Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
Jeff Gordon made so many drivers mad at Infineon Raceway, it would be easier to keep a scorecard of those who had no issue with the four-time NASCAR champion.
Just about everybody was steaming at somebody: Joey Logano wasn’t thrilled with Juan Pablo Montoya; Tony Stewart caught an earful from Boris Said’s crew chief; and Carl Edwards unleashed his anger at newcomer Jan Magnussen.
And that’s just what played out in public.
Following Sunday’s race on the road course in Sonoma, Calif., NASCAR got raw emotion from competitors ordinarily branded as corporate robots.
For some time, fans have pined for the old days when drivers feuded and never backed down.
They could relate to those hard-nosed, rough-and-tumble men, not the squeaky-clean, sponsor-shilling pretty boys who now occupy most of the top seats in NASCAR.
The combination of conservative, brand-conscious sponsors and NASCAR’s desire to eliminate a Wild West mentality sterilized the sport and left fans lamenting the loss of personality.
Spurred by positive fan reaction to last season’s monthslong feud between Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski — not to mention the passionate responses, good and bad, to anything Kyle Busch related — NASCAR began to loosen its reins. With it came the infamous “Boys, have at it and have a good time” edict in January from vice president of competition Robin Pemberton.
Sixteen races into the season, boy, are they having at it.
Rarely does a race end without somebody mad at someone.
Carl Edwards, tired of how Keselowski was racing him, intentionally wrecked him at Atlanta as retaliation for an earlier accident. Keselowski’s car sailed into the safety fence at Atlanta. When NASCAR let Edwards go with a slap on the wrist, the gloves were officially off.
Hamlin has traded barbs with Busch, who threatened to kill his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate over his radio during the All-Star race. Gordon has publicly criticized four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, who felt the need to apologize for contact at Talladega.
Gordon intentionally knocked Matt Kenseth out of his way at Martinsville, and Clint Bowyer ran into Hamlin’s car at Dover as retaliation for an earlier incident.
And nobody has forgotten young Logano standing up to Kevin Harvick on pit road at Pocono this month, then emasculating Harvick with his public declaration that Harvick’s wife “wears the firesuit in the family.”