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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