BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Who said there aren't any rivalries left in NASCAR?
After Saturday's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, there are plenty to go around.
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| Kyle Busch (18) and Carl Edwards trade paint, and then words through the press. (Getty Images) |
There was Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, clearly aggravated with each other after more on-track scuffling as a follow-up to their tangle at Michigan a week ago, which ended with Gordon in the wall and nearly out of a Chase spot when he tumbled three positions in the standings.
Then there was Casey Mears and his spotter, who the outgoing Hendrick Motorsports driver blamed for causing the seven car pile-up that red-flagged the race just before the midway point.
Mears moved up on the racetrack on Lap 210 when he heard his spotter shout "Clear, clear" over the radio, only to find Michael Waltrip in his path.
The collision resulted in a multi-car melee that swept up the likes of Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Robby Gordon and Sam Hornish Jr. before it was over.
Mears wasn't shy about pointing the finger at what he believed was the cause.
"I like my spotter; he's a good guy, but man that was ridiculous," Mears said after the wreck. "We took a bunch of cars out for no reason. I was just running along, heard 'clear, clear' and went up there and there was someone still there.
"I'm pretty upset about it. There were a lot of people that got involved in that, which shouldn't have been involved because it shouldn't have happened."
Bowyer, who was lucky to recover and finish seventh to keep his Chase hopes alive, found someone else to blame in the mess.
"Michael Waltrip is the worst driver in NASCAR. Period," he told his crew over the radio.
But with all the other high emotions flowing around Bristol, the Edwards-Busch tangle took center stage with the two most dominant drivers in the sport putting on a heavyweight battle that had the 53rd consecutive Bristol sellout crowd on its feet for all of the final 50 laps around the half-mile track.
