Tony Stewart’s Goodyear Rant (the Tires, Not the Blimp)
March 10, 2008 by Jodie Lynn Boduch
Filed under Sports Rumors
Fixed, immovable Gossip On Sports Opinion of the Day: Goodyear should definitely not offer NASCAR driver Tony Stewart a spokesman gig anytime soon.
Why? Here are some of Stewart’s oh-so-subtle thoughts on the tire company and its status as sole provider of tires for NASCAR. (A shout-out to Pat for sending this!)
“The bad thing is they’ve got an exclusive deal . . . They have no reason to have to push and make their product better because they have no competition. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get them to give us a quality tire that this series and NASCAR deserves. But they obviously aren’t capable of doing it right now.
Did you read between the lines? We think he doesn’t care for them. Well, that’s followed by:
“If I were Goodyear, I would really be embarrassed about what they brought here. I guarantee you Hoosier or Firestone or somebody can come in and do a better job than they are right now.”
And just in case you’re still on the fence about what his true feelings are about Goodyear:
“If that’s what we’ve got to look forward to, weekends [with tires that perform] like this, there will be a lot of drivers going into retirement a lot earlier, because nobody’s going to want to keep doing it like this.”
Now. If you’re as stubborn as Hank Steinbrenner—our new favorite synonym for “jackass”—and not yet convinced as to Tony Stewart’s position regarding Goodyear, we leave you with one this final quote:
“That was the most pathetic racing tire I’ve ever been on in my professional career. Goodyear can’t build a tire that is worth a crap.”
This past weekend’s race in Atlanta was – for lack of a better term – just plain boring, and it was in large part due to the lack of ability the drivers had to run side-by-side thanks to the tires provided to them from Goodyear. It should also be noted that Stewart later made a statement that somewhat resembled an apology, though I don’t believe the words were actually uttered.
Tim–I didn’t see the race but I did read that other drivers were none too pleased and that it was a less-than-thrilling outing. But you have to admit–Tony Stewart has a colorful way of expressing his opinion!