Grapevine: Stewart, Newman make up, go fishing

You take him fishing at your home, that's how.

Obvious, really.

Just three weeks ago, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart were involved in a high profile crash in New Hampshire, which took a bite out of Stewart's Chase prospects. Each blamed other in the press in a good old-fashioned NASCAR-style slanging match.

"I got wrecked by Ryan," Stewart told everybody after that accident. "There are guys that are really good at give and take and there are guys that aren't. Ryan is one of those guys who is not good at the giving part. He's really good at taking, but he's not very good at giving."

Seconds out, round one.

"I don't know if Tony knew I was on fresher tyres," Newman responded. "But regardless, he didn't live up to what he preaches and that's move over and let a faster car go - especially a car on fresh tyres trying to get a lap back."

Handbags at dawn, then.

However, with the series heading to Indianapolis this weekend, Stewart has put the accident behind him and invited Newman fishing today at his nearby home in Columbus, Indiana.

"If everything works out right in Ryan's schedule, we are going to go down to my property and fish for the afternoon," Stewart said.

"We've tried to make our schedule as streamlined as possible, and trying to fit in some fun things like taking Ryan fishing to our lake tomorrow, just trying to find some fun things that we can plug into our schedule to kind of keep us grounded and let us enjoy the week.

"Ryan has got an appearance tomorrow in southern Indiana and then he's going back up to Indianapolis. Where I live in Columbus, Indiana, is right on the way. It just works out great. I mean, Ryan likes to fish.

"I love fishing. Last two months, my lake got stocked. And, you know, we always talk about our fishing sprees.

"Ryan and I being from Indiana and everything, it's a good opportunity for us. And if he gets busy and can't do it tomorrow, we'll find another time where we can. We'll get a chance to get him out there for sure.

"There's days that you go to work and you may have a disagreement with somebody, too, but it passes. You know, when you're on the track, you only see it from one perspective.  After the race is over, you have the ability to see the other driver's perspective.

"A lot of times it's just lack of communication or miscommunication from the drivers' standpoint with each other."

However, for NASCAR drivers, even a friendly fishing afternoon is always likely to turn that little bit competitive.

"I'm keeping my secret weapon lures in case he gets a lead on me with how many fish he catches. I'll keep track of that," Stewart added.

"The good thing is we've already got rods and reels lined up for him in case he doesn't bring his own. We've got lures that we know are going to catch fish tomorrow. Big thing is just to make sure that he has a good time, he relaxes tomorrow, and has fun."