Are There Really Teammates in NASCAR?

The concept of fielding more than one car in a NASCAR event was not always the preferred route for NASCAR owners. Back in the Golden Era of NASCAR (1960's and 1970's), most of NASCAR's top teams were single-car outfits. Petty Enterprises and Holman-Moody were just a few on the short list of top tier teams that intermittently fielded multiple entries.

But as NASCAR continued to grow, and groundbreaking resources became available, many owners began to realize the advantages of a multi-car operation.

A lot of people may tell you that Junior Johnson was the first to really take advantage of the multi-car operations, as he fielded twin Budweiser cars driven by Darrell Waltrip and Neil Bonnett from 1984 to 1986. But the two teams were rarely on the same page, and did not even share the same race shop. In 1987, Johnson went back to his single-car approach that worked well in the early 1980's, when Darrell Waltrip won back-to-back championships in 1981 and 1982.

In 1986, Rick Hendrick added a second team to his operation. In 1984, Hendrick was affiliated with All-Star Racing, and the group of owners hired Geoff Bodine as their driver. Bodine won three races that year, hence the Hendrick legacy began. In 1986, Hendrick added the flamboyant Tim Richmond to his driver roster to complement Bodine. Needless to say, Hendrick Motorsports opened a lot of eyes that season. Richmond won seven races and eight poles, and Bodine posted two wins, including the Daytona 500, as well as eight poles.

In 1987, Hendrick took the multi-car concept to another level when he added a third team. Ironically, he hired Darrell Waltrip. The success of Hendrick Motorsports only heightened as time went by.

Eventually, other top tier teams caught on to what Hendrick was doing, most notably Jack Roush. Roush added a second team in the early 1990's and since then, his organization has grown into a five-team powerhouse.

Guys like Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush have profited greatly from owning multiple teams, but what about the drivers? Over the years, drivers within the same organization have clashed, whether it is personality conflicts, jealousy, or just pure competitiveness.

As with any corporation, an employee wants to impress his boss, and outshine his co-workers. That is exactly how it is in NASCAR, and that is the root of many teammate conflicts.

The recent events that took place at Daytona highlighted the cons of multi-car operations. Joe Gibbs Racing officials had to be pleased when two of their drivers, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart, occupied the top two positions early in the race. The jubilation was short-lived as Stewart would get into the back of Hamlin, ending any hopes of victory for the two drivers.

If that wasn't bad enough, Stewart vehemently blamed Hamlin for the accident, and insinuated that Hamlin was not a team player. Hamlin sarcastically accepted blame, and was clearly displeased with Stewart's remarks. A week later in Chicago, Joe Gibbs had to personally meet with both drivers to smooth out the situation. In the process, both Hamlin and Stewart missed nearly half of the final practice session.

Even though the two drivers have made amends, this incident will always linger in the back of their minds.

The teammate situation can become even more uncomfortable when it has been made public that one of the drivers is leaving at season's end. Hendrick Motorsports' driver Kyle Busch is leaving the organization after the 2007 season in order to make room for Dale Earnhardt Jr, but until then, he is the odd-man out, and he is not holding back his resentment towards his three teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Casey Mears.

In fact, at Chicago, he outright admitted that he is only looking out for himself. "I'm not helping anybody but myself and this team for winning races. I'm not helping Jeff Gordon. I'm not helping Jimmie Johnson or Casey Mears."

Busch also claimed that Jeff Gordon refused to draft with him at Daytona, and then refused to acknowledge him after the race. This kind of dissension within the organization will only be a hindrance, and Kyle Busch and the 5 team will likely be the ones who suffer the most.

Over the years, teammates within an organization have butted heads. In the 1990's, the late Dale Earnhardt and his Richard Childress Racing teammate Mike Skinner had numerous run-ins. Years later, Kevin Harvick and Robby Gordon often squabbled, as did Harvick and Jeff Green.

At Penske Racing, Rusty Wallace and his younger teammate Jeremy Mayfield were miles apart when it came to car set-ups as well as driver philosophies, and the tension between the two teams reached a boiling point in the fall of 2001 when Mayfield left the team months before the final race of the season. Things did not improve at Penske Racing when Ryan Newman came into the picture and immediately started winning races and poles. Newman and Wallace rarely spoke, however they engaged in a war of words through the media throughout the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

Roush Racing has not been immune to problems between teammates. Kurt Busch ran into Greg Biffle in the 2004 All-Star race, causing a huge melee that took out several cars. Biffle ripped Busch during his post-accident interview.

At DEI, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Michael Waltrip were great drafting partners, but away from Daytona and Talladega, there was tension. During the 2005 Coca Cola 600, Earnhardt Jr wrecked Waltrip, causing a multi-car accident. Waltrip would end up leaving DEI after the season ended to start his own team.

The bottom-line is that teammates can be a conflict of interest in NASCAR. In other sports, teammates help teammates in order to benefit the entire team. In NASCAR, a driver helps himself and his team, but not the entire team.

When the New York Yankees win a baseball game, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter as well as the rest of the team celebrates victory, and the entire New York Yankees team is credited with the win. Not in NASCAR. When Jeff Gordon wins a race, his team is credited with the win, and the other three Hendrick Motorsports teams are just also-rans that got beat.