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‘Renegades: The Bad Boys of NASCAR’ dives into rivalries, tough guys who popularized the sport
By Staff Report | Published: May 27, 2021 11
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And there's a fight!
1979: It's the confrontation that helped put NASCAR on the map. Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough bump and bang multiple times and wreck on the final lap of the Daytona 500 that is won by Richard Petty. Donnie's brother, Bobby, comes to check on Donnie and both end up in a brawl with Yarborough. The images are burned into the minds of a captivated national sports audience that is larger than usual because most of the East and Midwest are snowed in and watching that day.
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Gordon vs. Earnhardt
1992: Jeff Gordon bursts onto the NASCAR scene with California flair and is the symbol of a sport that is starting to stretch its wings to the West Coast and back. Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt is tough, a symbol of the sport's roots that began in the moonshining days of the South. Everyone was forced to pick a side in this feud that dominated the mid-1990s.
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He literally jumped him
2002: Bristol Motor Speedway brings out the best in the rivalries, and this was no different. Kevin Harvick showed tremendous athletic ability by literally jumping onto the back of the car to get over into Greg Biffle's face after he sent Harvick into the wall late in the Xfinity race. We didn't know it, but this was foreshadowing to Harvick's later involvement in the business of mixed martial arts.
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The helmet whip
2012: It was another hot-under-the-collar night at Bristol Motor Speedway as Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart spun and slid toward the inside wall while racing for the lead, mashing up their cars in the process. While Kenseth got ready to continue the race, Stewart waited for him to come around and whipped his helmet at Kenseth's car before gesturing to the crowd and walking away.
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Bowyer sprints
2012: Jeff Gordon plows into Clint Bowyer at Phoenix Raceway in the second-to-last race of the season, hurting Bowyer's chances at a championship. The act is in retaliation for a bump earlier in the race, but tensions had been building since an incident in April at Martinsville Speedway. Bowyer famously sprints through the garage area to fight Gordon as reporters try to keep pace.
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Harvicking is born
2014: It's late in the race and the season at Texas Motor Speedway, and Brad Keselowski shoots for a hole he thought was there but ends up spinning Jeff Gordon, ending his hopes for a Championship 4-clinching win. The teams gather on pit road, and tensions are high when inexplicably Kevin Harvick shoves Keselowski into the fray and all hell breaks loose in a Texas-size brawl for the ages.
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Busch gets bloodied
2017: When you're in Las Vegas, don't count your money until the dealing is done. Hometown favorite Kyle Busch is racing for the checkered flag and a top-five finish when all of a sudden Joey Logano knocks him out of the way and down to 22nd place. Busch looks for Logano on pit road afterward and gets bloodied in the melee.
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Hometown boy gets booed
2017: With just a few laps to go at Martinsville Speedway in the season's fourth-to-last race, Denny Hamlin puts the bumper to race-leader Chase Elliott, who slams into the outside wall. Kyle Busch wins the race, then Elliott slams into Hamlin on the cool-down lap before getting out of his car and into the face of the Virginia native, who hears some boos after the incident.
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Hamlin impersonates Logano
2019: It's Martinsville Speedway, it's late in the season, and yes, it's Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in the center of controversy. After bumping into each other late in the race, Logano and Hamlin get into an altercation on pit road. But it becomes an instant classic when Hamlin impersonates Logano in his post-race interview: "That's short-track racing," he says, while making a funny face.
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Want more?
Tune in to "Renegades: The Bad Boys of NASCAR," Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on May 29 on FS1, after the conclusion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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What is it that draws us to the bad boys? Why do we like polarizing personalities, tough guys, athletes who aren't willing to give an inch? "Renegades: The Bad Boys of NASCAR" will dive into these topics and more at 4 p.m. ET Saturday on FS1 after the conclusion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. For a taste of what's in store, let's look at some favorite feuds and tough guys.