Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Teammates cross line
Busch, Harvick get into it after contact in Sunday’s race
Family dynamics are always an issue as we approach the holiday season. You invite Crazy Uncle Mike over for Thanksgiving and, before you know it, Brother Larry takes a pumpkin pie to the face.
That’s the wholesome dynamic we see at StewartHaas Racing as we head into the four-race stretch run of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
While the stout fourdriver Joe Gibbs Racing crew is hanging out, cool and calm, the StewartHaas gang seems intent on taking a wrecking ball to their championship chances.
Why else would you jab a teammate in the face?
Kevin Harvick leaned inside the car of teammate Kurt Busch and jabbed him after Sunday’s race at Talladega.
Harvick was miffed that Busch’s car made contact with his on the cool-down lap.
“The final laps everybody is just pushing and shoving and then he (Busch) cleaned the side of our car out after the checkered flag,” Harvick said. “I don’t really understand that, but all in all the Jimmy John’s Chevrolet team did a great job and didn’t have a scratch on it until then.”
Busch tried to put an apologetic spin on it.
“He has a misunderstanding of the call at the end of the race,” Busch said. “He will understand it, and I’m sure he will clear it up in his interview. We are great teammates. We have to work together to beat all these other teams out there and he knows that.”
Busch is right about one thing: They will need to work together, especially because the Gibbs team has four drivers — Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth — advancing in the penultimate round.
Racing teammates always are an unusual dynamic. In the end, it is each driver for himself. But you don’t want any contentious relationships in play before the green flag drops.
Harvick and Busch are two of the best drivers, but they are also among the most ornery.
Busch has worked hard to rid himself of that badboy image since crossing over to Stewart-Haas in 2014. He has qualified for the Chase three consecutive seasons.
Harvick has a contentious body of work in the Chase. He shoved Jimmie Johnson in the chest following the opener in Chicago last year. And in 2014, he helped trigger a fracas between Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon in Texas when he shoved Keselowski into Gordon. But they weren’t his teammates.
Busch and Harvick have an edge to them. They obviously take after their boss, Tony Stewart. Throw in Danica Patrick, who despite her struggles never suffers fools lightly, and that gives you four Type-A personalities under the same roof.
You don’t have to be Dr. Phil to realize that tensions can escalate in a hurry.
So maybe this is a oneand-done deal. Maybe not.
Regardless, it’s going to be fun to watch.