For most part, everyone played nice at NHMS (cont'd)

"Oh, that was my fault 100 percent," Stewart said. "We both drove off into [Turn] 1 and we both went as deep as we knew we could make it in there, and it's my responsibility as the driver on the inside to keep control of my car, and I lost it. So I definitely owe him one on that one."

Busch was understanding.

“

I think at the end of the day, the cars are so equal that it is very frustrating inside the car. Inside the car, I was livid. I was so pissed off that he got into me, and I almost lost it at one point. So the frustration is there.

”

-- JIMMIE JOHNSON

"It's part of the deal where I had a fifth- to 10th-place car and I'm running second. It's not that I didn't deserve to be running there, but my lap time wasn't as competitive as it needed to be. So when you're in that position, you have to know that something is going to come and you've got to be ready for it. I think it's fun.

"At the end of this race we saw champion drivers running up front and rubbing each other and bringing it on home."

Polesitter Juan Montoya had his own run-in with a champion driver. And while it was Reed Sorenson who eventually knocked Montoya out of the race on Lap 280, the damage was done several laps earlier when contact with Jeff Gordon sent Montoya into a downward spiral.

"The guy that really messed me up was the No. 24," Montoya said. "It was the end of the race and nobody gives you any room. He [Gordon] just didn't give me any room, he never does. I had been running in front of him all day and we had a faster car than him. He was just getting me really loose in the corner cause he was right against my door getting in. So it got me loose so I actually bumped into him, so actually both of us got hurt.

"He has it coming one day."

The focal point of irritated drivers coming out of Sonoma, Gordon can add one more to his list. But one of those drivers he bulldozed at Infineon came to his defense at New Hampshire.

"Jeff is a champion driver, and he had a bad day at Sonoma. Things happen," said Busch, who on Friday jokingly referred to Gordon as Jeff "Bulldog" Gordon. "But when Jeff Burton talking about guys having lost respect for each other and that you have to use your brake pedal or, it's tough because we have green-white-checkered flags and double-file restarts all the time. At the end ... you're trying to race hard and smart, but ultimately you want to bring it on home for your team, but you don't want to upset other drivers while you're doing it."

Especially if that driver is Johnson, who had a warning for those looking to dethrone the champion by any means possible.

"I don't want people to think, 'Oh, I can knock the No. 48 out of the way because he's not going to wreck me.' That's the last thing I want people to think," said Johnson, indicating intention will be his measuring stick in how he races other drivers. "He [Busch] didn't wreck me and at the end of the day, I guess I didn't owe him a visit to the fence, so I worked itself out."

But Johnson also said that one day it might not turn out as well.

"I think at the end of the day, the cars are so equal that it is very frustrating inside the car," said Johnson, who nearly lost control of his emotions after Busch's pass. "Inside the car, I was livid. I was so pissed off that he got into me, and I almost lost it at one point.

"So the frustration is there. When you have a chance to send someone, you're going to take it. It's just that energy that exists right now in the garage area, and maybe -- maybe guys didn't have their opportunities [Sunday], but it's a long season and if you get the right opportunity, I still think you will see it."