Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick Clash
Jeff Burton Wins at Bristol, Jamie McMurray Is On Hot Seat
Harvick and Stewart will work out their differences. Burton would pass Hamlin and cruise to his first victory of the season.
Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart are two of NASCAR’s most aggressive drivers on and off the track, no one will argue with that. Despite the fact that they are close friends, it was only a matter of time before their personalities clashed.
Harvick once attacked Greg Biffle following a Nationwide Series race at Bristol in 2002. He also engaged in a shoving match with Juan Pablo Montoya, and stomped on the hood of Ricky Rudd’s car. Stewart has had his share of run-ins, including a shoving match with Robby Gordon, and most recently, the alleged claim that he used Kurt Busch as a punching bag at Daytona last month. Last week, he verbally assaulted Goodyear.
The two brash drivers had a couple of tense moments last year starting at Indianapolis last August. Stewart made contact with Harvick while battling for the lead. The contact affected Harvick, as he would fade to a 7th place finish, much lower than he ran for most of the day. A couple of months later at Atlanta, the two drivers fought over the same real estate, which resulted in a few harsh words over the radio.
Of course, the two drivers have enjoyed a special friendship ever since Harvick’s rookie season in 2001. In fact, Stewart helped Harvick’s Nationwide Series team develop over the years as he has won several races for Kevin Harvick,.Inc. Harvick has returned the favor by participating some of Stewart’s charity events. So how will the incident at Bristol affect their friendship?
Just a quick recap- Harvick got loose as he and Stewart were vying for the second position late in the race. Harvick would hit Stewart sending the two-time champion spinning into the wall. Harvick would finish second while Stewart, who had led 267 laps, faded to a mediocre 14th place finish.
While Harvick was rueful, Stewart was ticked off, and had every right to be.
"I thought I left him plenty of room, but I don't know," said the two-time champion. "I was far enough ahead of him that I didn't see where he hit me or when he hit me. I'm sure somehow it was my fault. I'm just sorry I got in his way."
Harvick was willing to accept blame, but was less than thrilled with Stewart’s spotter.
"I told my spotter to go over there and tell him what happened, and the first thing his spotter did was say he was going to whip somebody's ass, and if Tony didn't do it then he was going to do it…If his spotter wants to have a bad attitude about it, then we can all come down here and we'll handle it.”
Harvick and Stewart will work out their differences. Do not expect this to become an out-and-out war between ‘Smoke’ and ‘Happy’. After all, Stewart is being waxed this week and Harvick is going to be right there. When the NASCAR Sprint Cup series visits Martinsville in two weeks, do not anticipate any payback or retribution.
A year ago, many critics complained that Jeff Burton was too polite and that he should have knocked Kyle Busch out of the way for the win. In fact, I was one of those critics. Nevertheless, he did not have to worry about moving anybody this year. Following the Harvick and Stewart wrangle, Denny Hamlin’s car had some kind of fuel pick up issue. Burton would pass Hamlin and cruise to his first victory of the season. Harvick and Clint Bowyer rounded out the 1-2-3 sweep for Richard Childress Racing.
"We had some breaks, and we put ourselves in position to take advantage of those breaks, and that's what we did today,” said Jeff Burton.
Jamie McMurray, Dario Franchitti, and Kyle Petty are among those that will have to qualify on time for the upcoming race at Martinsville. While it is no surprise that Franchitti and Petty are outside of the top 35, it is staggering that Roush Fenway Racing driver McMurray is on the outside looking in.
Not just bad luck has plagued the 26 team. McMurray has failed to perform at the same level as his four teammates. There seems to be a serious lack of chemistry there.
Sam Hornish, Jr. and Michael Waltrip can breath easier for now. Hornish Jr is the only rookie locked in the top 35 for now.
Both Petty Enterprises and Roush Fenway Racing have past champions on their teams, so a points swap could be on the horizon for both organizations.
Kudos to Aric Almirola and David Gilliland for their 8th and 9th place finishes.
Quote of the week
Kevin Harvick on why he ran into Tony Stewart
“It was mine (race) to lose at that point, and I lost it. I got up under there with (two) laps to go, it was time to go, and I clipped the apron and I just lost the thing. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't want to spin out. It was just one of them deals where I was trying to get all I could."
