The old saying in motorsports is that competitor drivers most want to beat is their teammate. While NASCAR doesn’t have extreme team orders like in other motorsports, only one driver can take home the trophy at the end of the race. This is why some of the most intense NASCAR rivalries can come from within race teams, and here are some of the ugliest conflicts between teammates in NASCAR.
Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill fought hard for a Championship 4 spot, and neither driver got it. Hill spun off of turn four and Creed lost in a photo finish to Justin Allgaier. What ensued was a war of words featuring Andy Petree screaming at Sheldon Creed, both Creed and Hill implying that they couldn’t wait for Creed to leave, and Richard Childress calling Creed the “Stupidest” driver that has ever raced for him.
Creed soon left for Joe Gibbs Racing, and Jesse Love took his place. This was a classic example of an argument that nobody really won as both drivers failed to make the Championship 4. It’s also not the last time that RCR will be included on this list.
What happens when you take two of the most aggressive drivers in the sport and put them on the same race team? You get the fireworks seen at the 2010 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. While battling for the lead late, Hamlin pushed Busch up the track and into the wall causing Darrell Waltrip to scream, “HE PUT HIM IN THE WALL!”
Again, nobody won this argument as Busch eventually crashed out and Hamlin failed to get the trophy. Ironically enough, it was Kyle’s brother, Kurt, who went on to win the race. This was Busch and Hamlin’s biggest conflict during their 15-season tenure as teammates.
Yet another of RCR’s ugly driver exits, the departing Kevin Harvick found himself in conflict with the boss’s grandson, Ty Dillon. After Dillon spun Harvick out in turn two late in the race, Harvick parked himself in the No. 3 truck’s pit box, stopping until the crew members pushed him away. When Harvick got out of the car, he said he was happy to leave RCR because drivers like Ty and his brother Austin Dillon, “Had everything fed to them with a spoon.”
This was the moment for Kevin Harvick to vent frustrations with RCR that had been building up over the years. It also played a role in Dillon losing the 2013 Truck Series Championship. Based on the recent Kevin Harvick documentary “I am Kevin Harvick”, it seems Harvick and Childress have moved on from the conflict.
While this all boiled to a head-on pit road at Kansas in 2023, this actually goes back to 2022. There was the block Kyle Larson threw at Auto Club Speedway which caused Chase Elliott to hit the wall and cut a tire. There was also Larson pushing Elliott wide at Watkins Glen later that season on a late restart. Then Elliott decided to door slam Larson at Kansas for contact on pit road in 2023.
What added fuel to this fire was comments by Danielle Trotta after the incident, where she claims that Elliott’s judgment all year has been “Questionable” and that Elliott does not like Larson. This set off major discussion throughout the media about the status of Elliott at HMS and all that happened throughout a difficult 2023 season for Elliott.
Yes, this is the third time that Richard Childress Racing is included on the list. For this one, we go back to 2003, when Jeff Green was wrecked by Kevin Harvick at Richmond. Green told the media after the race, “Tough to be teammates when it seems like there’s only one car at RCR.”
Green had struggled in the RCR No. 30 car for the last couple of seasons, so, he was dropped from the team. He ended up swapping seats with Steve Park, who drove the No. 1 car for Dale Earhardt Inc. Harvick stayed with the team for another decade before the number 3 moment on this list prior to. the departure.
Teammate conflicts can range from one race to multiple races, and they can cause drivers to lose rides. Could we see that more this season?
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell claims that he feels NASCAR “got a little lazy” in its attempts to keep growing the sport during a recent interview.
NASCAR’s Steve O’Donnell is entering his first full season as NASCAR President, after taking over the post from former President Steve Phelps in March 2025.
O’Donnell took over his post during a turbulent time in sports history, as schedule changes and car generations compounded fans’ growing issues with things such as the 2014 playoff system.
To add to his troubles, NASCAR was in the midst of a heated antitrust lawsuit with two of its teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, that was bound for court in late 2025.
Ultimately, NASCAR would manage to put a bow on most of its troubles before the start of the 2026 season, settling the lawsuit with the two teams, changing its points format, and expressing an openness to explore changes to its NASCAR Next Gen car, such as increased horsepower on short tracks and road courses.
This whirlwind of change is turning gears in the NASCAR fanbase, with many fans saying a lot of the reshuffling is just as good for the sport as putting things such as the lawsuit and playoffs in the rear-view mirror, a sentiment shared by O’Donnell.
During an interview with Sports Business Journal on Monday, the long-time NASCAR executive said, “This is the first year I can remember where we’re going into the season, just talking about racing and what’s great about NASCAR.”
This isn’t the only shared feeling between O’Donnell and NASCAR fans, as prior to that, he said he felt NASCAR had grown “a little lazy” after overtaking IndyCar as the top motorsport in America, something he has even told NASCAR employees.
“When I started at NASCAR, we were chasing IndyCar, and the goal was, if we can just kind of surpass IndyCar, and we did that, and, you know, I’ve told our employees, I think we all got a little lazy.” — Steve O’Donnell
While many fans would agree that NASCAR has turned around for the better, there is still work to be done, and in O’Donnell’s eyes, the sport is in a prime spot to grow.
“My job and all of our jobs is to bring the industry together and talk about, we got a pretty cool thing going here, and we can really grow it,” O’Donnell said.
NASCAR isn’t exactly setting lofty goals for itself in 2026, at least in public, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the attention of its fanbase.
While the revived Chase format has drawn back some eyes, things like NASCAR’s “Hell Yeah” advertising campaign were the talk of the NASCAR community entering the 2026 Daytona 500.
That race also produced a finish that saw NBA legend, team owner, and former NASCAR lawsuit plaintiff, Michael Jordan, bring home another major race win on National TV with driver Tyler Reddick.
This race also saw a slight increase in viewership from the 2025 Daytona 500, one hurt by a major rain storm that blew in early in the race’s running.
Though TV ratings may not be skyrocketing, NASCAR has early momentum to make 2026 good enough to set a firm foundation for O’Donnell’s goals of growth, but maintaining that momentum will be another challenge in and of itself.
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The NASCAR Truck Series breaks off from the main touring series schedule this weekend, but that doesn’t mean the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series aren’t racing. So, whether you are going to be at the track or home, what does the forecast look like for the race weekend in Austin, Texas?
Before the OAP Series Race (11:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
During the OAP Series Race (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
After the OAP Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
Before the Cup Series Race (11:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
During the Cup Series Race (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
After the Cup Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
When the three NASCAR National Series rolled into Austin for COTA’s first NASCAR race weekend in 2021, no one could have guessed the chaos that lay in wait. A major rain shower did not prevent the series from racing that day, as, though it was still somewhat foreign at the time, NASCAR sent the Cup Series out in the rain for a chaotic race, ultimately won by Chase Elliott.
Note: This article will be updated with a more accurate and detailed forecast as the race weekend nears.
After back-to-back drafting tracks, NASCAR’s three National Series split ways as the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series head for Circuit of the Americas, and the Truck Series makes its debut at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
This information will be available when NASCAR releases it on Monday afternoon.
Note: This article will be updated as more information about the weekend comes out.
