By John Wawrow
Associated Press
PITTSFORD, N.Y. ó NASCARís apology went only so far with driver Ryan Newman, who held the governing body responsible for the tire fiasco that ruined the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend.
iNASCAR has the ultimate responsibility,î Newman said Wednesday during a visit to Buffalo Bills training camp in suburban Rochester. iThey are the Barnum and Bailey. They know whatís going on in the center ring. And if they put a tiger out there thatís going to bite somebody, then thatís their responsibility.î
He was careful to say he wasnít referring to NASCAR as being a circus in voicing his frustrations over a stop-and-go race in which the longest run under green was 13 laps. What troubled Newman, who is from Indiana, is that the problems occurred at Indianapolis.
iLetís just say thereís 100 years of automobile racing there,î Newman said. iAnd I bet going back to 19-0-whatever they didnít have tire problems.î
The trouble was blamed on a durability issue involving the compound of the tires Goodyear selected not being strong enough when combined with NASCARís current car.
NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton issued an apology Tuesday, saying: iI canít say how sorry we are, and itís our responsibility being NASCAR that we donít go through this situation again.î
Newman said the apology was no consolation to fans.
iNo, because youíve got 250,000 people that spent time there, their money and took their families to see a great race,î he said. iAnd all they saw was a 12-lap window max I think of racing. And thatís not the way racing in NASCAR is supposed to be.î
Newman did say iit was bigî of NASCAR to apologize, but he then criticized the governing body, Goodyear and track officials for failing to communicate.
Newman, who has been critical of NASCAR in the past regarding safety issues, noted that he watched Juan Pablo Montoya blow a tire that flew higher than the protective fence.
iItís crazy,î he said.
Newmanís visit to Rochester was part of a swing through the region to promote the Centurion Boats at the Glen race taking place at nearby Watkins Glen International on Aug. 10.