One of the most common sentiments among seasoned NASCAR fans and professionals is that there’s usually a longing for the ‘good old days.’ Now, this could be because of several factors, or a few factors. But one factor which is missing from the modern era of the sport, one which Tony Stewart also pointed out, is the personalities aren’t just the same as they were ‘back in the day.’
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A big weapon in NASCAR’s toolkit from a few decades ago was the extremely compelling personalities that there were in the sport, most of whom were drivers. Those compelling personalities would obviously lead to compelling storylines and those storylines would lead to a larger interest in the sport. But today, that is no longer the case, or at least, not on the level it used to be.
This is what Tony Stewart recently shared his concerns about.
Tony Stewart calls out “vanilla and wimpy” drivers in modern NASCAR
Speaking in an interview with former driver Kenny Wallace, the Hall of Famer pointed to the sad state of affairs in the sport today with the “vanilla and wimpy” drivers.
“They literally won’t confront each other at the track. They’ll just sit there and wait till they get home and beat on each other on Twitter where nobody has to face anybody,” Stewart described. “We grew up in a different era. I remember drivers coming up in the lounge, and it wasn’t always bad … but if you did something wrong … they would literally come in your trailer and talk to you in your own lounge. … Talk in each other’s motor homes after practice was over, after the race was over.”
“You handled it and you did it eye-to-eye. You did it face-to-face. You did it as men.”
Stewart on the thing he really hates about the sport right now
During their conversation, Wallace asked Stewart about his opinion on the current state of tech inspections and all the massive penalties being handed to teams in the Next Gen era. Stewart, staying true to his style, said, “The bad thing is I have an opinion about it, I have a very strong opinion about it.”
He described the whole Hendrick Motorsports saga and which they got penalized, lost points, got their crew chiefs suspended, appealed, won the appeal, then had two more cars penalized for something such as small windshield screws that got cut off. “This is the part that I really hate about the sport right now. This is the part which frustrates me about NASCAR right now,” he revealed.
Having said that, Stewart claimed that if he were to say something or voice his opinion, it could cost him money and points. “It’s gonna hurt my drivers and it’s gonna hurt my organization,” he added.
The Hall of Famer emphasized that despite him having an opinion, he is scared to voice it because NASCAR has set the precedent that while one can have an opinion, they need to keep their mouth shut and keep it to themselves.
