What we need is a tango

Sporting News, The, August 2, 2004 by Lee Spencer

Every sport needs great rivalries. Where would baseball be without the Yankees and Red Sox or the Cardinals and Cubs? Or the NHL without Detroit-Colorado or Boston-Montreal? Although it's not the matchup it once was, the NFL still has the Cowboys and Redskins. And with Shaquille O'Neal moving to Miami, we could witness a little hoops revenge against the Lakers and former teammate Kobe Bryant.

But where are the hard-core rivalries in NASCAR?

Several years ago, the Charlotte Observer ran a great caricature of Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace dueling. Wallace was dressed in white, Earnhardt in black. The colors took us to the most basic of all rivalries: good vs. evil. There has to be a protagonist and an antagonist. Few of us get excited over a waltz. Earnhardt and Wallace were bold and dashing and not afraid to rip any rival who crossed their paths on or off the track.

After Tim Richmond retired because of declining health and Darrell Waltrip passed his prime, Earnhardt and Wallace emerged as the sport's dominant personalities, carrying on a tradition that featured legendary rivalries such as Richard Petty against David Pearson and Petty against Bobby Allison. Thanks to the miracle of TV, the most memorable rumble of all was Cale Yarborough, Donnie Allison and Bobby Allison at the end of the 1979 Daytona 500 in the first full-length live broadcast of a NASCAR race. Incidents such as that fueled or sparked many of the rivalries in years past.

Times sure have changed. We live in a society that is so politically correct that any type of physical retribution--even an action taken on the field, rink or racetrack--simply isn't tolerated. It used to be that racers settled their issues after an event; these days, they get busted for such conduct. So it's no surprise many drivers have placed their personalities on autopilot with the intent of flying under the radar screen.

That has contributed to NASCAR not producing the ongoing rivalries that made the sport what it is today. Recent feuds such as the sideshow between Jimmy Spencer and Kurt Busch last summer don't have staying power. Why? Well, there's such a difference in equipment that Busch's No. 97 will win the on-track battle every time. Off the track, there's such a difference in physical size that if Spencer breathed on Busch, he might be charged with assault.

Mark Martin always held his own against Earnhardt and Wallace, but Martin is not the confrontational sort. Kevin Harvick, who is the confrontational sort, went after Ricky Rudd last year and defending champ Matt Kenseth earlier this year. Harvick would make a perfect adversary in any challenge, but he'll have a hard time finding someone stupid enough to play that game this close to The Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup. A driver can't risk the consequences of losing his composure.

Another reason rivalries are less intense is there are more drivers in topnotch equipment than there used to be. "It's basically against the guy you need to beat," says four-time champ Jeff Gordon. "For me, that could even be my own teammate, Jimmie Johnson. Another week it could be Tony Stewart. On the restrictor plate tracks, it's definitely DEI."

Gordon believes there's always the possibility of a good rivalry brewing in the garage, but parity has killed any chance of one developing long-term. For fans who are excited by the possibility of a different winner every week, parity is a good thing. But for fans who want hard-core rivalries, parity is the enemy because it brings too many combatants to the table.

Here's a solution. Gordon was bold enough to take on Earnhardt and Wallace on his way to the top. Now that Gordon is dancing on DEI's sacred restrictor plate turf, why not tare it to other tracks and go head to head with the golden boy, Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Let those two tango a time or two, and it could be the start of a beautiful rivalry.

SPEED READS

* Image is everything, especially in professional sports. That is why Michael "Fatback" McSwain, who was fired as Bobby Labonte's crew chief, never was a good fit in the Joe Gibbs organization. Promoting team engineer Brandon Thomas makes sense. Not only does the move reinforce the bend of teams hiring solid technicians for the top of the pit box, it also proves that savvy managerial skills are necessary in today's NASCAR.

* If Bobby Hamilton Jr. takes the No. 32 Chevrolet ride with Cal Wells in the future, he will become one of many talented youngsters, dating to four-time Cup champ Jeff Gordon in the early 1990s, who left Ford. Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne recently bolted from the Ford stable. The blue oval folks must find a way to stop the bleeding. Ford's acquisition of young talent in the past decade doesn't come close to measuring up to its losses.

TSN's POWER POLL

                           TSN points:       TSN        Nextel
Driver                    last 10 races     points    Cup points

 (1) Jimmie Johnson           1,220       2,064 (1)    2,850(1)
 (2) Jeff Gordon              1,112       1,962 (2)    2,648(3)
 (3) Tony Stewart               865       1,508 (5)    2,548(4)
 (4) Bobby Labonte              835       1,453 (7)    2,390(7)
 (5) Ryan Newman                798       1,497 (6)    2,348(10)
 (6) Jeremy Mayfield            765       1,217 (11)   2,242(11)
 (7) Matt Kenseth               742       1,561 (4)    2,481(5)
 (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr.         701       1,710 (3)    2,685(2)
 (9) Michael Waltrip            679         950 (17)   2,110(16)
(10) Elliott Sadler             655       1,311 (9)    2,370(8)

Through race No. 19, at New Hampshire International
Speedway. For a complete TSN Power Poll rundown and
a points system explanation, go to
msn.foxsports.com/named/public/NASCAR/Cup/PowerPoll.