Drivers never forget their friends ... or enemies

I really hope someone else causes a wreck or some kind of controversy this weekend so we can get off of this subject. LOL I guess as long as it sells they will beat it to death. But everyone knows that when it comes to the last lap that you really don't have any friends out there. it's evey man for himself.


With all the responsibilities a driver has behind the wheel, the last of his concerns should be keeping a scorecard on his fellow competitors.
Still, it happens.
Matt Kenseth gave Kevin Harvick the push he needed when the No. 29 Chevrolet won the 2007 Daytona 500. Harvick returned the favor last Sunday, helping to push Kenseth to the win in the rain-shortened race.
Kenseth was well aware of who gave him the assist. Drivers rely on their spotters not only for traffic reports, but the identities of their rivals. It's helpful to be conscious of allies, enemies and idiots.

Drivers often look for teammates to help their cause, but they'll take aid from other quarters as well. On restrictor-plate tracks such as Daytona, drivers have favorite drafting partners they trust not to dump their car into the wall. Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have a level of comfort together that allows them to perform magic at Daytona and Talladega.
In the past two years, Kenseth and Harvick have discovered a similar bond.
"Kevin is a great racer," Kenseth said. "He's really good at this plate stuff and I've probably learned some stuff from him. I enjoy racing with him and it was cool that we ended up together."
Rivals of Dale Earnhardt didn't always feel that way. If "The Intimidator" was in your rearview mirror, you learned to anticipate the "chrome horn."
Two-time Cup champion Terry Labonte was leading going into Turn 2 on the final lap in the 1999 Goody's 500 at Bristol. But Earnhardt drew a huge roar from the fans in Thunder Valley when he "rattled" Labonte, sending him into the wall and passing him for the win.
"He never has any intention of taking anybody out,'' Labonte said after the race. "But it just always happens that way."
That was never Mark Martin's style. Martin has lived by the philosophy of racing drivers the way he wants to be raced. It's a mantra that many of his disciples have shared, including Earnhardt Jr.
Perhaps that's why Junior was adamant that his move on Brian Vickers last week at Daytona, which caused a multicar wreck, was not payback for a 2006 incident on the last lap at Talladega.
On the final lap at the Alabama track, Vickers clipped Jimmie Johnson, who then struck leader Earnhardt. As the Nos. 8 and 48 went spinning in Turn 3, Vickers' No. 25 sailed off for the finish line.
"The deal at Talladega was a hard, bitter pill but he was trying to win his first race," said Earnhardt, noting that he and Vickers have been friends "for a while.
"I don't think it was intentional what he did so it wasn't the worst thing in the world to get over.

"You don't forget things like that, but I mean after even a couple of weeks you get over it," Earnhardt said. "You're better off in the long run to concentrate on racing your race car and finishing the best you can. You're worse off in the long run if you concentrate on the grudges that you keep and somehow find a way to manipulate them every weekend. That's not going to get you as far obviously because you're not concentrating on the right thing."
Vickers called Johnson and Earnhardt the night of the Talladega incident to apologize. This past week, Earnhardt called Vickers to apologize for the Daytona wreck.
After winning the pole for the Auto Club Speedway 500 on Friday, Vickers reiterated that he didn't take out Earnhardt at Talladega.
"I didn't wreck Junior," Vickers said. "I wrecked Jimmie and Jimmie hit Junior."
That's a distinction that Earnhardt's fans are unlikely to share.
And you can bet they're keeping score