Fighting mad: The 10 biggest beefs of the Chase era
Bad Blood
Without question, the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and the pressure that goes along with it, brings out the aggression in drivers. Here are the top 10 beefs of the Chase era:
10. New Hampshire, 2004 -- In the very first Chase race ever, Robby Gordon and Greg Biffle wrecked each other twice in the opening 64 laps. The second incident collected Chase contenders Tony Stewart and Jeremy Mayfield, who understandably were not pleased at all.
9. Charlotte, 2008 -- On pole day for the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards had a shoving match in the garage, although no punches were thrown. Edwards was apparently upset with remarks Harvick made after Edwards had caused a multi-car accident the week before at Talladega.
8. Texas, 2011 -- Kyle Busch was parked by NASCAR and missed the fall Texas Chase race after deliberately wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race earlier in the weekend.
7. Texas, 2010 -- In one of the more bizarre incidents in Chase history, Jeff Burton appeared to intentionally put Jeff Gordon into the wall under caution. Gordon was furious and the two had a brief shoving match on the backstretch.
6. Chicagoland, 2015 -- In the first race of the 2015 Chase, defending Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick crashed after contact with Jimmie Johnson. After the race, Johnson went to Harvick’s motorcoach, where an angry Harvick shoved Johnson in the chest.
5. Charlotte, 2014 -- The normally even-keeled Matt Kenseth went off on Brad Keselowski after getting rammed on pit road by Keselowski following the conclusion of the Bank of America 500. Kenseth was so mad he put Keselowski in a headlock in the garage.
4. Texas, 2014 -- On a late-race restart, contact with Brad Keselowski cut a tire on Jeff Gordon’s car, which essentially knocked Gordon out of the Chase just when it appeared he would advance. Gordon confronted Keselowski on pit road, and when the Team Penske driver attempted to walk away, Kevin Harvick pushed him back in Gordon’s direction. A fistfight then broke out, with Gordon and Keselowski throwing punches.
3. Kansas, 2015 -- In the closing laps of the Kansas race, Joey Logano put a fender to leader Matt Kenseth, spinning him out. Logano went on to win the race, while Kenseth fumed, saying Logano turned him on purpose. It did not help matters that NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France described Logano’s decision to take Kenseth out as smart racing and “quintessential NASCAR.”
2. Martinsville, 2015 -- Joey Logano appeared headed for a record fourth straight Chase victory at Martinsville. But after Logano’s teammate Brad Keselowski wrecked Matt Kenseth on a late-race restart, Kenseth retaliated by drilling Logano into the wall. Kenseth was suspended for the next two races, but Logano was taken out of title contention.
1. Phoenix, 2012 -- A season of bad blood between Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon erupted in the penultimate race of the season. Battling for fifth place late in the race, the two made contact, resulting in Gordon hitting the wall. With two laps to go, Gordon then retaliated by taking out Bowyer. A brawl between their crews broke out in the garage, with Bowyer famously sprinting from pit road to Gordon’s hauler to confront him.
