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Fast friends, regardless of discipline, have a hard time getting into the paddock. As the battle between the drivers’ field heats up, each taking turns with their own careers, we know that even the bonds between peers are strained.
Famous Drag Racing Rivalries
Bad blood, verbal abuse, and road rage are far more common than chemistry or compassion, so in the spirit of the heart-shaped holiday, we’ve gone full cynicism and identified the greatest auto racing rivals in the history of the sport. (You’ll find that many of these clashes eventually lead to lifelong friendships.)
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From The Wonder Boy to The Wonder Boy to the pair producer, this list showcases the strongest of the conflicts.
The rivalry between Andretti and AJ Foyt was more a product of similar careers than the open events between the two drivers. Foyt’s career began five years before Andretti. However, Mayo quickly caught up with Super Tex. From their early days on backwoods bulls to their many victories in the Brickyard, no two American drivers have shared the same racetrack, but have competed for the same top step on the podium. IndyCar, NASCAR, sports car racing – it doesn’t matter. Where Foyt, Andretti and vice versa.
“There is always someone better than you, and someone who can raise your game,” wrote Andretti
. “You have to do something different to beat him. So you look at him, you see him doing better, you work harder. It motivates you, and I love those challenges with a competitor.”
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We can’t leave our two-wheeled friends off the list. Championship rider Marc Marquez went from posing for a fan photo next to Rossi to handing the legendary rider his first Moto GP title in 2014.
Naturally, the two guys had to join him on the track. In 2015, Rossi kicked Marquez off his bike. Then, in 2018, Marquez created a rallying cry for Rossi. After the race, Rossi did not mince his words:
“It’s a very bad situation because it’s ruined our sport … because there’s no respect for the competitors, ever.”
Marquez blamed the incident, calling it a “mistake”. Despite owning up to the crash, Rossi refused to shake Marquez’s hand later that year. Imagine pissing off one of your childhood heroes.
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In the current era of NASCAR, competition is definitely less spread out than it used to be. The media, sponsors, and team owners with high expectations focus on their craft and performance.
Every so often, though, a very aggressive player comes along who rubs a few veterans the wrong way. Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and, more recently, Ross Chastain have been linked to their elders on their rise to stardom. The former was on his way to his first race win – an indiscretion that would cause strife along the way.
In 2009, Keselowski – then a relatively unknown commodity – crossed the finish line at Talladega with fan favorite Carl Edwards. Edwards flew hard and Keselowski sprayed beer in victory lane.
The two would go back-to-back again the following year, before Edwards finally edged Kees in Atlanta in 2010. Later that year, Edwards pinned Keselowski to the wall while battling for the lead at the Gateway. After the race, the boy’s father urged everyone to stop.
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“I’m sick and tired of this,” said Bob Keselowski. “I’m going to get my uniform back and take care of it. He’s not going to kill my boy.” Whether it was the elder’s words or the incident, the intense rivalry was never repeated after that night.
Formula 1 in the 1970s was full of characters with long hair, big sunglasses and thick burns. Sir Jackie Stewart, Jill Villeneuve, Emerson Fittipaldi are beautiful devils in Nomex. This rivalry between Formula 1 greats Niki Lauda and James Hunt was so exciting that after dominating the headlines, it captivated screenwriter Chris Morgan and eventually director Ron Howard in Rush 2013.
Compared to the film, the competition was worse. The two are more like close colleagues, having struck up a friendship early in their careers while traveling through Europe on a series of open-wheeled feeders. They even shared an apartment.
However, their social consciousness made them formidable enemies. A British playboy versus a stoic Austrian is tasty fodder for a Hollywood script.
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In 1992, Dale Earnhardt was at the top of his game when Jeff Gordon showed up on the NASCAR Network. Decked out in a rainbow-colored daytime suit, Gordon, 21, was a natural foil for the intimidation – a tough-as-nails man who drives a black car and wields a chrome horn.
Earnhardt won his seventh and final championship in 1994, the same year Gordon won his first race. Both were considered favorites to win the 1995 title. As the season progressed, the duo were locked in an intense championship battle. Earnhardt joked midseason that if a guy wins a title, he should toast with milk.
He would do just that, toasting with a glass of milk from a seat at the Man of the Champion table at the 1995 NASCAR awards ceremony. The rivalry between Gordon and Earnhardt was fully formed. To Earnhardt’s fans, Gordon was a “crybaby,” the antithesis of the roster of good ol’ boys who put the sport on the map. The clash split NASCAR’s fanbase down the middle and fueled the popularity of the 1990s.
By the end of the 1980s, McLaren teammates Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were among the top drivers in Formula One. Senna, the hot-blooded Brazilian, and Prost, the Frenchman nicknamed “The Professor”, have been involved in several memorable battles during their open-wheel careers. (This will happen when they share the same equipment.) In 1989, their gentlemen’s rivalry turned toxic.
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Before the Grand Prix, the two agreed that whoever got the jump from the front row would lead the other to the first row. Senna was praised. Later in the race, Prost decided to renew the informal agreement as he lapped Senna on the restart, keeping his team-mate in check. Senna would eventually overtake Prost and take the win. Yet the seed was planted.
After holding the top spot for two seasons, bad blood boiled over at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, when they were almost in contention for the top spot. Like most rivalries, the animosity eventually died down and both men restored a respectful nature to the rivalry.
In the 1960s, Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen were often lined up in opposite lanes. Both won races. Both had good nicknames.
In 1969, McEwen approached Mattel to sell them a funny car sponsorship. Instead of plastering one car with the Hot Wheels logo, he sold them under the sponsorship of two fiberglass panels. When the sponsor dollars ran out, it was Prudhomme in a yellow 1970 Plymouth Barracuda and Maceden in a red 1970 Plymouth Duster. The two drivers battled it out in track-match competitions, Hot Wheels produced diecast toy kits of dual Mopar monsters, and Mattel made a fortune due to the duo’s popularity.
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It doesn’t matter if this conflict is as real as professional wrestling. Go ahead and try to shoot another motorsports competitor who got a toy deal.
It is the ultimate motorsport competition and thus achieves a high standard. The amount of money saved for better use of the other puts Ford and Ferrari on the shelf.
If you’re not familiar with the story, it goes like this: Ford and Ferrari agree to form a corporate alliance. Enzo backed out at 11. Henry Ford II gets hot under the collar and vows to defeat Enzo in what he loves most: sports car racing. Le Mans in his backyard. After spending enough dough to support a small crowd, Ford broke through and won Le Mans in 1966. They starred Matt Damon and Christian Bale in it.
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Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman at the racetrack in a scene from Days of Thunder, 1990. (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Getty Images)
In 1990, open-wheel Cole Trickle hit the NASCAR scene. It was fast, but burned with tires and crashed frequently. The featherless dart clashed with then-teammate Rowdy Burns. The two often raced to dinner in a wheelchair and rental car