Nov 17, 2002 3 min read

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) – On the brink of winning the Winston Cup championship, Tony Stewart ran into trouble in the garage area again Saturday, bumping a photographer aside with a forearm. NASCAR said Stewart apologized for what the driver called an accident, and the apology was accepted by the photographer.

Stewart, who enters Sunday’s race leading Mark Martin by 89 points in their duel for the title, already is on probation for punching a photographer after an August race.

“With Tony’s history, had that been any other driver, it would probably have not been an issue,” NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said.

Minutes after the final practice for Sunday’s season-ending Ford 400, Stewart was walking swiftly from the garage toward his Joe Gibbs Racing team’s hauler. He was accused of bumping Rusty Jarrett, a photographer for national photo service Getty Images.

“He came out of the garage, raised his arm and put a body block on me,” said Jarrett, who was not injured.

NASCAR held a meeting in its hauler in the garage area that was attended by Jarrett, Stewart, team owner Joe Gibbs, NASCAR president Mike Helton, Winston Cup director John Darby and Hunter.

“It was a very candid meeting,” Hunter said. “Rusty expressed his opinion on what happened and Tony Stewart gave his opinion of what happened. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes and everybody left there happy. Rusty accepted an apology from Tony. Tony said it was an accident. They shook hands.”

Jarrett left the track without meeting with making a statement. Hunter said NASCAR considers the matter closed.

George Tiedemann, a photographer for Sports Illustrated, said he and several other photographers witnessed the contact and called it an accident.

“Tony was coming out of the garage, going straight toward his hauler,” Tiedemann said. “He was cutting through the inspection area and moving pretty fast.

“The photographer was 7-10 feet from the wall of the garage and Tony came around the corner and ran into him. If it had been intentional, (Stewart) certainly would not have looked back at the guy and said, “What the?’ Tony stumbled a little bit after they collided.”

Stewart was put on probation after punching a photographer following the Brickyard 400 in August. He was also fined $10,000 by NASCAR and $50,000 by his sponsor, Home Depot. Stewart said he was undergoing anger management counseling.

NASCAR investigated and found no merit to a claim by an emergency medical technician that Stewart shoved him as he tried to assist the driver following an accident in New Hampshire in July.

In September, a Tennessee grand jury listened to charges that Stewart shoved a female fan following the August race at Bristol, but declined to indict him.

In May 2000, Stewart, angry over losing a race in Richmond, sped into the garage and, after getting out of his car, kicked at a photographer in his way. No penalty was announced.