASCAR, the same NASCAR that has sent crew chef Chad Knaus of the number 48 Lowes Chevrolet home for 4 races and fined him $25,000 for a technical violation. The violation? Three-quarters of an inch too much behind the rear deck of the car. A seemingly run of the mill infraction, but NASCAR has thrown the book at Knaus, while they look the other way as Stewart plows through other drivers, bad mouths his fellow competitors, and throws hissy fits on and off camera.

Not an hour after pointing the finger of blame at other drivers for rough driving, this maniac could be found at Daytona trying to run other competitors off of the track at 190 mph. All of this after just 3 months ago winning the NASCAR championship. And if Stewart isn't attacking drivers on the track, he can usually be found punching out camera men as well as the occasional autograph seeking fan.

To say that Stewart is a champion is to put a bad apple on a pedestal in front of children worldwide and say, "Kids, this is what you should strive to be when you grow up". NASCAR should be ashamed of it's handling of this loose canon, especially considering the harsh fines and suspensions of not only Knaus, but other drivers and crew chiefs as well. I think it should be a criminal offense to maliciously go after another driver with the intention of wrecking him.

Drivers are obviously aware of the danger level involved with this act, which could easily result in death(s). In such a scenario, NASCAR could also be held liable if they repeatedly looked the other way while one of the drivers were attempting to murder people on the track. Maybe then they would step up and take care of out of control hot heads like Tony Stewart before they actually take the life of a fellow driver.

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By: Ed Brown