Join the Discussion "Looks like Mr. Stewart really did it this time..." TIMWEBER1

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For the first 30 years, NASCAR was ruled by guys who could drive. Pearson, Petty, Allison, Foyt and the rest ruled the sport with fire in their bellies. Anyone who stood between them and victory got smacked, on or off the track. Drive, desire and determination and raw talent were all it took to get to the top.

Now days you need to be able to massage the media, the fans and the sponsors in order to make it in the sport. Driving skill is still important but in addition you need to represent yourself, and your sport in the best possible light all the time.

I have a lot of respect for Tony Stewart's driving abilities. When he's strapped into the driver's seat he can take it to the front and keep it there. If it's not handling, he has the ability to communicate what the car needs to make it better and can adjust his driving style to accommodate an ill-handling car until his crew gets a chance to work on it. Behind the wheel, Tony Stewart is the complete NASCAR Winston Cup series race driver.

However, in the current NASCAR Winston Cup era it takes more than driving skill to get to, and stay in the pinnacle series of American motorsports. In today's commercialized, overexposed, multimedia version of NASCAR what you do off the track is just as important as your on track ability.

Tony Stewart simply doesn't have what it takes to thrive in today's NASCAR.

There has been a long series of incidents where Tony Stewart let his temper get the best of him going all the way back to his rookie year when Tony tried to climb in Kenny Irwin's window to get to him after an incident in Martinsville. Other incidents include post race run-ins with Jeff Gordon, shoving incident in Daytona with Robby Gordon, multiple incidents with reporters... and the list goes on.

Recently Tony was fined and put on probation by both NASCAR and Home Depot for an incident with a photographer after the Brickyard 400. Now we have Tony Stewart being investigated by the Sullivan County, TN sheriff's department for allegedly shoving a woman after the race in Bristol, and a safety worker from New Hampshire is accusing Tony of punching him after Stewart wrecked out of the July race.

Tony Stewart just doesn't have it in him to make nice when he's upset. Worse than that, his outbursts always seem to be physical. If he were yelling at reporters, fans and safety workers that would make for a good story, but wouldn't be worthy of fines and suspensions. However punching, shoving and hitting with his car just can not be tolerated.

Given Tony Stewart's long history of problems it's just a matter of time before Home Depot forces Joe Gibbs to make a change. If/When that happens it will be sad that NASCAR lost a talented driver because he couldn't keep his head, but there are thousands of bright, young, talented drivers out there who can and one of those will quickly take his place, relegating Tony Stewart to a sad footnote in NASCAR history.