Bristol Bang-Ups

Originally Posted on March 26, 2006 on Foxsports.com

I'm not sure who was in charge of planning the Nascar Cup schedule this year, but they were brilliant to put another short track race after Bristol.  Next week, the series heads to Martinsville for another short-fuse test session.  There should be plenty of spats to go around.   A brief review of who's mad at whom:

Kevin Harvick - Kurt Busch:  Harvick's press conference this week was quite entertaining.   He said he wished he could "whup" Busch's ass, and then said he shouldn't have said that.  Harvick was refering to an accident at Atlanta where David Stremme bumped into Harvick who then sent Busch into the wall.  Busch voiced his displeasure with Harvick (he may not have realized Stremme was involved) on his team radio.  Harvick shot back at the press conference ant commented that Roger Penske would regret hiring Busch, which he followed by saying he shouldn't have said that.  At the end of hte race, Busch beat Harvick to the line.  It left me wishing there were about 30 more laps left to see what could have happened...

Kurt Busch- Matt Kenseth:  Busch bumped Kenseth out of the way with about 5 laps to go  and went on to win the race.  Kenseth had been held up by Dale Jarrett who was battling to stay on the lead lap.  Afterward, Busch thought his former teammate would be OK with the bump-and-run.  Kenseth was unamused.  His lack of amusement may have lead to... 

Matt Kenseth - Jeff Gordon:  After Busch bumped by, Kenseth continued to lose positions.  Gordon was running in third and passed Kenseth.  Kenseth tried to get the spot back and bumped Gordon out of the way.  Gordon spun out, and finished as the last car on the lead lap (21st).  Kenseth went over to Gordon on pit road after the race, which was to apologize according to Kenseth.  Gordon, still in his helmet, shoved Kenseth.  Penalties are sure to follow - but I'm sure Gordon's check will clear the bank. 

Jeff Gordon-Martin Truex Jr.:  Gordon may have still been steamed (and worried about) Truex, who he had a run-in with earlier in the race.  Truex, a rookie, was a lap down and was not yielding to Gordon, who was on the lead lap.  The situation was stacking up traffic, so Gordon bumped him out of the way.  Truex spun and had to pit - but he returned to the track.  Which led to...

Martin Truex Jr. - Jeff Gordon- Tony Stewart: After he was back on the track, Truex met up with Gordon.  The two traded paint side by side in front of Stewart for a couple laps.  Both  nearly lost it a couple times.  Apparently fed up with their antics and with traffic stacking up behind them,  Stewart put his bumper to Truex, and sent him crashing into the wall.  Truex seemed to blame Gordon for this, probably because....... well, Gordon's an easier target in a fist fight than Stewart would be.

Ryan Newman:  Newman seemed to have a lot of problems on the track.  He was trading paint, bumps, and probably hand gestures with about everyone on the track.  At one point, it looked like he and Dale Jarrett may rumble, but nothing developed.  I'm sure that he'll be mad at someone or someone will be mad at him given the donuts, scrapes and damage to his car. 

Brent Sherman:   Sherman was involved in a lot of spins.  Most of them by himself, but I'm sure he had help on a few of them.  I don't know that he took anyone with him, but his first experience at Bristol could not have been a fun time.  Add to that the fact that he and his wife just had a son, Cooper, and are probably not sleeping well at night.  Well, just wait for Martinsville.

Tony Stewart:  My favorite quote of the race was from him.  He said he ran the most patient race he'd ever run at Bristol - apparently despite the fact he punted Truex.  Perhaps he was patient because he led nearly half the laps!  I'm sure that someone will have Tony's number next week - maybe Johnson could blame him for the tire going flat in the first lap (Tony started the race too fast causing the tire to go flat? LOL), but then  Johnson's got to be mad at Kenseth for shoving him into the wall early in the race.  And doesn't Kenseth still owe Stewart for Daytona? Hmm...