Friday, March 14, 2008

Tony Takes On Goodyear

I really appreciate Tony Stewart taking Goodyear to task after the Atlanta race. Tony is a person who speaks his conviction and in the racing world he has the street credibility to back it up.

He felt like the tire was inferior and not suited for the track or the cars and he spoke his mind. He is smart enough to know that sometimes you have to take the argument to a certain level of absurdity before you get anyone's attention.

If he only mildly complains then nothing gets done and the problem persists. It was obvious to anyone watching the Atlanta race that the drivers were not comfortable and it made for less than scintillating racing. Tony realized that if he went nuclear he could get some attention, and boy did it work.

The next day, there was more talk about Tony's tire tirade than Kyle Busch getting Toyota their first win (sorry about that Kyle) but for Tony it was mission accomplished. A lot other drivers agreed with Tony, including Dale Jr., but they weren't willing to climb on the soap box and give the sermon.

Give Tony credit. If Goodyear produces a tire that promotes better racing, then we've all got one person to thank. To paraphrase the late U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, "extremism in the defense of better racing is no vice."