Memorable NASCAR feuds throughout the years

As Michael Knight of AZCentral.com wrote in November 2015, the rivalry between Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jeff Gordon was one built on respect and also one that captivated fans during the 1990s. Gordon was 20 years younger than Dale Sr. when he won his first championship in 1995, and the baby-faced driver celebrated by offering a toast to "The Intimidator" using milk, a throwback to a joke Earnhardt once made about his rival. They raced each other 258 times until Earnhardt's tragic passing at the 2001 Daytona 500. 

Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth went full WWE at the height of this feud during the 2014 season. The two came together on the track at Richmond in April of that year, as Keselowski bumped Kenseth to help teammate Joey Logano win. As Jeff Gluck and Mike Hembree of USA Today explained, the two went at it again at Charlotte Motor Speedway the subsequent October, and Kenseth looked to settle matters in an alleyway after the race. 

Kyle Busch has never been one to shy away from a feud, even if it involves arguably the most famous name in NASCAR, at the time. In the spring of 2018, Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke about their rivalry, which started all the way back in 2007, on the Dale Jr. Download podcast. The two had multiple on-the-track run-ins in 2007, and Busch famously spun Earnhardt out late in the 2008 Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond Raceway. On that same podcast, Busch claimed he received death threats following the wreck. 

It's only natural the previously mentioned Matt Kenseth would feud with Joey Logano, teammate of Brad Keselowski. In October 2015, Logano spun Kenseth out with five laps remaining in the Chase race at Kansas Speedway. Logano went on to win, while Kenseth finished 14th. Later that fall, Kenseth earned revenge when he wrecked Logano at Martinsville, a crime that earned Kenseth a two-race suspension from NASCAR. 

The grandfather of NASCAR feuds involved The King and a nemesis he respected and revered during their careers. "The rivalry with Pearson was strictly trying to beat each other," Petty once said, per ESPN's David Newton. "With (Bobby) Allison, it got to be more personal. We got into personal arguments. You didn't need to with Pearson." The finish of the 1976 Daytona 500, won by Pearson after he and Petty both lost control of their cars on the final lap, remains one of the most famous endings to a race in NASCAR history. 

Per Ed Hinton of the Chicago Tribune , the feud between Jimmy Spencer and Kurt Busch began in 2001, and the two had been involved in several incidents leading up to the 2003 Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Busch bumped Spencer late in that race, and Spencer retaliated by punching his foe in the face as Busch sat in his race car following the competition. Spencer was hit with a one-race ban and a $25,000 fine, and Busch sustained a chipped tooth and other facial injuries. 

Following the 2016 Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon completed an emotional farewell ceremonial lap around the track. Things weren't always so cordial between the two. Gordon once famously threatened, "I'll slam you into the wall," after Stewart knocked his rival into the guardrail at Watkins Glen. That was only the first of multiple incidents that sparked a feud built as much out of respect as it was created by honest feelings of animosity. 

Earlier this year, Reid Spencer of NASCAR.com claimed the 1979 Dayton 500 put NASCAR on the map. Most casual fans remember the end of the race and the collision between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison that gifted Richard Petty with the win. Yarborough took exception to Allison's methods, and a fight broke out between the two drivers and Bobby Allison, who defended his brother in the melee. 

NASCAR has a deep history of real-life family feuds. The rivalry between brothers Geoff and Brett Bodine is one example. At the 1994 Brickyard 400, Brett caused older brother Geoff to lose control of his car following what neither would have referred to as a "love tap." According to a Washington Post piece, there were rumors at the time that the two had a falling-out over non-racing-related reasons. Per the Associated Press (h/t Billings Gazette), they eventually ended the feud. 

Danica Patrick, one of the true groundbreakers of her era, welcomed adversity and, even, controversy during her historic career. In March 2016, Patrick was attempting to get in front of Kasey Kahne during the Auto Club 400 when Kahne accidentally turned Patrick's car into the wall after clipping the vehicle's rear. Patrick jumped out of her wrecked car and gestured toward Kahne as he drove by. Per Theoden Janes of the Charlotte Observer, she was fined $20,000 and given a four-race probation for violating safety rules. 

We may have not yet seen the end of the feud between Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.. In July 2018 at Daytona International Speedway, Stenhouse bumped the left rear of Busch's car, sending Busch into the wall and causing an accident that affected six vehicles, in total. Busch later said on NBC Sports program NASCAR America that Stenhouse should have apologized for his role in the wreck. 

In December 2017, Rusty Wallace told Jerry Bonkowski of NBC Sports that Dale Earnhardt Sr. was his favorite and least favorite competitor. "When I looked in my rearview mirror and I’d say to myself, ‘Ah crap, I’m going to have to deal with this guy again," Wallace said. The two were friends and rivals in the 1980s and 1990s, but they didn't always see eye-to-eye after races. 

In April 2017, Kevin Harvick spoke with NASCAR.com about his battle with Greg Biffle at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2002. Biffle sent Harvick into the wall late in the race, and Harvick told reporters afterward he'd be waiting, apparently for more than just a chat. Harvick hurdled a car to get at his foe, a highlight he, fortunately, didn't repeat when the two had another altercation in 2011. Nobody can tell Harvick he doesn't have hops. 

Jimmie Johnson is unquestionably one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, but his cool demeanor has affected his popularity among pockets of fans. This isn't to say Johnson doesn't have a pushable button. Kurt Busch and Johnson repeatedly got under each other's skin from 2009 through 2011, and Johnson even cut a promo on his rival during the summer of 2011, per the Associated Press (h/t Bangor Daily News), when this was the hottest rivalry in all of NASCAR. 

Jeff Gordon is often credited with "discovering" Jimmie Johnson, but things between the two weren't always sunshine and rainbows as Johnson outperformed and overshadowed his mentor and teammate. In 2010, Gordon stated Johnson "tested" his patience following multiple incidents, per ESPN's Ed Hinton. By then, Johnson was the best in the business, and some can't help but wonder what would have been for both had Gordon not taken Johnson under his wing as a kid brother in the early 2000s. 

The feud between Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards resulted in a couple of scary wrecks. In 2009 at Talladega, Edwards went airborne while trying to block Keselowski, a crash in which neither man, technically, did anything wrong. The same could not be said about what occurred in Atlanta the following year, when Keselowski's car flipped following a tap from Edwards. Edwards shockingly retired from NASCAR after the 2016 season, a move that surprised his rival, per Mike Pryson of Autoweek. 

It was hardly a secret Rusty Wallace was less than pleased when Roger Penske  added Ryan Newman to the team in 2001. Probably the ugliest public quarrel of their relationship, as it was, occurred at Martinsville Speedway in October 2004 when a run-in between the two knocked Wallace out of contention. Wallace responded by bumping Newman's car on pit road after the race. Things didn't cool between the two after Wallace retired, as he claimed Penske Racing dismissed Newman following the 2007 season, per ESPN's Terry Blount. Newman, meanwhile, said he elected to pursue other options. 

How many sports rivalries you know led to a scene in a movie? That, as explained by the Associated Press (h/t Fox News), was the case regarding the feud between Dale Earnhardt and Geoff Bodine. In April 2015, Bodine explained in a piece he wrote for The Racing Experts that he and Earnhardt always left their feud on the track. There was plenty to leave behind among the two during the 1980s. "Even though he spun me out a few times, I still miss him," Bodine wrote. 

"Jaws" seems like a cool nickname for a driver, one Darrell Waltrip grew to accept. It wasn't given to him out of love. "I nicknamed him 'Jaws,'" rival Cale Yarborough once explained, per ESPN's David Newton. "When he first came in, he ran his mouth a lot. He still does, but now it's for fun." Despite their run-ins, Yarborough approached Waltrip about replacing him on Junior Johnson’s team after the 1980 season, per Christopher Olmstead of Beyond the Flag. 

As Jeff Owens of the Sporting News wrote, Clint Bowyer admitted in 2015 he and Jeff Gordon weren't nearly as close as they were before what occurred between them in 2012. The two were involved in a wreck at Martinsville earlier that season, and Gordon turned Bowyer into the wall, seemingly on purpose, at Phoenix International Raceway in November (video contains NSFW language). This led to a fight between the two teams. 

Two emotional figures like Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth seemed destined to feud with each other. One of the more famous, or infamous, depending on how you view things, moments of the 2000s occurred at Bristol in 2012 after both men spun out of control while battling for the lead. Kenseth returned to the track and continued racing, but Stewart waited and then whipped his helmet at Kenseth's car. "I’m going to run over him every chance I’ve got from now until the end of the year, every chance I’ve got," Stewart later told reporters.

Richard Petty versus Bobby Allison was more than just a rivalry about winning on the track. It was personal and, ultimately, dangerous. Per Fox Sports, the two eventually had to call a truce to stop ruining each other's equipment and to prevent somebody from suffering an injury, or worse, during a race. As ESPN's David Newton explained, Allison once admitted to wanting to "drive (Petty) through the wall if necessary" while competing against him in 1972. 

This feud is more sad than entertaining, as it involves the widow of Dale Earnhardt Sr. and his famous son who retired after the 2017 season. As explained by Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer, Dale Jr. and Teresa have had a rocky relationship since the death of Dale Sr., so much so that Junior left the racing team run by his stepmother in 2007. In the spring of 2016, Junior sided with his half-brother regarding a legal dispute between Kerry Earnhardt and Teresa. 

One cannot write a meaningful history of NASCAR without mentioning the feud between Ford and Chevy, one that, at its best, went beyond drivers and spread across fans around the country. In August 2017, Tom Jensen of Popular Speed wrote Chevrolet fans vs. Ford fans was "the most intense rivalry in the entire history of NASCAR." Think of the feud between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, except imagine the rest of Major League Baseball being filled with versions of the Florida Marlins. That was Chevy vs. Ford for decades of NASCAR's history. 

In July 2009, ESPN's Ed Hinton listed Dale Earnhardt vs. Darrell Waltrip as his top rivalry in NASCAR history. The feud began in 1979 during Earnhardt's rookie year, and the two traded paint and insults via the media for roughly a decade. In August 2014, Jeff Hammond of Fox Sports listed this as the greatest Bristol Motor Speedway rivalry. What's sometimes forgotten is the two became close, and Waltrip was calling the 2001 Daytona 500 as Earnhardt lost his life.