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No sooner does NASCAR bad boy Kevin Harvick flare up and get into it with Matt Kenseth at Pocono, then other bad boy Tony Stewart make his mark in NASCAR's bad boy book. What happened to Kurt Busch? Has he succumbed to becoming a good boy for a change? It's time we heard something from him! Now that Jimmy Spencer is back on the track in Morgan McClure's #4 Chevy, we may see a little scuffle coming up between the two long time nemesis. It could be that when Spencer scuffed up Busch's beak last season, bad boy Busch may have gotten the message. No, it's not good sportsmanship, but it certainly does make life interesting. It also makes some of these boring races, more interesting to watch, wondering what some of these unsavory characters are going to do next. Tony Stewart has become, or is, one of NASCAR's star studded unsavory characters. Stewart's been on probation and fined for his troublesome behavior on more than one occasion. He has been known to knock fans and media people out of his way, getting in hot water last season for assaulting a photographer. He was also accused of pushing a woman out of his way last season at the Bristol venue, but those charges didn't stick. Stewart's behavior this season has been deplorable, to say the least. He has been scolded by NASCAR's top officials repeatedly after being called on the carpet a couple of times for rough driving and also for some unsavory comments made during media interviews. Now Stewart's on the carpet for attacking Brian Vickers by hitting and grabbing his chest while Vickers was still strapped in his racecar. Apparently, the rookie Vickers did something on the track that severely upset Stewart. Rookies make mistakes, they aren't totally experienced in the ways of Cup racing, that's why they are called rookies for their first season! To chastise a rookie for making a mistake is going a little too far.
If Brian Vickers was one of the bad boys, I could see Stewart striking out against him, but Brian Vickers is a good fellow, and a darned good race driver. If Vickers did something on the track to upset Stewart, I doubt very seriously that it was anything under his control. Stewart was out of line, again. NASCAR.com had one of its ever present "Quick Vote" polls going concerning Stewart's behavior. The poll asked, "How should NASCAR punish Tony Stewart after his confrontation with Brian Vickers?" The poll offered three choices, "Suspension," Fine/Probation," and "No punishment needed." With 56.3k fans voting, 61% called for Stewart's suspension. A paltry 21% called for the fine/Probation punishment, while a low 18% of Stewart's supporters called for no punishment needed.
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