Weekend That Was: 'Dega

Most NASCAR fans get the fact that the Dale Earnhardt-Jeff Gordon "rivalry" never truly existed.

Some, on the other hand, are still throwing full beer cans on the racetracks every time Gordon wins another race -- as they did Sunday when Gordon won at Talladega Superspeedway, registering career win No. 77 and passing Earnhardt for sole possession of sixth place on the all-time Cup victories list.

• Send Joe your thoughts

While the Gordon-Earnhardt angle has been a good one for media to work two weeks running (Gordon tied Earnhardt one week earlier with a win at Phoenix), the best story in the garage last weekend was Tony Stewart. In fact, you could argue that the best two or three story angles revolved around Stewart.

First, there were Stewart's brazen comments on his Sirius radio show last week -- when he accused NASCAR of inventing debris cautions late in races for the sake of spicing up competition and said it reminded him of something that might go on in professional wrestling.

Stewart later claimed the comments were made in part because he did his radio show with a 105-degree temperature. It was surprising that excuse was so widely accepted, because most physicians will tell you that a 105-degree temperature usually warrants a trip to the hospital.

Heck, Rush Limbaugh wouldn't even do his radio show with a 105-degree temperature -- at least not without taking something first. And here's an idea, Tony: if you really are that hot, take a couple Tylenol before going on the air. Works wonders. Or if you're into remaining more loyal to NASCAR, try some Goody's headache powders (then again, loyalty to NASCAR is not something that seems to interest Stewart, even as he cashes one enormous paycheck after another year after year).

But please, don't go on the air with a raging fever again. Your comments are controversial enough with the accompanying hallucinations.

Next there was Stewart's involvement in Saturday's Busch Series race at Talladega. He drew the ire of young Kyle Busch by triggering the horrific accident that sent Busch's car spinning and tumbling down the track, parts spewing off of it in all directions and in a highly unpredictable, dangerous fashion, much like the words that often come rushing out of Stewart's mouth (watch video).

Stewart later engaged in a thrilling finish in which he was out-dueled at the stripe by Busch teammate Bobby Labonte, and afterward he said all the right things (watch video). You could tell Stewart actually felt good about Labonte's win, and he was just as passionate about expressing that as he was a few days earlier when he railed on NASCAR for allegedly failing to run fair races.

Finally, there was the capper to Stewart's wild week -- when he got wrecked at the end of Sunday's Aaron's 499 Cup race. Running sixth on a green-white-checkered finish, he at first thought that Jamie McMurray was the guilty party and later came to determine that it was instead David Gilliland that ran into him from behind.

His first reaction was to point an agitated finger at McMurray as he drove by on the track. Later, once he determined his anger should be directed toward Gilliland for rear-ending him, Stewart said that Gilliland had "no talent" and that Gilliland had basically "lucked" into his ride in the No. 38 car at Robert Yates Racing (watch video).

All in all, it was a busy weekend for Stewart and his mouth.

And you know what?

It illustrated again why NASCAR better hope he doesn't follow through on his idle (and ridiculous) threats to retire "when he gets enough money." This sport needs Stewart. In fact, it needs more Tony Stewarts -- more guys to question the status quo and shake things up and say whatever is on their mind at the very moment a question is still being processed by their frontal lobe.

He admitted that he frequently says stupid things that get him into trouble. There is no question about that.

But it's also a large part of what continues to make him one of the more interesting drivers in NASCAR. So let's hope he keeps right on yapping.

Stewart's arrival not what he expected

Stewart arrived at Talladega and immediately met with NASCAR to discuss his behavior and criticism of officials.

• Complete story, click here
• Caraviello: Not all of it is bad
• Stewart struggles to stay quiet

The next great rivalry?
What the Nextel Cup Series really needs is an honest-to-goodness, bona-fide, old-school rivalry. Not like the one that never really existed between Gordon and Earnhardt or a pseudo-rivalry like the one that existed all too briefly between the now-retired Jimmy Spencer and Kurt Busch, but a real one between some top heavyweights.

So who's it going to be? Well, it seems a given that Stewart has to be on one end of any such rivalry, should it actually develop. So here are three top enchanting possibilities:

1. Stewart vs. NASCAR: Ah, we already know who would win this one. All NASCAR had to do to make Stewart contrite about his radio show comments was schedule a 6 a.m. meeting with him, making it difficult for the notorious late riser to muster the emotional energy required to fight back.

2. Stewart vs. Kyle Busch: Now here's one that might work. For a great rivalry to develop, both drivers have to be talented and in great equipment. It helps if both sport personalities that include an ample dose of ego, more than a dash of explosive temper and just a touch of immaturity -- all of which tends to lead to the types of overreactions to incidents that make for great storylines. These two seem to fit the required personality profile perfectly.

3. Stewart vs. Juan Montoya: Someone is going to get a rivalry going with Montoya and let's face it, the Montoya-Ryan Newman deal doesn't have legs because Newman isn't consistently good enough anymore, while Montoya is only going to get better over time. Stewart is still peeved at Montoya for an incident earlier this season, but the fact is that these two are cut from the same drivers' cloth. They are so much alike in their brash driving styles that they're bound to clash, and theirs could develop into a rivalry with some juice that will last.

Humpy's opinion
Humpy Wheeler, track president of Lowe's Motor Speedway, knows what potential rivalry would claim his vote.

"The Montoya-Stewart thing could end up being one of the more interesting stories of the year," Wheeler said. "Or it could be Montoya and somebody else, who knows? [Montoya] is just doing things out on the racetrack that no one expected him to do this early. He's very bold -- and when his car is running well, he doesn't mind getting up there and duking it out with anyone. He's kind of fresh air, in a way.

"I love it. He drives every lap like it's the last lap. I mean, he's just all-out. And that's what will win some races for him. If that guy would win one race this year -- that's all -- next year he may be the catalyst that we haven't had in a long time."

Montoya was having another strong run at Talladega when Newman clipped him, causing him to get into the outside wall. That relegated Montoya to a 32nd-place finish, dropping him to 19th in the point standings.

Defending Tony
Wheeler also defended Stewart's right to state his opinions on the driver's own radio show.

"They've got to let these guys be their own personalities and not make cookie-cutters out of 'em," Wheeler said of NASCAR. "They can't put so much pressure on them to say the right thing. What is the right thing to say?"

Wheeler said he also believes he can tell when Smoke is just blowin' smoke.

"I don't think Tony's going to retire or anything like that. I just think he's frustrated," Wheeler said. "He's a competitor and he doesn't like to lose. He's a fierce competitor. He always has been."

Selective memory
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was telling a story last week at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., talking about how surprised he was when Gordon honored his father by waving a black No. 3 flag out the driver's side window of the No. 24 Chevrolet following Gordon's victory in Phoenix (watch video).

Then a reporter reminded Earnhardt that he earlier had said a Gordon crew member who was a friend of his actually informed him of the plan to honor the elder Earnhardt at an earlier social gathering.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that," Junior said with a chuckle. "That was a good party."

Pit Stops
• You had to feel for David Reutimann, the Toyota driver who was looking at a top-five finish in the Aaron's 499 when his car literally went up in smoke with four laps left Sunday. It's also kind of interesting that Reutimann cuts such a sympathetic figure when he's the guy who keeps knocking his boss, the much-abused Michael Waltrip of Michael Waltrip Racing, from the Cup races during qualifying.

• This year hasn't been all hard luck for Reutimann. Although he's had to endure more than his share of it in the Nextel Cup Series, he's having a fine season in the Busch Series, where he's currently running fourth in points.

• So it's going to cost roughly $30 million a year for the next title sponsor in the Busch Series? That's three times as much as Busch currently is ponying up, and it seems there is no lack of candidates lining up to pay the heavy freight. So who says NASCAR's popularity is sagging? That apparently is not the case with potential corporate sponsors, which for better or worse is far more important in this day and age than individual ticket sales.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.