Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon Credit: Autostock

Racing needs a good old-fashioned rivalry

For all the positive change we've seen NASCAR undergo in recent years -- and there's been plenty -- there's one cornerstone principle in particular that's lacking of late:

Driver rivalries. There are none.

Gone are the days of Pearson/Petty and Allison/Yarborough and Earnhardt/Waltrip. Nobody despises anybody anymore. That's no fun. Problem is, you can't manufacture a rivalry. It just has to happen.

Marty Smith

And that's probably why it doesn't happen. I'm uncertain NASCAR will let it. As soon as one guy looks cross at another, they're whisked away to the big white truck for a Come to Helton meeting. Goodbye potential rivalry.

Today's drivers rarely so much as verbally abuse a competitor on national television for fear they'll somehow shed negative light on a sponsor. Plus, we all know temper tantrums are among the 9,482 actions "detrimental to stock car racing."

Right. For 40 years calling another driver a ninny was an action integral to the growth of stock car racing. Headlines about Athlete A questioning Athlete B always garner reader attention.

Think about it: if two competitive entities utterly hate one another, we're more inclined to pay attention -- even if we aren't necessarily fans of those particular entities.

Red Sox/Yankees is the ultimate example. I'm an ol' country boy from Virginia who couldn't care less about the stake Bucky Dent drove through the hearts of generations of Bostonians. But the fact is, if the Sox and Yankees didn't so bitterly despise each other, I wouldn't even know who Dent is.

Much the same could be said for racing. Prior to Dale Earnhardt's death -- which indisputably brought more awareness to NASCAR racing than any other single event in the sport's history -- some folks believed the fight between Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough in the 1979 Daytona 500 deserved that distinction.

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The 1979 500 was the first NASCAR race CBS ever aired live, on national television. And it concluded with Richard Petty in Victory Lane and a pair of wily veterans beating the tar out of one another.

That's good TV. And as back woods barbaric as it may seem, it went a long way to helping build a core fan base in the early 1980s, and undoubtedly played a part in lifting NASCAR racing into the mainstream.

So where'd they go?

"Actually there are probably a lot of rivalries in the garage right now, drivers just don't talk about them," said NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter with a trademark chuckle. "I'd bet certain drivers would rather beat certain other drivers worse than anything in the world.

"Statistics sometimes become the barometer of rivalries. Drivers say they want to win every time they race, they want to beat everybody, but you know there's that one guy they want to beat the most every week.

"I'd bet most drivers in Cup today want to beat Jeff Gordon more than anybody, just because Jeff's won four championships. And when you beat a four-time champion it's a huge accomplishment. I think over time with these younger drivers, more rivalries will sprout."

Here's a look at some potentially great Nextel Cup rivalries:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. vs. Jeff Gordon: The ultimate NASCAR rivalry. The sport's two biggest stars hail from completely different backgrounds. Revered country boy vs. reviled city boy. Blue collar vs. white collar. Red Coats (as my buddies and I affectionately refer to Budweiser beer) vs. Rainbow Warriors. The namesake of NASCAR's greatest icon rises to prominence and seeks to dethrone the heir to his father's throne. Gordon fans hate Junior. Junior fans hate Gordon. NASCAR licensing VP Mark Dyer salivates at the very thought of it.

Kevin Harvick sports a Matt Kenseth t-shirt after the two had a run-in at Pocono.

Tony Stewart vs. Jimmie Johnson: Fundamental differences of opinion in the home improvement arena aside, this is consummate good boy vs. bad boy. Stewart's rough around the edges, no-nonsense aura appeals greatly to longtime fans, while Johnson's approach, as flawless as Allen Bestwick's hairline, attracts the newer crowd. Chicks dig them both, but for entirely different reasons. Johnson is comfortable in New York. Stewart likes Knoxville. Johnson is tucked, Stewart untucked. Johnson is a Gillette Young Gun, wouldn't dare venture outside the house with a sprig of hair on his cheeks. Stewart dares you to take the Old Spice Challenge and could often double as Al Borlin.

Kevin Harvick vs. Kurt Busch: Need I say more? These two go together like Castrol and Kool-Aid. They still detest one another, but have piped down considerably since being reprimanded separately by NASCAR the past two years -- Harvick sat out a race in 2002 and Busch learned how the common folk get credentialed last season. But they say history is destined to repeat itself, so don't be surprised if this one is rekindled sometime in the future.

Matt Kenseth vs. Earnhardt Jr.: These two will always be compared to one another because they came in together. They are forever linked by a pair of epic Busch Series championship battles, by the 2000 rookie of the year battle and by a friendly rivalry already in place. They have completely different driving styles. Junior is a hard charger, a get-to-the-front-as-fast-as-I-can type, while Kenseth takes a methodical, stealth approach. Earnhardt is compared to Steve McQueen and James Dean. Kenseth is likened to a robot. Both have a chip on their shoulder, but neither would ever say it.

Earnhardt Jr. vs. Harvick: Big E's boy vs. Big E's successor. 'Nuff said.

"Even though rivalries can't be manufactured, the more the media writes about two guys against each other, the more legitimacy it'll carry, and the more that rivalry will be created," Hunter said.

Hmm. Maybe I should write about this more often.

Marty Smith is a senior writer for NASCAR.COM. The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.