Darlington Fans Flames of Busch/Harvick Feud
Darlington Raceway is promoting Saturday night’s Bojangle’s Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race as “Round 2” of the ongoing feud between Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, and neither driver is particularly happy about it.
Harvick and Busch clashed – both on and off the race track – at Darlington a year ago, culminating in a pit road skirmish that saw Harvick attempt to punch Busch through the window of his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota on pit road after the race. Busch accelerated away from Harvick, hitting his unoccupied Budweiser Chevrolet and pushing it into the pit wall.
Both drivers were fined $25,000 and placed on probation by NASCAR for their actions, and continued to express unhappiness with each other through the balance of the 2011 season.
Now, however, the rivals say they disapprove of a Darlington promotional campaign that features Harvick glowering at a celebrating, boxing-glove equipped Busch above the warning, "Don't Miss Round 2" of the battle between "Hitman" Harvick and "Rowdy" Busch.
The campaign – which includes highway billboards throughout the region, radio and internet ads – has been called “dumb” and “pretty stupid" by Busch, with Harvick saying the manufactured drama makes it tougher to do his job, adding, “It’s just easier not to be involved.” Darlington Raceway President Chris Browning said he approached both drivers to take part in a “Round 2” promotion for this weekend’s race, but was politely rebuffed.
For their record, the two have raced trouble-free this season, and even drafted together last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway without incident.
