Stewart handed penalty

Stewart, seemingly at the center of controversy much of the past three seasons, was fined $50,000 and lost 25 championship points as a result of an altercation with Vickers in the pits. Stewart appeared to have hit Vickers, spinning him out, late in the Sonoma race. Afterward, he approached Vickers, with Vickers still in his car, and after a brief discussion slapped or grabbed at Vickers's chest. The situation was quickly broken up.

Stewart claimed the incident was blown out of proportion. "I didn't have anything to gain by going and talking to him down there," he said. "I wasn't even mad when I went down there. I went down there to kind of tell him what exactly happened."

From there, opinions differ. Vickers contends that he was surprised that Stewart would approach him, apparently angrily, after what had happened on the track. The rookie says he laughed at Stewart, which apparently provoked the volatile star.

Stewart, as he has after several past incidents, sounded somewhat contrite. "It just shows that you have to control your frustrations," said Tony, who has shown little personal self-control in prior cases. "I think NASCAR has done a pretty good job. It's a changing time with the new TV packages and stuff.

"I'm not sure I totally agree with the punishment on it. Other people have disagreed and said I probably should have been parked this week. Brian is a great kid. I don't have any ill feelings toward him, and I don't have any ill feelings toward NASCAR.

"We've been pretty good in the last two years. It's almost been two years since I did something really stupid. It just redefines the boundaries, and that's not a bad thing. That's what NASCAR is here for. They're our sanctioning body. It was probably something that needed to happen."

Vickers politely sidestepped direct comment.

"We're in Daytona now, and that was last week in Sonoma," the 20-year-old said. "We're going to put it behind us and move on. What I said last week still stands as far what happened. That was the story, and it's still the story. As far as what NASCAR has done, like I said last week, it's their series to police. I respect their decisions."

Vickers said he and Stewart had not talked, but that he wouldn't turn Tony away. "He's more than welcome to talk me at any point," he said. "We can sit down and try to figure out what happened. We can agree on what happened, and we can agree to disagree. It doesn't matter."