Kathy's NASCAR Pit Stop

That seems to be the question these days about Penske South teammates Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman.

Last Fall they had a little altercation on and off the track at Martinsville, everyone thought they would talk about it, get over it and that would be the end of it.  Well, that's what we get for thinking!  Seems the little feud is not over afterall, "We're just peachy" was the statement from Newman when asked about how they're doing.  They still haven't discussed it.

The hard part, for me at least, is that I like both drivers, Rusty's been my favorite since I started following NASCAR and I liked Newman after he started.  I can see both sides of the situation, both drivers wanted that win and both drivers thought they could win it, but it wasn't the case, Johnson went on to win.

Watching them, even before the Martinsville incident, I noticed they were never really in a position on the track to act as teammates, one was always near the front and the other wasn't close enough to help, so when the time came when Rusty asked them to ask Newman to cut him some slack, the teammate bond was nowhere to be found.  Newman thought he was faster and had a better chance, so he went for it.

Now I only know most of what Rusty has said, Newman has been fairly quiet about all of this, but Rusty thinks he deserves some respect from Newman and feels as is he's not getting it.  Newman thinks he's between a rock and a hard place because as a driver, Rusty is a competitor, but he is also part owner of his car, making things difficult, according to Newman.  It may be a hard spot for Newman to be in, but Rusty's right, he deserves some respect, especially from his teammate.  Rusty said he wish he had the same relationship with Newman that he had with McMurray, who drives his Busch car, but obviously that isn't going to happen.

Will the feud ever end?  Obviously not if it's left up to Rusty and Ryan, they seem to be a standstill and I think Roger Penske needs to step in, put his foot down and make them talk, even if it means locking them in a room.  Enough is enough, they need to act like teammates, not enemies.

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• #1 Comment from msbig6fan 
  1/22/05 11:30 AM | Permalink

  This isn't the first time teammates have crossed the line....Greg Biffle really crossed that line last year by blocking Mark at MI.  He left the track without a word about the innocednt, but he wasn't happy with him.  From then on there was a noted change in Gregs attitude.