Kenseth, Edwards face off

Cameras caught the
teammates arguing
following Sunday’s race in North Carolina.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — What happens on the track between Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson stays there. The teammates have mastered the balance between competition and friendship.

The same can’t be said for Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards, who were caught on camera in a nasty confrontation following Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway.

Kenseth was about to be interviewed when Edwards, his teammate at Roush Fenway Racing, grabbed him and firmly pushed him down pit road. In videos posted on YouTube, the two are seen arguing before Edwards climbs over the pit wall. Before walking away, Edwards raised a fist as if to strike Kenseth, who noticeably flinched.

A Roush Fenway spokesman said Monday the team had no immediate comment on the incident, and president Geoff Smith was out of the office and unavailable.

Apparently, there’s some serious animosity between Edwards and Kenseth, who first publicly criticized each other following a Busch Series race in Kansas last month.

It started when Kenseth appeared to cut Edwards off midway through that race, and the contact caused Edwards to cut a tire. Edwards later wrecked — not because of Kenseth — but blamed him for it by clapping his hands and giving a thumbs-up at Kenseth as he passed by him on the track.

“The reason I was mad, someone like a teammate would race me like that,” Edwards said. “He may or may not have done it on purpose. He’s my teammate and we’ve really got a good relationship, so I hope we can get by this.”

Kenseth went on to finish second, and was perplexed by Edwards’ anger.

“I don’t really feel like I did anything wrong,” he said. “My job’s not to get out of his way all of the time. We’re supposed to race each other like we always race each other, and race each other with respect.”

If the two ever made up, it wasn’t apparent after Sunday’s Nextel Cup event.

It’s not exactly clear what they were even arguing about, but it likely stemmed from a mid-race restart when Reed Sorenson’s car failed to take off at the green flag. It caused the traffic behind Sorenson to stack up, and Kenseth and Edwards became entangled as they tried to weave around Sorenson.

They banged doors in Turn 1, and had heavier contact in Turn 3 that caused Edwards to lose track position. His anger apparently festered for the rest of the race, and when he spotted Kenseth starting a television interview, he was aggressive in interrupting to make a point.