Talladega Provides More Excitement

Where will Harvick land in 2011?

Kevin Harvick provided a gentle tap on Jamie McMurray's rear bumper. Just enough to get the defending Daytona 500 champ loose and the #29 raced past the #1 car and placed his Richard Childress Racing car in victory lane. A win is a win even if it is only by .012 seconds. And Harvick will gladly take it.

Not a bad day for Harvick. He collected his first win since the 2007 Daytona 500. The week leading up to the Aaron's 499 wasn't the greatest though for Harvick or RCR. Earlier this week, Shell/Pennzoil, the primary sponsor for Harvick's ride, had announced that they would be moving their sponsorship to Penske. Harvick couldn't resist taking a jab at his sponsor.

"Our sponsor's leaving us, and the best part about it is that they can leave while we're winning. That's the best part of the whole thing."

Could you blame Harvick for the ill will? Granted, RCR hasn't had a whole lot of success as of late, but they were heading in the right direction toward the end of last season and that has had a bit of carryover into this season. The question now is who will sponsor the #29 next year? Better yet, where will Kevin Harvick be next year?

But Harvick's drought breaking win and brilliant move for that win may be overshadowed by the one again perceived rivalry/feud between Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

"I don't know what it is with me
and him right now. Whatever."
- Jeff Gordon on Jimmie Johnson

With five laps to go until the scheduled ending, Gordon was on point in the inside lane going down the backstretch. The line was quickly catching the field. Out of nowhere, Johnson made a move to his left to attempt to become that point man. Gordon had to duck below the double yellow line, lose both speed and track position as the drivers behind Grodon had to scramble. The ultimate result was the #24 being collected in a crash...and Gordon was not pleased with Johnson.

"The 48 is testing my patience, I can tell you that. It takes a lot to make me mad -- and I am pissed right now."

It is odd to hear Gordon use this "language". Gordon has been pushed by others before, but this just feels a bit different.

One HMS teammate thinks it's getting blown out of proportion. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. points to the media as a culprit. Junior knows a thing or two about media hype, be it good or bad.

"Did they collide again [Sunday]? I don't know, man. I think the media makes a lot more out of it than it really is," Earnhardt said. "We have team debriefings on Tuesdays, and those boys laugh and joke about the stories in the media (that are reported) about it. They get along fine. They get along good."

While Junior is spot-on here, it cannot be ignored that Gordon and Johnson are adding fuel to the flames by their recent actions. We witnessed the possible beginning of NASCAR's next rivalry last week at Texas when the two four-time champs had a run-in. The in-car audio even resonated with a flap starting as Gordon referred to Johnson as "Mr. Fourtime". Much was trying to be made of it, but both JJ and Gordon blew out those flames afterwards.

I'm sure the two will once again have a chat about the incident. Rick Hendrick won't let this go too far. He's dealt with it before and he'll deal with it now before it's becomes too ingrained in both the team and the press.

Despite all the talk, yesterday rekindled the whole thing.

Something about a 'Golden Horseshoe'

We're only three races into the NASCAR Sprint Cup season and Jimmie Johnson has already scored two victories. Familiar tune, isn't it?

One offseason topic was the domination of the #48 team and if that domination hurting NASCAR. I bring this up because of a comment Kevin Harvick (left) made after the race in Fontana in which Johnson received a stroke of luck.

Johnson was in the middle of a pit stop when the caution flag was waved. As the pace car was leading the drivers around, Johnson emerged from the pits, crossing that infamous white line, and avoiding going a lap down.

Oh, Harvick's opinion:

"They're really good, but they're really, really lucky, too," Harvick said. "Jimmie is a good friend mine, but there's no denying how lucky they are. They have a golden horseshoe stuck up their a--."

I wish he'd be more opinionated.

I realize this happened over a week ago, but it goes back to the thought of the #48 team's recent run of four straight championships and if it's good for the sport.

To put it in perspective, how would most baseball fans feel if the New York Yankees (either you love them or hate them) won four straight World Series? Waht about football fans if the New England Patriots won four consecutive Super Bowls? That's the company Johnson is distancing himself from.

The only true upside in this is that other teams must truly be on their "A game" every week in order to compete with Johnson and his crew. But the downside can hold potentially bad vibes for NASCAR.

The casual NASCAR fan may be tiring of seeing Johnson in victory lane. They me be tiring of hearing the same smug comments during the after race presser. I watch the race every week, have a certain driver I root for, have followed NASCAR for over two decades and this string by Johnson is ruining it for me. Not because my favorite driver isn't winning, but because it's just plain getting tiresome.

But something hit me about the "golden horseshoe" of which Harvick spoke. Harvick is making me see the light brighter and brighter. And he's correct. I did a little digging into the Sprint Cup Championships Johnson has won and found that he is truly lucky to have the four in a row.