DAYTONA BEACH, FL - JULY 01: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Patriotic Chevrolet, Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, stand on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

Tony Stewart takes a shot at a rival team for their tactics at Sonoma


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Tony Stewart was outspoken last week about there being too many debris caution flags, and he thought it hindered the way the race played out at Michigan International Speedway.

Related: Two NASCAR legends are upset about debris caution flags

Stewart-Haas Racing picked up the victory at Sonoma thanks to Kevin Harvick, and Stewart praised NASCAR officials for letting the race play out and not waving the debris caution flag too often.

"Last week's last week, and here it's so easy for cars to go off track here, and it happened all day long," Stewart said. "A couple of cars even spun out but kept going, so there was a lot of opportunity you could have gotten that debris caution during the race, but it was nice to see that the race actually got to play out."

But that's not all Stewart had to offer on the subject. He addressed a tactic employed by members of Joe Gibbs Racing where they would complain about debris right after they made a pit stop.

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"It was interesting listening to some of the Gibbs' drivers and the gamesmanship they were playing," Stewart said. "They pitted and came back out and then immediately started screaming about debris on the racetrack. I thought that was really convenient on their part, but it's gamesmanship, and they're smart knowing how to play the game but I'm glad NASCAR didn't bite on that one today."

Stewart, who used to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing, was very displeased about the tactic, but he didn't get too worked up due to Harvick's victory.

It will be interesting to see if Joe Gibbs Racing drivers try the same thing at Daytona and for the rest of the season and if NASCAR decides to do anything about it in the future.

For now, Stewart can celebrate his team's victory and their spot in the postseason.

(h/t NASCAR.com)

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