Smoke can't stand the heat, But Ingrid is HOT

Even a nudge from his PR man wasn't enough for Tony Stewart to shut up during a post race interview after the Samsung 500.  Smoke was not happy about the contact with Juan Pablo Montoya that took him out of Sunday's race.  But the thing that has him even more upset seems to be the "180,000 fans booing me (him) every lap".  Tony believes that everyone is giving  JPM a "free pass", while whenever he is involved in contact , he gets the blame.

Tony  went on to say that he would retire now if he could afford it and retirement is foremost in his mind.  Is this just talk of a frustrated race care driver or of someone who has just plain had enough of the media circus? 

Does the media make fans boo him or do fans boo him because of other factors?  I believe most fans can have their opinions of sports stars swayed by what is written about them. But, in today's world where everything that happens at a race track is out there for all to see, it is very difficult for sports celebrities to fool too many too often.

There are always stories out there where one celeb will say about another, "he isn't the nice guy everyone thinks he is".  My belief is that these celebs will show their true colors in front of the cameras more often than not.  Is Jeff Gordon a whiner outside the track as much as he is at the track?  Probably, but maybe we should ask Ingrid or better yet Brooke.  Does Jimmy Spencer say really stupid crap about stuff he has no real info about when not on TV like he does when the camera is on?  Most likely.  His comments about Dale Jr., Teresa and Kelly Earnhardt-Elledge on Sunday were so off base he had to offer an apology after the race.

The point is that regardless of what is said by celebs, whether they are baseball players, movie actors or race car drivers, the average joe fan can usually tell what is real and what isn't.  Tony--if the booing bothers you that much then maybe you should retire the friendlier confines of Eldora or any of  the other myriad of dirt tracks you are amassing. 

Oh wait--you can't do that can you because YOU don't have enough money to retire.  Man I wish I had your problem.

Steve--

Photos from: ritaren.tripod.com; chrisrommel.com; board.spawn.com

Comments

[charlie]

Tony needs to win a CUP RACE! At the start of the year, all we heard was how Tony had run the table at the Copper World Classic and had won some kind of indoor sprint whatever and "by God, it's obvious Tony's gonna win 'em all in 2007. That eh'hem, momentum has long passed. Much as Brooke needed a man, Tony needs a win. A NASCAR, Big League, win. I just hope he has to race Juan to get it. That, will be worth the ticket