Don't expect Tony Stewart to change any time soon.
Stewart was fined $35,000 by NASCAR last week for comments he made concerning the sanctioning body's decision not to regulate whether five lug nuts are on all tires during pit stops. Stewart is both a team co-owner and competitor in Sprint Cup racing.
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"I guarantee you that envelope is going to keep getting pushed until somebody gets hurt," Stewart said on Wednesday, according to The Charlotte Observer . "And you will not have heard a rant that's going to be as bad as what comes out of my mouth if a driver gets hurt because of a loose wheel that hurts one of them."
Stewart was fined on Thursday under a NASCAR behavioral mandates concerning "disparaging the sport and/or NASCAR's leadership, verbal abuse of an official." The nine-member Sprint Cup Driver Council has announced it would pay the fine . NASCAR on Friday announced it is reevaluating its position on lug nuts.
Before Sunday's race at Richmond International Raceway, his first in Sprint Cup since breaking a vertebrae in his back in an off-road vehicle on Jan. 31, Stewart was asked whether the fine would change his approach to comments in the future.
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"No," he told the Fox broadcasters during an interview from pit road.
"Here is the thing," he said. "I understand what NASCAR is trying to do. But I'm always going to speak my mind. I don't know what the key word or key phrase was that got me fined. When it comes to safety, I'm not going to hold back. That's $35,000 well invested if it makes it safer for [fellow Cup drivers]. I think they're doing something different today with rules on trying to keep everybody making sure we get enough lug nuts on the cars. You don't want to be in a position with 20 laps to go and you are leading and you haven't won a race and you need that to have to make a decision as a driver whether to come in or ride it out and hope it stays. That's not a good position for us to be in.
"I think some of people at NASCAR took it the wrong way. They have done an awesome job with safety. This is one thing we need to look at. It wasn't saying they're not doing their job. I felt like they dropped the ball. they're doing a good job. They're looking at it and address it and make it right. Down the road, we won't have to worry about this again.