Tony Stewart upset with NASCAR’s penalty, ‘super glad’ he’s at NHRA event rather than playoff race

NASCAR legend Tony Stewart was still fuming Wednesday after the stock car racing organization determined the race team he co-owns manipulated the finish of last week’s race.

Stewart-Haas racing is still appealing the $200,000 fine and ruling, but Stewart decided not to talk about the decision. 

NASCAR said Tuesday a review of data and team communications showed that the race team manipulated the results of the Charlotte race, the final event of the Round of 12 in the playoffs.

“I’m not going to talk about it,” Stewart said Wednesday in Texas for his 13th Smoke Show racing fantasy camp, which raises money for Speedway Children’s Charities in the state. 

He’s set to go to the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas, instead of this weekend’s NASCAR race in Las Vegas. He has a car in the NHRA’s top two divisions.

“Super glad I’m going drag racing this weekend,” Stewart said. “If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve got a couple of appearances that I have to make, I wouldn’t be in another NASCAR race the rest of the year. Wouldn’t waste my time.”

NASCAR DISCIPLINES KEVIN HARVICK, RACE TEAM OVER ALLEGED NEXT GEN VIOLATIONS

The penalties from NASCAR stemmed from an incident at The Roval at Charlotte over the weekend after Cole Custer appeared to slow down going into one of the turns while Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson competed for one of the final playoff spots.

Austin Dillon came up right behind Custer on the final lap, and Briscoe went low to pass them both. Briscoe’s finish allowed him to sneak into the Round of 8 and eliminate defending champion Kyle Larson.

“Nothing contradicted that that was done deliberately,” Scott Miller, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, said. 

NASCAR levied a $100,000 fine for Custer and took away 50 driver points and 50 owners points from Stewart-Haas Racing. Crew chief Mike Shiplett was also fined $100,000 and suspended indefinitely.

Custer explained his side of the story to Racing America Sunday after the race.

“Tried to pass the 8. He drove me down the apron on oval 1. I came back on track with a vibration, team yelled at me that I had a flat, so I eased it in the corner to see what I had. I got ran over by the 3 twice. Thought I had a flat, had a vibration, got ran over,” Custer said.

Christopher Bell won the race and earned an automatic spot in the Round of 8. The next round begins in Las Vegas Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.