In case you missed it, Harvick made it a point to publicly insult Kurt Busch in his Friday morning press conference after their confrontation last Monday at Atlanta.
He was quoted as saying "I think I'd have probably whipped Kurt Busch by now. I'd still like to whip his (butt)."
"Obviously he forgot about getting punched in the nose by Jimmy Spencer, before the year is over he'll make a fool out of (new team owner) Roger Penske."
Harvick followed each statement with 'I shouldn't have said that'.
Though Busch did not respond with fifth grade style insults, he was able to hit Harvick where it hurts- on the racetrack.
After Harvick's little tirade on Friday, it prompted me to ask myself why he has such acrimonious feelings towards Busch. Yeah, maybe it has something to do with Busch's checkered past, but for someone to personally attack another the way Harvick did leads you to believe that there's more to it than just personal loathe. Maybe Harvick should be singing the old Kermit the Frog classic 'It's not easy being green' because it is beginning to appear as if Harvick is green with envy over the success that Busch has had in Nextel Cup racing.
Ever since Harvick and Busch were rookies back in 2001, there has been observable tension between the two. Harvick was handed the keys of the late Dale Earnhardt's legendary ride and enjoyed instantaneous success as he won two races that year. He was supposed to be NASCAR's next big star while Busch was virtually an unknown. In 2002, Busch broke out with four wins, despite ruffling the feathers of several other drivers including Harvick, Jimmy Spencer, and Robby Gordon. While Busch has continued to win races, Harvick has verbally jabbed Busch on several occasions whether it's ragging on his appearance or pointing out the overwhelming amount of boos that Busch is graced with each week.
I guess, to make a long story short, Busch has tripled Harvick's win total and that is what hasn't sat well with Harvick.
Harvick is a great driver as is Busch, and a lot of his inferior results are due to the fact that Richard Childress Racing has lagged behind Roush Racing ever since 2002. But maybe Harvick needs to ease up a little on Busch. He doesn't have to like the guy, but constantly attacking someone verbally generally means one of two things- either you have a crush on them (which is obviously not the case, just look at Harvick's wife) or you are a bit jealous of them.
But hey, at least Harvick can put on an entertaining show.
