Stewart runs into more photographer troubles

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- 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.

The collision occurred minutes after the final practice for Sunday's season-ending Ford 400. Stewart, walking swiftly from the garage toward his Joe Gibbs Racing team's hauler, allegedly bumped Getty Images photographer Rusty Jarrett out of his way.

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

NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said the dispute was under investigation. Stewart, who goes into today's race leading Mark Martin by 89 points in their duel for the title, is already on probation for punching a photographer following a race in August.

Hunter said a photo taken of the collision by an unidentified photographer was "inconclusive."

"I don't know enough to really offer an opinion," Hunter said. "I want to talk to Tony and I want to talk to our people."

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, NASCAR's bad boy, 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 also announced 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.

Stewart has a history of problems with photographers.

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. There was no penalty announced.

Martin's appeal rejected

Mark Martin's appeal of a 25-point penalty was turned down Saturday, making his bid to overtake Tony Stewart for the Winston Cup championship that much tougher.

Martin was docked the points for using an unapproved spring on his Ford in the Nov. 3 race at Rockingham, N.C. His Roush team argued that the infraction was not intentional and that the penalty was too severe.

Now Martin will go into the season-closing Ford 400 today 89 points behind leader Stewart. Stewart will win the championship if he finishes 22nd or better today, no matter what Martin does in the race.

-- From wire reports