Title race has a little excitement

Catty mind games by Chad Knaus irritated Tony Stewart.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The race for NASCAR's championship finally has a little excitement, courtesy of some catty mind games directed at Tony Stewart.
With Stewart able to maintain his position on top of the Chase for the championship standings through both good and bad days, rival Jimmie Johnson's team took a different approach toward rattling the veteran driver.
Aware that Stewart's crew was monitoring Johnson's radio frequency during practice sessions before last Sunday's race, Johnson crew chief Chad Knaus admittedly used the opportunity as an attempt "to get inside [Stewart's] head" by disparaging Stewart's car.
Stewart initially dismissed the antics and accused Knaus of "trying to play games like in seventh grade."
But it was obvious both on and off the track that Stewart was irritated. First, he bumped Johnson out of his way with 10 laps left in the race to seize a second-place finish. Then he stewed about Knaus' games while sitting next to third-place finisher Johnson in the post-race interview session.
"Somewhere down the road it's going to catch up with him," said Stewart. "I wouldn't do it to Jimmie, but when you've got things like Chad was saying on the radio, it's like being inside a kindergarten room listening to it."
Johnson characterized Knaus' comments as an attempt to pump up his own team, and claimed those kinds of tactics go on all the time.
"It's your guys' [the media] job to twist it and turn it and have fun with it," Johnson said. "If we can get them talking about us, I guess we're doing our job."
Adds little spice to chase
Maybe, but what Johnson's crew really did was add a little spice to what had so far been a ho-hum title chase.
Stewart pretty much has been in control since it started, and stormed through his tough races. Even his worst event of the Chase -- a 25th-place finish in Charlotte after crashing while leading -- only dropped him into a tie with Johnson for the points lead.
He's now taken a 15-point lead heading into Sunday's race in Atlanta. He did it by leading a race-high 283 laps to earn a 10-point bonus, then grabbing another five-point advantage with the nudge of Johnson to take second place.
It's shaping up as a race between Stewart and Johnson for the title.
"At this point I think everybody looks at Jimmie and I as two of the guys [to beat]," Stewart said. "But you can't count any of the other guys out, either. Anything can happen.
"With four weeks to go, you can't narrow it down yet, it's too early. Mathematically, everybody is still in it. As long as everybody is mathematically in it, I don't know how you can count anybody out of it."
But should it come down to those two, it's guaranteed to be interesting. The two have had on-track altercations before, and it even spilled off the track following the season opener at Daytona this year.
After Stewart was shuffled out of the lead late in the race, he found himself stuck behind Johnson for the final few laps with Johnson using blocking tactics to prevent Stewart from getting by.
Stewart retaliated
A frustrated Stewart retaliated by hitting Johnson's car after the race. For that, he was greeted by an enraged Knaus when he got back to the garage.
Upset that Stewart had damaged Johnson's race car, Knaus screamed at him just inches from his face. Stewart tried to walk away and keep his famous temper in check, but Knaus followed him. Stewart didn't take the bait, though, and people finally stepped between the two to end the confrontation.
It was perhaps the first sign that Stewart had matured this season, and that the rivalry with Johnson was shaping up to be a good one.
Johnson said he'll have his eye on Stewart the final four events.
"Right now we're racing as hard as we can," he said. "Tony's been very strong. He's going to continue to be very strong. Those are some good tracks for him. And we've just got to live week to week. That's how it is for us for now."
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