Ryan Newman absolutely unloads on Tony Stewart after wreck

RICHMOND–A routine, caution-filled night at Richmond abruptly turned bitter and cringeworthy as former teammates tangled.

With only 37 laps remaining in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman collided several times heading into the backstretch at Richmond International Raceway. Stewart appeared to cut down into Newman, setting off a chain reaction that destroyed Newman’s car and fading Chase hopes.

Newman climbed from his car, working his way around the #83 of Dylan Lupton that had come to rest on his hood, and soon afterward unloaded on Stewart with a venom rarely seen in pro sports.

Asked about the wreck, Newman responded, “I guess he thought he was in a sprint car, he couldn’t control his anger,” a clear reference to the August 2014 incident in which Stewart ran over Kevin Ward Jr. at a sprint car race in upstate New York. Ward died of his injuries, but Stewart was cleared of all charges in the incident.

But Newman wasn’t done. Asked whether Stewart might have had a reason to turn into the 31 car, Newman continued, “I don’t think there was any reason other than him just being bipolar and having anger issues.”

Newman then looked directly into the camera and encouraged viewers to look up Stewart’s record on Google and YouTube, adding, “He should be retired, if he’s driving like that.”

“That was the third time he’d driven into me during the night,” Stewart said after the race. “How many times does a guy get a free pass before you do something about it?”

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.