Weekend That Was: M'ville (cont'd)

With the memory of Juan Montoya booting Scott Pruett, his part-time Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, out of the way to win the recent Busch Series race in Mexico still fresh in everyone's minds, Hendrick just wanted to make sure all those under his employment were on the same page.

"I was talking to the crew chiefs, telling them to be patient," Hendrick said. "The cars were running together all day. You don't have to say much. I think everybody in the organization realizes that if we have a situation where one of the cars takes the other guy out, it is going to unravel a lot of hard work we have put into this year. So you just cross your fingers and hope everybody keeps them straight."

Gordon overcomes roadblock at M'ville

Jeff Gordon didn't win the race, but he left little doubt about his legendary status at Martinsville.

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Johnson later argued that there wasn't much more Gordon could have done, anyway.

"I don't know how he could have hit me much harder. The way these bumpers line up, I just literally put my head up against the head rest and would just wait for it -- because I knew it was coming and that it was coming real hard," Johnson said. "If we had been on the highway, my airbag would have gone off."

The bumpers in the new Car of Tomorrow machines that were used in the Martinsville race, as well as the Bristol race the previous week, line up in such a way that it is more difficult to spin out the car riding in front, anyway. Some consider that a plus; others consider it a minus because the car in the rear can almost use the lead car as a brake of sorts heading into the turns at a short track like Martinsville.

Once he had a few minutes to cool off, Gordon already seemed to be toning down his anger about how the race played out.

"I race everybody the way they race me," Gordon said. "He did what he needed to do, and if the roles were reversed, obviously I'm going to do what I've got to do to protect that spot as well.

"We're out here to win a championship. And by wrecking him or myself or both of us trying to go for that win -- which Rick Hendrick has seen before -- I've heard about those Monday morning meetings and I don't want to be a part of that."

Johnson said he appreciated Gordon's restraint at the end of Sunday's race, and also understood his teammate's frustration. After all, Martinsville is a place where Gordon had won seven times previously -- and he obviously wanted his eighth career win there very badly.

"I am speechless about out-dueling Jeff Gordon for this win," Johnson said. "I have looked up to him my whole career -- even before I was actually racing. I looked up to him and I knew how good he was at Martinsville.

"That was amazing there at the end. That was the hardest driving I have ever done. Then to have my bumper beat off by my teammate in a way that didn't jeopardize either one of us, that was a really class act by Jeff."

Yeah, well, at the end the grandfather clock that goes to the victor was still headed home with Johnson, not Gordon.

"I'm mad, but I'm not really mad at him," Gordon said. "He didn't do anything wrong. Had I hit him any harder and wrecked them, then the blame would have been put on me and we would have had an issue. We don't need that as teammates. We don't need that as competitors going forward trying to win a championship. I just hope we get our share of wins by continuing to race the way we've been racing."

That's just it, folks. As great a driver as Gordon is, he's been stuck on 75 career wins since winning at Chicago this past July. He won only twice last year, his lowest win total since his third year of Cup racing in 1994. (Continued)