Rubbin' is Racin': Tony Stewart

Needless to say, Tony Stewart's day at Texas was eventful. Apparently, it was enough to make him wrap up his career.

"It's like nothing we can do is right. If we'd have been the one to do that to someone else, we would be slandered in the media for life for doing it. For some strange way, it will be my fault for some reason. It always is," said Stewart.

Well, Tony, you didn't do a whole lot right Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. (But hold off on those retirement plans. I've still got plenty more Rubbin' is Racin' features to do.)

Here's a quick glance at notable events in Tony's day.

Lap 240 - Tony and Juan Pablo Montoya make contact in turn 4, Stewart spins, Johnson t-bones.
Lap 249 - After repairs, Stewart is back on track, but comes to pit road with flat right rear. Does a burnout out of the pit stall in frustration.
Lap 253 - Stewart is trying to make up a lap with much better tires than Kurt Busch, drives hard off the corner, loses the rear end, spins. 2nd Dale Earnhardt Jr. is hit in the rear by 3rd place Kyle Busch in the smoke cloud.
Post Race - Stewart plans retirement after fans boo him.

Man, a race like that causes retirement? Kyle Busch would have been done a long time ago. But I digress.The incident with Juan Pablo? It's pretty much a wash. Juan had a good car, and Tony had to know he would get loose under him. Juan should have let him go. I won't crucify Tony for it, though. Rubbin' is Racin'.

Stewart's primary troubles started when his anger meter peaked somewhere in that initial spin. He pitted, got some repairs, and returned to the track on the lead lap. While trying to negotiate traffic, Stewart's tire went down, infuriating Big Orange all that much more. Coming off of pit road, Stewart had a chance to still be in contention for a decent finish. He was going to pass the leader with the four fresh tires and be just one lap down, ready to battle for the lucky dog.

But then, Tony's patience went out the window. He drove into turn 3 catching Kurt Busch and probably with more effort than he had all weekend. The car stuck with the fresh tires, until he exited the corner. The nose lost all front grip from Kurt Busch's draft, and then the back end stepped out on Stewart, spinning him off the corner. He could have easily realized he was driving himself into a rookie mistake -- especially with a car that had some serious door damage. But he didn't, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s and Kyle Busch's days were history. Rubbin' is Racin', but idiocy isn't.

Despite FOX commentator Mike Joy's praise of car control by saving the Chevy from the spin, Tony had already lost his right to given that title for the incident. He should have -- and could have -- waited for the frontstretch to pass Busch. What would it have hurt? Nothing.

I was honestly amazed that Joy could have seen past the fact the Stewart took out two of the top cars in the field. It's not an incident to blame on Kyle Busch, even if he would have slowed more, the impact was bound to happen with that much smoke. He was driving blind, essentially.

Tony Stewart could have avoided the wreck -- and certainly avoided his comments after the race. What top driver hasn't been booed? Even Dale Jr. has saw his fair share during 2005.

It's time for Stewart to own up to the fact that he did make a mistake and took one of his best friends out of the race. And it's time to realize that just because "180,000" people boo you, it doesn't mean you threaten to walk away. For Stewart, rubbin' ain't racin', rubbin' is whinin'.