RICHMOND, Va. – Kurt Busch says he's in Jimmie Johnson's head. Johnson says their feud is in Busch's hands.
There isn't much the Sprint Cup champions seems to agree on these days, particularly when the dispute involves racetrack real estate.
"He's got to learn how to race," Busch said. "He's been able to beat the guys the last five years by outdriving them with what he has for equipment. If he wants to switch equipment, let's see what we can do. I'm going to beat him fair and square with my Penske Dodge."
Said Johnson: "You're going to spin me out, I'm going to spin you out. That's part of it. I'm sure I'll go find him and talk to him and he'll run his mouth, and we'll go from there."
Saturday's Wonderful Pistachios 400 featured the latest flashpoints between Busch and Johnson. The first occurred on lap 186 when contact with Busch sent Johnson sailing into the Turn 2 wall.
The five-time champion returned the favor 56 laps later, nearly spinning his No. 48 Chevrolet by diving onto the Turn 1 apron to nudge Busch into a spin. Johnson was unrepentant about it afterward while bringing up a final-lap skirmish last month at Pocono Raceway, which led to a heated altercation on pit road.
"I got run over going into (Turn) 1," Johnson said. "I've worked very hard to not have any contact with him. Even the Pocono thing, I made a move to break the draft. I didn't touch his car. He ran over the side of me. So if he can stop running into my Lowe's Chevrolet, everything will be fine.
"I passed him two or three times without touching him, and he ran me over going into (Turn) 1."
Busch, who referred to Johnson as "a five-time chump," claimed the initial accident was because he locked his brakes and said the payback "wasn't something you see from Jimmie Johnson every day. So I know we're in his head. If we're going to race this way, he's got to worry there's 10 other guys in this Chase, not just (Busch)."
It was the 2004 champion, though, who seemed to be feeling the pressure afterward. He castigated a reporter during a pit-road interview and renewed a heated discussion with him before a news conference 30 minutes later in the media center.
He then challenged another reporter who asked Johnson to respond to Busch's contention that he was in the five-time champion's head.
"I didn't say that tonight," retorted Busch, who later tore up a transcript of the interview (which was broadcast on national TV) handed to him by the reporter. "Did not."
The exchange occurred while Busch and Johnson sat on opposite ends of a dais (with fellow Chase qualifiers Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart between them).
The distance was indicative of a rivalry that dates back to 2009 and has featured at least five dust-ups on the track. Johnson said it's nothing new, noting he also has had rivalries with Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick.
He and Busch also tried — again — to put it behind them with a brief discussion and handshake before a postrace photo of the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup field.
"I've been through a lot of it," Johnson said. "The bottom line is we can race out there without running into each other, and that's where it goes. And unfortunately we have had a history over the years. We spoke a few minutes ago, and I certainly hope it's behind us. I have no intentions to run people over.
"The incidents that have happened have been accidental. He knows that, and moving forward, I'm just not going to let people run our race car over. There's been a lot of contact going on, and that's why I retaliated tonight. It was a good time to do it. Moving forward, I think we've raced together the last two weeks, three weeks and been just fine on the racetrack. We can do it. It can be done. We had eight, nine years before that where everything was fine. It's possible, and I think it's in both of our best interests to get it behind us and go forward."source usa today
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