BROOKLYN, Mich. -- The animosity between Kevin Harvick and Juan Montoya shows no signs of abating, one week after an incident at Watkins Glen that ended with both drivers going helmet-to-helmet in the middle of the track. (read more)

Oh, and they'll be nose-to-tail at the start of Sunday's 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway, since Montoya qualified 26th and Harvick 28th.

When asked whether he felt Montoya was agressive or reckless, Harvick didn't shy away from his opinion.

"He drives like he doesn't know what he's doing, to be honest with you," Harvick said. "He goes out, he can run fast but he's all over the place and every week it seems like he runs into a different person.

"In four weeks, it's cost us a couple of hundred points and he shrugs it off like he doesn't really care about anybody or anything, that he's just here to race. You make him mad and it's 'Well, I've got a five-year contract and I'll just wreck you every week.' It's hard to talk to him and he doesn't really respect anyone around him."

Montoya was asked whether his relationship with Harvick could be repaired.

"You know, I think he's a great guy, he's a great racer and it's a shame the position he's in," Montoya said. "I've been racing all my life and I learned to get over things like this because we're going to meet again and again on the racetrack and it's a lot nicer and better when you have a good relationship."

So does it bother you when people say you're not real popular?

"No, I think I'm a lot more popular here than I was in Formula 1, so I'm OK," Montoya said, which elicited laugher from those in attendance.

Retirement? It's news to him

Dale Jarrett expects to be back at Michael Waltrip Racing in 2008, despite reports that had him getting out of the driver's seat at the end of the season.

"I don't know where all this other stuff got started," Jarrett said. "No one came and asked me.

"As a matter of fact, I was standing in a restaurant with some friends last week and a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'I didn't realize you were retiring at the end of the year.' "

Jarrett was surprised to hear that.

"I said, 'Well, I didn't either,'" Jarrett admitted. "I had been on the golf course for a couple of days but didn't think things had changed quite that much."

Unfortunately, Jarrett won't be around for the weekend after his lap of 184.063 mph wasn't good enough to make the field.

One way to keep Mikey quiet

Michael Waltrip was solidly in the field after his first qualifying lap, but went ahead and made a second one, just in case.

Why? Because he couldn't hear anyone over his in-car radio.

"I was on the wrong channel, they said," Waltrip said. "I was screaming: 'What do I do? What do I do?' No one answered, so I just kept going -- which was dumb because I know I couldn't go any faster than I did. It was kind of silly to keep going, but when you're scared, you don't really know what to do."

Waltrip will roll off 11th on Sunday, with teammate David Reutimann next to him in Row 6. Reutimann was more relieved to have survived another Friday qualifying session.

"That was a good lap, by far quite a bit quicker than we were in practice," Reutimann said. "I'm just glad that it's over with, man.

"Fridays are tough days and once you get through 'em it feels like you're about a hundred pounds lighter. I'm glad that we got in and I'm glad that Mikey got in. It's on to Sunday and that's the exciting part there."

Kenseth beats the clock

At first, it appeared Matt Kenseth might have to start from the rear of the field because the transmission on his No. 17 Ford malfunctioned, leaving him stranded on pit road.

"We broke a rear-end gear," Kenseth said. "I've got a feeling it didn't get fluid. So something broke in the rear-end gear."

But Kenseth's crew feverishly worked under the car and it finally rolled onto the track, just before the five-minute clock ticked all the way down. He was able to click off a lap of 186.181 mph, good enough for 21st, and had nothing but praise for the guys who made things work under pressure.

"They did a great job in getting the gear fixed, but they didn't have oil in the first gear and it blew it up," Kenseth said. "So that was a great job to recover from it and get back out there, and get a lap in there."

Little team that could

The happiest bunch back in the garage area might have been the No. 08 E&M Motorsports crew. Well down the speed chart after Friday's practice, Joe Nemechek was able to pick up more than a second -- putting the Georgia-based single-car team in the show for the first time.

Nemechek's fans have contributed more than $2,000 to the effort -- and the team plans to run a "Nemechek Fans On Board" logo on the car Sunday.