Angry words and punches were flying, and people were wrestling on the ground in Tony Stewart's pit. For once, though, NASCAR's bad boy wasn't anywhere near the drama.
Stewart ran away with the Tropicana 400 on Sunday in Joliet, Ill., but his first victory since October was marred by a wreck with rookie Kasey Kahne that touched off a fight in the pits and had owner Ray Evernham calling for the 2002 NASCAR champion to be suspended.
"I'm just happy that we won a race today," Stewart said. "Last time I checked, we were here doing auto racing. Not boxing."
At times, it was hard to tell.
Stewart dominated the race, leading 160 of the 267 laps on the 1 1/2-mile oval and running as much as seven seconds ahead. He took the lead for good on lap 241, and beat Nextel Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson by 2.925 seconds — almost 20 car lengths.
But his dazzling performance will be overshadowed by yet another messy crash in a career already marked by them — even if this one wasn't his doing.
"He definitely needs to get suspended, and he should have his (backside) beat," said Evernham, owner of Kahne's team, Evernham Motorsports. "That's the problem with him. Nobody has ever really grabbed him and given him a good beating.
"If he doesn't get suspended, maybe I'll do that."
Kahne was leading the race with Sterling Marlin second and Stewart third as the field got ready to run green again on lap 127. But all three were bunched tight in a pack with several cars not on the lead lap in front of Kahne.
After the restart, Stewart passed Marlin on the outside and slid in behind Kahne. But something happened — just what is at the heart of the dispute — and Stewart's Chevrolet tapped the back end of Kahne's Dodge, sending it headfirst into the wall while Stewart darted out of harm's way and into the lead.
Evernham and Kahne said Stewart spun the rookie out intentionally.
"That was blatant," Evernham said. "You know when you're up against the back of somebody."
Added Kahne, "Obviously the 20 (car) was in the back of me and put us up in the wall. I don't know why he would do that. He had the car to beat all day. All he had to do was go through a couple more turns and he probably would have passed us."
But Stewart, who is on probation until Aug. 18 for a previous postrace fight with Brian Vickers, said he didn't intend any harm. When Kahne checked up, Stewart said he had nowhere to go but Kahne's bumper.
"It could have crashed us just as easy as it did him," Stewart said. "It surprised me because I sure as heck didn't expect him to check up especially at that part of the race track. We were boxed in with the wall on one side and a lot of cars on the other side. That's not a spot where you want to end up having a tangle with somebody."
Besides, Stewart said, his car was running so well he didn't need to take anyone out.
"We didn't need to turn him around to get to victory lane," Stewart said. "We were going to win this race no matter what."
NASCAR officials agreed with Stewart's version, saying afterward that the collision was simply a racing accident and there won't be any penalties.
BRITISH GRAND PRIX: At Silverstone, England, Michael Schumacher was tested at the British Grand Prix — if only for 15 laps.
Schumacher won for the 10th time in 11 races this season, but not before holding off last-ditch challenges from McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello.
A crash on the 40th lap resulted in a safety car, reducing Schumacher's seemingly comfortable lead and setting up an intense 15-lap race to the finish.
Schumacher prevailed again, however, for the 80th victory of his career. Raikkonen finished 2.1 seconds behind with Barrichello another second back.
"It's just unbelievable what's happening to me and the team this year," said Schumacher, whose winning time was 1 hour, 24 minutes, 42.700 seconds.
TORONTO MOLSON INDY: Sebastien Bourdais avoided trouble in a chaotic race and picked up a victory in the Toronto Molson Indy, his third Champ Car win in a row.
The 25-year-old Frenchman started from the pole and was virtually assured of his fourth win of the season and taking over the season point lead from Bruno Junqueira when his Newman/Haas Racing teammate crashed on the first turn of the race.
Bourdais was totally in charge throughout the caution-filled race that was ended at just 84 laps — 11 laps early — because of a 1-hour and 45-minute time limit.