May 3rd, 2010 
Journo It was the feud to end all feuds. Two teammates going at it. Cars were wrecked. Races were lost. Fists were thrown. Blood was shed…
…Ok so maybe it wasn’t the feud of all feuds, and there weren’t any fists thrown (as far as I know), but the way some were talking last week you’d think Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were NASCAR’s version of the Hatfields and McCoys. Rick Hendrick even stepped into the middle of their little spat so the two could talk out their problems. Hendrick said he didn’t want the ‘feud’ to start ‘breaking apart the organization.’ As I write this I can’t help but giggle (yes, I just wrote the word ‘giggle’).
Is Jeff Gordon spouting off to the media and being frustrated with his teammate really going to break the team apart? Maybe if it went on for a long time (and I mean long time) – but what are the odds that would happen? Jeff is, after all, the one who brought Jimmie to Hendrick.
I think Jeff Gordon had every right to be ticked off at his teammate. Two weeks in a row he gets into it with Jimmie – the incident at Talladega got him caught up in a wreck. If Jeff wants to express his displeasure with Jimmie, what’s the problem? On top of that, hasn’t it been great to see Jeff with a little spark lately? He’s like a new man.
If anything this could have been a good moment for these two teams. What’s better than a little competition? If that frustration could have helped push Jeff past the hump, why not let it continue, in moderation.
After the race this weekend, Jeff didn’t seem like a man too frustrated with his position. Now I’m not questioning Jeff’s passion or fight, but for a guy who’s led 599 laps this season without a win he’s pretty chipper. I think I’d almost rather see him fired up and upset with second place – more in the spirit of Kyle Busch or a younger Jeff Gordon.
All in all I think this was much ado about nothing. Was Jeff frustrated with Jimmie? Yeah he was, but this wasn’t a feud. In all reality this could have been used as an opportunity to get Gordon fired up. Unfortunately I think it was a moment lost.
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For the first time since I started watching Nascar (2007), both Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were starting to get interesting. Passion, anger, frustration – personality!!
This was an honest dispute from an unexpected source. God forbid they be allowed to show any emotion.
I guess the word of Hendrick overrules “have at it”.
Figured Hendrick wasn’t going to let it go to far. Really didn’t think it would. Been a Gordon fan ever since he’d race that #3 and not back down. But that was the Gordon of old. Now he just seems to be too content to finish in the top ten each week. I used to lay blame on that because I just thought he struggled with the COT
and Letarte was still learning. Now that he seems to have a grasp on the car and Letarte is giving him a good car he just doesn’t have something with these restarts. As painful as it is to say I figured if there was going to be a late race restart Saturday night he wasn’t going to win. He said ” We’ve got to keep putting ourselves in position. If we keep doing this the wins will come.” That’s true, but he needs to do something when he’s in that position to get those wins. Talk is cheap.
Completely off topic!!!!!
Has your opinion of the 18 Crew Chief changed at all with this win and current standings?
I really enjoy your articles, but have been holding on to this for a few weeks. LOL
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Journo is right. Hendrick Motorsports is the king of manufactured and contrived. Anybody who thinks Gordon and Johnson even have the capability to “feud” with one another must be dreaming.
I know jimmies a wuss! He would never get into a feud because he would probably break a nail! What a babie! Cant stand him for the life of me!
Kate- Has it changed? I don’t think Dave Rogers is a bad crew chief, but was getting rid of Steve Addington the best move? Dave Rogers getting out of his way for one race is good, but I want to see a little more.
Tim- I didn’t say Hendrick was manufactured or contrived. I think this story was.
Journo- That’s more what I meant to say, that Hendrick Motorsports are masters of this type of thing. Though my disdain for 95% of all things Hendrick probably took over.