Tony Stewart Saturday Night: Cut The Man A Break

Column By: JACOB SEELMAN / RACE CHASER ONLINE – OCALA, FL – As I was surfing social media on Sunday morning after the revelation that Tony Stewart had withdrawn from the All Star Circuit of Champions finale at Bubba Raceway Park the night before, I saw a lot of “fans” throwing shade at ‘Smoke’ for his actions and for not competing in front of a packed house Saturday night.

I’m here with the following message: shut up and let the man race his race. (Pun intended.)

By that, of course, I mean that everyone who’s whining and complaining needs to leave well enough alone. It’s Tony’s life and he needs to be able to make his own decisions without being scrutinized under a microscope and raked over the coals every other minute of the day.

Do I understand that there was a lot of promotion at and around Bubba Raceway Park in regards to Tony racing this weekend?

Absolutely I do. But that was largely driven from the outside, and not by Tony himself.

Do I understand that there are plenty of fans that likely couldn’t get off of work for the Thursday or Friday night shows in Ocala, and that they came on Saturday expecting to be able to watch Smoke race, but were disappointed after his decision to load the car up before engine warm-ups had even begun?

Of course I do. And it’s their right to be disappointed.

To read Jacob’s full column, click here.