Tony Stewart comments on the NASCAR inspection process

Tony Stewart: “It’s ridiculous to me. It’s the only series in the world where you get to go through tech three times.”

Jimmie Johnson failed pre-race tech twice before the race on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway; NASCAR incorrectly noted three failures in their system which forced Johnson to start at the tail of the field on Sunday, an incorrect call

On Sunday, Jimmie Johnson was incorrectly penalized. He rolled through NASCAR’s inspection which resulted in two failures ahead of the race at Texas Motor Speedway. On the third pass through the inspection tent, he passed.

Two failures is suppose to net a 15-minute practice penalty the following week at ISM Raceway. However, a NASCAR official incorrectly wrote down three failed inspections instead of two.

Just ahead of the race, the tower informed Jimmie Johnson that he needed to go to the back of the field and forfeit his starting positions. There wasn’t time for the team to argue their case. Jimmie Johnson incorrectly started at the back of the field.

“I still don’t understand why we have to worry about failing three times,” Tony Stewart stated from the Texas Motor Speedway media center.

Aric Almirola - NASCAR OSS Inspection — Aric Almirola – NASCAR OSS Inspection

“You bring your car, you roll it through tech. You either pass, or you don’t. I don’t know why we screw around and jack around with one, two, three times.”

“It’s ridiculous to me. It’s the only series in the world where you get to go through tech three times, fail twice and they still let you go through a third time.”

“We gotta figure it out. Gotta make it simpler than this. It shouldn’t be this difficult.”

“Half the time, you don’t even know what the penalty is suppose to be. I’m a car owner and I don’t know what the penalty is suppose to be. So, as a fan, I don’t know how the fans can keep up with it either.”

NASCAR didn’t catch the error on Jimmie Johnson until the race had already begun. They owned up to the officiating error and offered an apology to the team.

A solution to NASCAR inspection?

NASCAR has multiple inspections throughout the weekend. Depending on the schedule for the weekend, the required times to pass inspection will vary.

Typically, teams will have to pass inspection before qualifying, after qualifying, before the race and of course after the race. During an enhanced race weekend (2-day show), post-qualifying inspection and pre-race inspection are combined and one less pass through the inspection tent is required.

“If you start rolling cars through one time and if they don’t pass, they go to the back. I bet there would be a lot less cars fail tech the next week.”

“But, who knows. I think it needs to be a less complicated way of doing it for sure.”

Kevin Harvick wins at Texas Motor Speedway — FORT WORTH, TX – NOVEMBER 04: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Mobil 1 Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 4, 2018 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

How involved is Tony Stewart with his NASCAR team?

On a more positive note, Stewart-Haas Racing is now a lock for the Championship 4 event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kevin Harvick picked up the win on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. He’ll battle for a championship in the NASCAR Playoffs in two weeks time.

Tony Stewart engaged in a champaign war with his driver in victory lane. He lost. But, it doesn’t matter. Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart are both happy. It’s a combination as rare as a sighting of Halley’s comet.

The team now has a total of 51 race victories. They have a shot at their third Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title.

Do you go to any technical briefings?

“Oh god no,” Tony Stewart, the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing said. “I don’t want to go to any briefings. I just want to go to the races and go to the shop and hang out with the guys.”

“That’s what retirement’s for. You don’t have to go to meetings. I go to enough damn meetings as it is. I try to limit how many I have to go to.”

“The post-race meetings on Monday or Tuesday, it doesn’t do me any good because I’m not making any of those decisions on that car.”

“Somebody was asking me about certain aspects of the setup this morning. We’re almost at two years of being outside of a cup car from driving. — How much has changed in two years of how we set these cars up and what we do to make them go fast. — It’s totally different than when I drove.”

“For me to sit in on those meetings, they might as well be speaking Spanish. I really don’t understand what they’re talking about because so much has changed in a short amount of time. That’s just technology in the sport. The technology changes weekly.”