From enemies to teammates
A history of foes that wound up working together on the same team
What a race at Martinsville, eh? Sure, William Byron dominated and earned a spot in the Championship 4, but something else caught our eye. Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suárez were going at it. Paint and swear words exchanged. Did Daniel outbid Carson on Facebook Marketplace for a 1986 Chevrolet Caprice painted like Mark Martin’s Viagra car or something? We don’t know.
But what we do know is that Daniel will be piloting the No. 7 at Spire Motorsports in 2026. That means he and Carson will be teammates. And as someone who craves content, there’s nothing better than future-teammate awkwardness to get a few clicks. Check out a few times throughout NASCAR history that two drivers, who were once at each other’s throats, wound up in each other’s work meetings.
Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart
For years, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch were, shall we say, not friends. Notable on-track incidents took place starting in the mid-2000s and continued well into Stewart’s team ownership. So did we raise an eyebrow when Kurt was hired to drive the No. 41 car in 2014? A little. As you can see, they finally saw eye to eye – which is easy to do when you’re in Victory Lane at the Daytona 500.
Clint Bowyer and Michael Waltrip
Imagine calling another driver “…the worst driver in NASCAR, period.” Then, imagine that driver hiring you to drive for his race team. Such is the tale of Clint Bowyer and Michael Waltrip. Waltrip caused an incident at Bristol in 2008 that led to Bowyer saying, and I quote, “Michael Waltrip is the worst driver in NASCAR, period.” Four years later? Clint’s in the No. 15 at Michael Waltrip Racing. Either Michael’s extremely forgiving or isn’t as thorough with the background checks as they are nowadays.
Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.
There was a time before Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. were teammates when they were not teammates nor all that happy with each other. The most notable? 2017 at the Brickyard 400. However, when Furniture Row Racing shut down following the 2018 season, Truex moved over to Joe Gibbs Racing and became teammates with Kyle. Things seemed fine between them afterward. Wise too – you don’t wanna keep messing with a guy from New Jersey.
Daniel Suárez and Michael McDowell
These two are gonna be teammates at Spire Motorsports in 2026 and are now good friends, according to Suárez. So it’s clear they’ve put this incident during qualifying at Phoenix Raceway in 2019 behind them. This happened, coincidentally and appropriately, during the era where NASCAR used knockout qualifying. Rough day for Michael McDowell – tried to qualify for a race and got into a pit-road fight, and didn’t last one round in either one.
Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth
The saga of Carl and Matt is intriguing and bizarre. You see, this incident that occurred between them at Martinsville Speedway in 2007 took place while they were teammates at what is now Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. Matt left and joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013. Two years later, Carl joined him. Bizarre. But not nearly as bizarre as if they had returned and driven for a team partially owned by Brad Keselowski. IYKYK.
Kyle Busch and Richard Childress
You’ll recall about a decade ago an incident where an infuriated Richard Childress asked for someone to hold his watch as he went and put Kyle Busch in a headlock and hit him a few times. Well, Kyle joined Richard Childress Racing in 2023. Time heals all wounds. Even though Richard removed the thing that tells the time before inflicting the wounds. Whatever.
Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon
The year was 2012. Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer were at odds, which culminated at the penultimate race of the season. Gordon intentionally wrecked Bowyer, who then performed a wind sprint through the garage to throw hands with Gordon. That fight never happened. What did happen? They became booth mates for NASCAR on FOX years later. Knowing Bowyer’s goldfish-like attention span, he probably forgot about it.
Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch
The scene was Bristol Motor Speedway in 2008. Carl Edwards bumped Kyle Busch out of the way for the win. Kyle Busch bumped Carl Edwards on the cool-down lap. Carl Edwards then spun Kyle Busch then did a victory burnout. Then, a few years down the road, they became teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing. Ironic they call that a “cool-down lap,” isn’t it?
Daniel Suárez and Carson Hocevar
The reason for this Substack post. As mentioned in the intro, it was an eventful Martinsville race for them. Contact. Spins. Profanity on the radio. Crazy day for Hocevar. If the race was a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke, Hocevar was a Mento, but that’s just Martinsville. Nothing we wouldn’t expect at Martinsville. All we’ll say is that the team-building exercises at Spire Motorsports are intriguing.