Tony Stewart - Person of the year
In there season wrap ups FOX Sports NASCAR people have been giving out “awards”. It’s not really an award, just who they think should get an award, if there was one. Today’s award was for the person of the year. Here’s what they had say.
Darrell Waltrip, NASCAR on FOX race analyst: There’s so many people that do so many outstanding things — all the guys that have foundations, whether it is the Pettys doing things at Victory Junction Gang Camp or guys like Greg Biffle who help out animals by supporting animal shelters and such. But Tony Stewart gets my vote because his All-Star race at Eldora Speedway was a huge event, it was a huge success, and most importantly, I love the way Stewart spread the wealth to different charities. Motor Racing Outreach, a group of which I serve as Chairman of the Board, received a nice contribution from the event as well as a lot of other worthy charities.
Larry McReynolds, NASCAR on FOX race analyst: Our guys do so much, and so many of them do so many things, that there’s a lot of candidates — but I’m going to give it to Tony Stewart. There’s a ton of things that Stewart does that does not get publicized, because he does not want it publicized. But I think what he has done up there at his track, Eldora Speedway, and what he’s brought together with the “Prelude to the Dream” race, and the amount of money that was raised for Victory Junction Gang Camp and several other charities was just amazing.
Yes, Tony is a very emotional guy and he has had a lot of issues — he is certainly doing better today than he did several years ago — but I just don’t think Tony gets nearly enough credit for the good that he does, most of which people don’t get to read about. Even still, the one project we did get to hear about, the “Prelude to the Dream,” was a pretty cool deal.
Lee Spencer, FOXSports.com senior NASCAR writer: Following three decades of dedication to his parents’ dream of building the best stock car series in the world, NASCAR lost Bill France Jr.
Jeff Hammond, NASCAR on FOX race analyst: My selection for person of the year is Bill France Jr.
Jorge A. Mondaca, FOXSports.com NASCAR editor: This category is interesting, because it can be interpreted in several different ways. My train of thought when making my selection was simple: “Who had the biggest impact on the sport.” With that in mind, there was only one choice — Bill France Jr.
Steve Byrnes, NASCAR on FOX and SPEED host and reporter: Jeff Gordon gets my vote. He was the first driver to set up a charitable foundation. Not only has he donated millions, he has encouraged others to follow suit.
OK, Tony did a lot so that’s good, and how can you argue with Bill France, Jr except to say that other than passing away, he didn’t really do much this year. I don’t mean to sound cold because his passing was a sad event, but it the Person of the Year, not of the decade, or of the history of NASCAR. But how in the world could Byrnes pick Jeff Gordon? Just because he was the first driver to set up a foundation? Sure that’s great, but he did it years ago, not this year.
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