DARLINGTON, S.C. – Brian Scott wasn’t having the greatest of nights at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, but the Richard Petty Motorsports driver didn’t deserve a Lap 204 tangle that abruptly ended his first Bojangles’ Southern 500.
After making contact with the wall on Lap 114, Scott was maintaining his own pace, while finding himself near Tony Stewart 163 laps from the finish.
While trying to let the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pass him, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver got loose underneath Scott’s No. 44 Twisted Tea Ford Fusion saved it, but then suddenly turned his wheel to the right, hooking the Sprint Cup rookie and sending him careening into the inside wall and destroying what was left of his No. 44 Ford Fusion.
Scott was able to drive his mangled machine back to the garage area, where he calmly and with class described what transpired on the track with Stewart.
“I was trying to let those guys go that had newer, fresher tires. I was trying to let Tony (Stewart) go there and I think he got inside of me and got loose there,” described Scott. “I was pointing him to the inside to let him go. Apparently, he got mad at me. I want to thank Twisted Tea, Ford, Albertsons, Shore Lodge and everyone that came on board.”
Despite being K’O by the soon-to-be retiring Sprint Cup driver, Scott said he still has respect for the 49-time Cup winner even if it meant he suffered his fourth did not finish (DNF) of the season.
“I have a lot of respect for Tony,” added Scott. “He has always raced me really clean. I am not sure what he thought was going on there. I am not sure if he thought I was trying to hold him up there, I wasn’t. I was trying to let him go. I even pointed him to the inside. Maybe he thought I was giving him the finger or something.”
Despite being on the receiving end of retaliation from Stewart, the two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner says he plans to talk with him, while admitting Darlington’s grueling 500-mile event is usually a very demanding and physical race.
“I will talk with him. We will figure it out. It is a tough race,” Scott mentioned. “The Southern 500 is a tough race. Everybody is slipping and sliding a lot. It is getting to the point where people’s tempers are getting short.”
Stewart didn’t want to chat much about the incident after going to the garage on Lap 318 after losing the engine on his No. 14 Coca-Cola Chevrolet SS.
“He wrecked,” Stewart said in a typical fired up demeanor to NBC Sports in the garage about the incident.
NASCAR instructed both Stewart and crew chief Mike Bugarewicz report to the Sprint Cup Series hauler post-race to meet with NASCAR officials to discuss the crash.
Earlier in the day, John Hunter Nemechek found himself under fire from NASCAR race fans involving what was believed to be an intentional incident with Cole Custer at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park coming to the checkered flag. While yes, the two incidents were completely different, one for the win, other for just position on the race track – the intent to wreck a competitor on purpose was still in play.
No matter how much respect you have for Tony Stewart, his actions in the next to last penultimate race of the regular season were wrong. Yes, the Columbus, Indiana native has been vocal in the past about being blocked on the race track by fellow drivers.
But, the 28-year-old Scott wasn’t blocking.
He just simply didn’t get out of Stewart’s way fast enough.
Some fans were quick to rush to judgment about Scott being in the way and some escalted the conversation further claiming Scott didn’t have a right to be driving for Richard Petty Motorsports or competing in NASCAR period.
No matter how you feel though, Sunday’s race wasn’t about Scott and his capabilities.
The incident was clear. Scott was taken out when he shouldn’t have been.
It doesn’t matter if the Boise, Idaho native wrecked once or 10 times this season. What matters is that Scott didn’t deserve to have had his night ended because of impatience from someone that Scott describes in his own right as well respected and considered one of the best NASCAR drivers of all time.
And while it may be easier to swipe the incident under the rug and let Stewart leave the track without any severe consequence from NASCAR, Stewart does have the opportunity and platforms to make things right with Brian Scott.
Whether it’s private or public, that’s between two elite athletes competing at the sport’s highest level. However, standing up and realizing you made a mistake, whether you felt at the time was justifiable shows the true definition of a champion, not to mention express the good-hearted Tony Stewart side that race fans, media and competitors alike have been known to respect and embrace.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
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