Stewart-Busch feud revs up
Punch reportedly thrown in meeting
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A day after they gnashed their teeth on the racetrack following a crash during practice for last night's Budweiser Shootout, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch were all smiles.
However, the smiles seemed forced after both drivers were summoned to the NASCAR hauler yesterday morning to visit with NASCAR director of competition Robin Pemberton and Sprint Cup series director John Darby to conduct a "civil discussion," something that reportedly didn't happen Friday night.
ESPN.com reported that Stewart punched Busch in the NASCAR hauler after the latest installment of their running feud that started at last year's Daytona 500 and escalated in a pit-road incident at Dover last June in which Busch was penalized 100 driver points.
After his runner-up finish to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in last night's Shootout, Stewart was asked if he punched Busch. "Whatever happens behind NASCAR's closed doors, stays behind closed doors," he replied.
Busch and Stewart got tangled in a crash during Friday evening's practice when Stewart hit Busch from behind on the backstretch, causing Busch's No. 2 Dodge to smack the wall. Stewart's car dipped down the banking and sideswiped Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin.
Busch came steaming from behind and thrice sideswiped Stewart's car as they slowed to enter pit road. At yesterday's meeting, NASCAR officials ordered them to steer clear of each other and told them that any penalties would be dispensed tomorrow or Tuesday.
"What Kurt did coming onto pit road, I've done a lot worse than what he did," Stewart said. "So I'm not going to throw stones about it."
In a garage interview with Speed TV's Dick Berggren, Busch said, "Tony and I are competitors; we always have been and we're going to be just fine. We're going to move forward. We know we need to help each other out in the future so that doesn't happen again."
While Stewart's crew managed to repair the right-side damage to his car, Busch was forced to roll out a backup.
"Nobody whose racecar got torn up is happy," Stewart said. "Kurt's emotion and his desire and passion to win are much like mine. The easiest way for us to go out and do what we do is just to agree to disagree and go on from there."
Johnson rebounds
Everyone seemed to be on their best behavior in yesterday's first Daytona 500 practice session. After his Shootout car was reduced to scrap metal in an eight-car pile-up during Friday's practice session, Jimmie Johnson posted the fastest lap in his No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 186.285 miles per hour. Rookie driver Patrick Carpentier was second in his No. 10 Valvoline Dodge (186.023) while Stewart was third in his No. 20 