Stewart Reportedly Shoves USAC Official

Tony Stewart may have been announcing his new car with Stewart-Haas Racing Friday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but his actions Thursday night at O'Reilly Raceway Park might become a bigger story later this weekend.

Stewart, according to many online reports and at least a handful of NASCAR beat writers Friday morning at IMS, first knocked a radio headset off the head of a USAC (United States Auto Club) official and then shoved him during a pit road confrontation at ORP.

From the Anderson (Ind.) Herald Bulletin:

Stewart, the two-time Sprint Cup champion, owns the midget cars of Tracy Hines and Levi Jones. Hines entered Thursday's race as the points leader and was running in the top four when he brushed the outside wall on a restart on the eighth circuit

Hines' crew attempted to change a right rear flat tire and get Hines back into the race before another restart. As the crew pushed the car to the front of the straightaway, a USAC official indicated they were too late.

That brought Stewart down pit lane to voice his displeasure with the decision. Stewart's actions first knocked the headset from the official's head, and he then shoved the official.

It was unknown if USAC officials would issue any penalties against Stewart.

Stewart, as the article states, was at ORP watching his two midget cars race in the Toyota Challenge Racing Classic when the confrontation occurred.

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10. Dario Franchitti: Franchitti has had limited action in NASCAR's top-tier Sprint Cup Series, but the star came in with a ton of hype thanks to his 2007 Indy 500 victory, his wife Ashley Judd, and one of the best stories of the offseason -- he chased down an intruder in only his boxers.

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9. Kasey Kahne: Don't be fooled by Kahne's boyish good looks and
mild-mannered attitude. The No. 9 driver got into a physical confrontation with a security guard last year which ended with the guard on the pavement and left Kahne with one charge of misdemeanor battery.

8. Juan Pablo Montoya: Juan Pablo Montoya is arguably one of the best open-wheel drivers of his generation, but he's gaining a reputation in NASCAR for "lowdown, nasty, dirty driving." He spun teammate and then-race leader Scott Pruett in last year's Telcel-Motorola 200.

Todd Warshaw, Getty Images

7. Denny Hamlin: While many could look past Hamlin publicly calling out crew members, no one could look past his recent incident with one of the most respected names in NASCAR. After crashing Kyle Petty last year at Dover, Hamlin's post-race comments left many NASCAR fans with a bad taste.

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6. Carl Edwards: Edwards may seem composed, but a more sinister side lurks beneath the star. One of the newest bullies has drawn the ire of NASCAR officials, threatened to make Tony Stewart bleed at Pocono in 2006, and faked a punch at teammate Matt Kenseth after the Subway 500 last year.

Marc Serota, NASCAR / Getty Images

5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick is no stranger to spats with angry drivers. He's considered by many to be NASCAR's most volatile driver due to his reckless driving style and bitter criticism of competitors. He was the first driver in NASCAR history to be suspended for a race in 2002.

Rick Havner, AP

4. Kurt Busch: The elder Busch has had confrontations with drivers, his former boss and even with a sheriff's deputy. His penchant for feuds began in 2003, when he instigated a fight with Jimmy Spencer, and he recently got into a physical altercation with Tony Stewart at Daytona.

Jason Smith, Getty Images

3. Robby Gordon: Gordon has established himself as one of NASCAR's most controversial figures over the years because of incidents that range from slamming his helmet at Michael Waltrip's car in 2005 to throwing debris onto the track in 2006, which resulted in chaos for drivers and a 50-point penalty.

Todd Warshaw, NASCAR / Getty Images

2. Kyle Busch: Kyle Busch's driving style has been called reckless, yet outstanding. NASCAR's Public Enemy No. 1 tried to pull a daring three-wide move on his older brother at last year's All-Star Challenge which sent both cars into the wall. The two didn't talk to each other for four days.

Jerry Markland, NASCAR / Getty Images

This season, we've seen a different side of Stewart that has been filled with nothing but a calm demeanor, but it appears that a level of immaturity still exists within Sprint Cup's newest team member.

On Friday afternoon, Stewart admitted to having an "altercation" with the official to the NASCAR Scene:

"When you're sitting there and you've got your corporate sponsors there and you've got a car on the race track and it's sitting on pit lane and they can't get a push truck to it, you're supporting your guys and your team that worked hard on that car trying to get it back out," he said in explaining his role in the altercation.

I don't know if I buy that explanation from Ol' Smoke.

I understand being frustrated, and I understand being upset. But that should never, ever result in physical contact -- as it has multiple times with Tony.

It is what it is, I suppose, and there's nothing we can do about it now. But really, when is Tony going to learn that it's not OK to put your hands on someone else in a violent manner?