Johnson, Busch try to put running feud behind them (cont'd)

Of course, Busch dropped a verbal bombardment himself, saying in a television interview after the Chicago race that he was beginning to question Johnson's reputation as a three-time champion. Friday, Johnson chalked that comment up to emotion.

"I think if you asked him again [Friday] with the emotions gone, I think he'd change his mind," Johnson said. "I work really hard to have the respect from all the guys on the race track. I'll take full and total blame for [Infineon]. The funny thing is at [Infineon], I walk up to him to apologize, and to take the blame. He sees me mid-interview and kind of backs off his tone and how mad he is at me. And then as I started talking to him, he was really chill about it, saying, 'No, I should have let you go, it was my fault.' I'm like, 'No, don't give me that. I put us in that position, it was my fault.' So going into Chicago, I knew he was frustrated [with] the fact that we got together again. It was a racing thing, nothing intentional about it."

Former NASCAR champion Dale Jarrett, now a television analyst, said this kind of running feud isn't helpful to two drivers in the heat of a championship hunt. Johnson is third in points and Busch fourth entering Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

"They seem to find each other," Jarrett said. "We joke about having a magnet. They seem to have a magnet right now. They find each other and create a little bit of tension there, but they both have to put that aside and understand that it could be detrimental to their opportunity to win a championship, and ultimately that's what it's about."

Johnson clearly isn't comfortable with letting ill feelings fester. Having learned from his chat with Burton, he put those lessons into practice in 2003 after he and Ward Burton -- Jeff's older brother, ironically -- crashed at New Hampshire. Johnson said the elder Burton was so angry, he chased the No. 48 around the rest of the day in a banged-up race car, trying to exact his revenge.

"It took me like three days to track him down and plead my case to him," Johnson said. "We just had a difference of opinion, and that's what it was. We're not always going to get along. The thing Jeff Burton showed me was that emotions are there, they're real. You may think someone treated you unfairly. But the fact that you get it on the table helps in some weird way. Ward did everything he could to crash me after that. I think NASCAR actually parked him at the end of the race because it was so obvious he was trying to crash me. After the race, it took me a while to track him down. I actually went through his office, and then his secretary, and finally tricked him on a cell phone call from a blocked number and made contact with him. From then on, everything was cool. I learned my lesson then."

As for that text message? Busch confirmed that he received it. But unlike Johnson, who likes to settle disputes quickly, Busch prefers to take his time.

"That was the night of," he said of the message from Johnson. "I was at the Chicago Cubs game the next day, tire testing, went to the Outer Banks and didn't have any cell phone service. So I don't know how much I'll have to explain other than, I'll find him [Friday]."