Curtis Black  8/16/02

• Tony Stewart Punches Photographer  By JENNA FRYER
  Tony Stewart's temper got the best of him yet again Sunday when he punched a photographer following the Brickyard 400.
        Stewart, who started from the pole, had a strong car most of the day and was running in third when he mysteriously faded over the final few laps and finished 12th. He pulled his No. 20 Pontiac into the garage, hopped out and abandoned the car next to one of the empty bays at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
           As he hurriedly walked off, he swatted his hand in the air when approached from behind by a man. Gary Mook, a free-lance photographer for The Indianapolis Star, was following and Stewart broke into a trot to get away.
         Mook ran alongside him, and Stewart turned to him and threw several punches — connecting to Mook's chest and stomach — before he was pulled away.

• Stewart was fined $10,000 by NASCAR and placed on probation for punching Gary Mook, a free-lance photographer with the Indianapolis Star. Thursday, Stewart's sponsor added a $50,000 fine and probation of its own..(ThatsRacin.com)(8-10-2002)