@nascarcasm: Spiciest all-time quotes from drivers at Bristol

A short track equals short tempers. And short tempers lead to real, honest and heated quotes from drivers who felt they had been wronged. Here are a few of our favorites.

AUGUST 1999: One of Dale Earnhardt’s more memorable quotes came after he accidentally (if you are to believe him) dumped Terry Labonte, with whom he was battling for the lead. My theory? Mind games. He was warning drivers, if that’s what happens when The Intimidator merely means to “rattle your cage,” then imagine what’ll happen when he’s really mad. Regardless, “rattle his cage” is now NASCAR nomenclature.

AUGUST 1999: Terry Labonte’s response to Dale Sr. Careful. Measured. Not wrong. I mean, Dale Sr. did not have a podcast at the time where he could be all “YEP, totally did that.”

MARCH 2002: An incident in the Xfinity Series race that saw Harvick confront Greg Biffle after the race led to this statement from Harvick. There’s really no room for interpretation here. No, “OK, but what does he really mean?”

MARCH 2002: In case you didn’t know, Jimmy Spencer and Kurt Busch are probably not Facebook friends. Their beef began the previous season, but the next chapter was the following year at Bristol, when Kurt knocked Mr. Excitement out of the way for the win. Jimmy managed to work his sponsor, Target, into his response. Never be too mad to activate.

MARCH 2002: So Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not appreciate being raced hard by a lap-down Robby Gordon as the spring race at Bristol was nearing its end. They had contact on pit road after the race, which led to Junebug dropping this nugget about Gordon afterwards. Great quote, and even greater early-2000s sunglasses.

AUGUST 2002: Robby Gordon had himself a YEAR, man. He appeared to pound Jimmie Johnson on a restart, sending "Seven-Time" into the wall, and later, the burning throes of rage.

AUGUST 2002: Personally, I think Ward Burton should have gone ahead and said the words he had for Dale Earnhardt Jr. It was late, and we may not have understood them anyways. 

AUGUST 2008: In Kyle Busch’s opinion, Carl Edwards’ bump-and-run for the win was less than hunky dory. But the invoking of a beloved talking TV horse ¬– was that cool? I say neigh! Sorry about that.

AUGUST 2010: Brad Keselowski let his opinion about a certain driver be known during driver introductions. Was it memorable? Yes. Did parents yell “EARMUFFS!” at their children immediately? Maybe. Did it bother Kyle Busch? No. He won. 

MARCH 2013: It was on this day that Denny Hamlin’s former teammate Joey Logano confronted him at his car window after the race. Denny let this zinger fly. Bear in mind that this was 2013. Every quote is a time capsule. Denny is fully aware that Logano has gone on to win umpteen races and two Cup Series championships since. But will the two ever run a bed and breakfast together? Probably not. 

MAY 2020: There were certainly bigger things to worry about in 2020 – but thank heavens NASCAR was able to get back on track during the pandemic to give us a much-needed diversion in the form of beating, banging and upset drivers at Bristol. These two were racing for the lead and made contact, sending both into the wall which allowed Keselowski to steal the win. Know what would have been funny? Had Logano said “Read my lips – this isn’t over.” Because of the mask, see? Nevermind.

SEPTEMBER 2021: This incident between Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott was recent enough that I’ll spare you the details and simply say that you rarely see this much rage out of a 40-something dad unless he’s about to grill up some burgers and then realizes he’s out of propane.