[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by titans#1

first of all of course he can go on national t.v. and complain but it isnt the right thing to do.

and second of all a man doesnt stand behind a mike he takes it up with nascar and face to face and gets it solved not hide behind the mike than say im sorry when nascar steps in.

I wouldn't say that he was "hiding behind the mike," Titan. I'd call it "using a tool not available to the general population."

If you remember back just about exactly one year ago Tony used the same tactic on NA__AT itself, concerning the silly "phantom debris caution" crap NA__AR was dishing out on a regular basis to manufacture artificial closeness of the racing. He went so far as to accuse NA__AR of turning itself into a motorized WWF. He really whizzed in a whole bunch of people's Cheerio's on that one.

BUT... the phantom debris cautions have decreased by about a factor of ten in the past year so what Tony did must have worked.

I look at Stewart's way of calling attention logical and sometimes desperately needed.
It reminds me of an old farmer I once heard of. He bought a mule which was known for its stubbornness. After he bought it he had to get it into the back of his truck and the previous owner told the farmer he'd have a heck of a time getting that done. The farmer said, "No problem." He picked up a 2X4 and hit the mule squarely across the nose. He then just pointed at the ramp going up the truck and the mule immediately scampered right up it. The farmer turned to the mule's former owner, smiled and said, "First, you have to get his attention. Then he'll do what's right."

I consider NA__AR the mule and Tony's rash statements a 2X4.

[titans#1]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

I wouldn't say that he was "hiding behind the mike," Titan. I'd call it "using a tool not available to the general population."

If you remember back just about exactly one year ago Tony used the same tactic on NA__AT itself, concerning the silly "phantom debris caution" crap NA__AR was dishing out on a regular basis to manufacture artificial closeness of the racing. He went so far as to accuse NA__AR of turning itself into a motorized WWF. He really whizzed in a whole bunch of people's Cheerio's on that one.

BUT... the phantom debris cautions have decreased by about a factor of ten in the past year so what Tony did must have worked.

I look at Stewart's way of calling attention logical and sometimes desperately needed.
It reminds me of an old farmer I once heard of. He bought a mule which was known for its stubbornness. After he bought it he had to get it into the back of his truck and the previous owner told the farmer he'd have a heck of a time getting that done. The farmer said, "No problem." He picked up a 2X4 and hit the mule squarely across the nose. He then just pointed at the ramp going up the truck and the mule immediately scampered right up it. The farmer turned to the mule's former owner, smiled and said, "First, you have to get his attention. Then he'll do what's right."

I consider NA__AR the mule and Tony's rash statements a 2X4.

not wanting to argue because truthfully i dont know much on the matter but you guys have convinced me into thinking he did the right thing.

[Racer Duck]

Tony Stewart and Stu Grand, Goodyear's general manager of worldwide racing met at Bristol. Both described the meeting as worthwhile.

Stewart said:

“I’m glad the weather gave us a break in the schedule that allowed us to meet this afternoon, and I appreciate Stu taking the time to meet with me,” Stewart said. “We’re hoping that Goodyear will now work with us a little better on the racing side of things and rely on our input a little more, because we are the ones driving the cars.

It was a good meeting, but at the end of the day, it’s up to Goodyear to make it right. If having this meeting helps to make things better down the road, then this meeting was a success.”

Grand said:

“It was an excellent meeting. It was constructive. It was extremely worthwhile to sit down and have a discussion with him. Tony was able to express his concerns and I listened to his concerns. I was able to explain our process, and we both talked about how moving forward, we can improve the process of developing tires for NASCAR Sprint Cup racing together.”

Tony also made a point to apologize to the Goodyear employees saying they were not the ones his remarks were aimed at, but to the people who are making the decisions which tires to bring to the track.

Also, when asked about being invited to tire testing, Tony said:

“I don’t like tire testing anyway; It’s more days out of our schedule. There’s a reason that they have to do it obviously, but the drivers, the teams don’t really get anything for doing it other than taking two days out of their schedule and we can give them all the feedback that we want, but very rarely (does Goodyear follow thru.)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said the same thing last week in the media center … there are very few times that we give them our input and they actually bring back what we recommend, so it makes it frustrating to want to go try to help a company that doesn’t take the input that you give them anyway and listen to what you have to say.”

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

Tony Stewart and Stu Grand, Goodyear's general manager of worldwide racing met at Bristol. Both described the meeting as worthwhile.

Stewart said:

“I’m glad the weather gave us a break in the schedule that allowed us to meet this afternoon, and I appreciate Stu taking the time to meet with me,” Stewart said. “We’re hoping that Goodyear will now work with us a little better on the racing side of things and rely on our input a little more, because we are the ones driving the cars.

It was a good meeting, but at the end of the day, it’s up to Goodyear to make it right. If having this meeting helps to make things better down the road, then this meeting was a success.”

Grand said:

“It was an excellent meeting. It was constructive. It was extremely worthwhile to sit down and have a discussion with him. Tony was able to express his concerns and I listened to his concerns. I was able to explain our process, and we both talked about how moving forward, we can improve the process of developing tires for NASCAR Sprint Cup racing together.”

Tony also made a point to apologize to the Goodyear employees saying they were not the ones his remarks were aimed at, but to the people who are making the decisions which tires to bring to the track.

Also, when asked about being invited to tire testing, Tony said:

“I don’t like tire testing anyway; It’s more days out of our schedule. There’s a reason that they have to do it obviously, but the drivers, the teams don’t really get anything for doing it other than taking two days out of their schedule and we can give them all the feedback that we want, but very rarely (does Goodyear follow thru.)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said the same thing last week in the media center … there are very few times that we give them our input and they actually bring back what we recommend, so it makes it frustrating to want to go try to help a company that doesn’t take the input that you give them anyway and listen to what you have to say.”

The one statement Goodyear made, in their first reply to Tony's accusations was something to the effect, "Well, we erred on the side of safety and we have no tire failures during the race."

Apparently their (Goodyear's) benchmark for success is "No tire failures?"

Note to Goodyear: Hey guys... want zero tire failures? Make the tire solid rubber or, better yet, fill them with concrete instead of a nitrogen. How's THAT for a "No Blowout Guarantee?"

Face it. You dropped the ball and Stewart called your hand on it. It might not have been pretty but it sure was effective.