The aftermath, part 2
A few writers mentioned previous run-ins between Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick. Lord knows, Harvick doesn't have many friends on the track. But I couldn't remember any earlier Johnson-Harvick incidents.
So when Ed Hardin checked in from Daytona a little bit ago, I asked him. Here's his take:
Here in Daytona, where Goodyear is actually giving away free tires to the media, what you see on the surface is sometimes not the real story. Sometimes, what you see on the surface isn't there at all.Take these free tires (I didn't). They're typical SUV tires on the outside, but inside there's something called armor plating or weapons-grade Kevlar or some nonsense that makes them the best tires in the world. So for the next few years, we should see members of the media (or their wives) driving around on free Goodyears with no worries of blowouts or no shame for accepting free gifts.
Anyway, the issue here this week hasn't been tires (that was the issue last week) but the incident Thursday in the Twin 150s.
Kevin Harvick wrecked Jimmie Johnson coming out of the second turn and caused a big crash that took out several top cars and had the entire racing community calling for Harvick's head.
NASCAR stepped in and forced the two drivers (Harvick and Johnson) to settle their differences. The question on the minds of many is just what differences do Harvick and Johnson have? Is there a feud? What sparked it?
The easy answer to those questions is, nobody really knows. But here's what the insiders are talking about. Harvick and Johnson are both SoCal kids, both 29-year-olds from Southern California who grew up in different racing communities. Harvick was the stock-car phenom, and everybody knew he would make it big in NASCAR and so he was the hot, young prospect for years and years. He was the Southern Cal kid, and the only one and his reputation was built around this.
Johnson was an off-road racer who burst onto the NASCAR scene and took all Harvick's thunder as the young SoCal kid who would make it big in NASCAR. Johnson is the guy everyone thought Harvick would be, and he's having the career everyone (including Harvick) thought Harvick would have.
That's the little-known basis for a little-known feud in NASCAR that exploded in controversy Thursday when the two came together in the second turn at Daytona.
So to wrap up this initial entry into The Spotter, here's my summation: I'm not so sure Johnson wasn't about to wreck anyway. Harvick was not bump drafting. And I did not take the tires.
So there you go.
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