Tony Stewart is returning to his outspoken ways and NASCAR is the object of his latest criticism.
The three-time Sprint Cup champion raised objections over the about the new NASCAR qualifying format as the Daytona 500 approaches, from a single-car, two-lap qualifying event to a knockout-group qualifying one, according to beyondtheflag.com.
Old Tony Stewart, full of "piss and vinegar," returning to NASCAR in 2015
He fears for the safety of the drivers, especially at restrictor-plate race tracks.
"To be perfectly honest, I am not a big fan of that," Stewart said, as recorded by Sports Illustrated's beyondtheflag.com.
"It's exciting to watch, but the thing that most don't realize is that, first of all, you're trying to be the last guy to come out. Once those guys in the back get that run and make that first lap, the last thing they want to do is go ahead and run that next lap full throttle and give the guys they just passed the same opportunity. So what you have is guys dumping out of the throttle and closing rates that are not good at all. You can't hardly see through the guy in front of you. If somebody does something three or four cars up there and your spotter can't tell you about, it has a lot of potential to be, you know, bad."
It's not that Stewart dislikes the idea of the format, beyondtheflag.com reports, but he doesn't want it used at the major events such as Daytona or Talladega.
"It's qualifying. We have enough trouble wrecking cars at restrictor-plate tracks as it is. I do like the idea that it's traditional as far as locking in the front row. I think that is something that is important. I think there's ways that maybe in the future NASCAR could do it a little different.
"I think all in all the whole qualifying format for the year was awesome. I thought that was one of the best changes and one of the easiest changes NASCAR had to make. It was a really, really good decision on their part. It brings a lot of excitement on Friday; I'm just not crazy about it at Daytona and Talladega."
Steward can be forgiven for wanting to avoid increasing the danger drivers face, after his incident last summer at a dirt track in New York, in which his car hit pedestrian Kevin Ward Jr., hurtling him some 50 feet that resulted in Ward's death.
Defending NASCAR Spring Cup champion Kevin Harvick agreed with Stewart, his boss, saying the format is difficult to maneuver at tracks such as the ones at Daytona and Talladega but is "unbelievable at all of the other tracks."
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