Gordon, Johnson remain best of friends, competitors

CONCORD, N.C. -- Their social scenes may be a bit divergent these days -- having a baby will do that -- but Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are hardly strangers. They still go to dinner, still keep part-time residences in New York, still maintain the friendship they've had since they became teammates at Hendrick Motorsports in 2002. Then their relationship was one of mentor and protégé, their conversations often an exchange of questions and advice. That's not as much the case today, when both drivers are champions on the racetrack and near equals off it.

Perhaps no two drivers in the garage are as close personally and professionally as Gordon and Johnson, the two clear leaders in the Chase for the Nextel Cup entering Saturday night's event at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Gordon was the one who helped Johnson land the ride at Hendrick, who convinced Lowe's to come aboard as primary sponsor of the No. 48 car, who is the listed owner of his teammate's vehicle. Johnson met his wife, Chandra, through a former girlfriend of Gordon's. They've been on vacation together. Four-time champion Gordon even served in Johnson's wedding party.

By any standard, it's a tight relationship. And it's one that could very well be tested during the final stages of this Chase, which with every passing race shapes up more and more as a battle between the Hendrick teammates. Coming to Charlotte, Gordon leads Johnson by a mere nine points. The next closest driver, third-place Clint Bowyer, is 54 further back. Everyone else faces a deficit of 145 points or more, and just six starts to make up the difference.

"If things continue on the way they are, it's definitely going to push the limits of it and put it to the test," Gordon said. "We both want it so bad. We both want to win. We both want to win the championship. I know Jimmie well enough to know that friendship is as important to him as it is to me. But we're racecar drivers, and we want that championship."

It's a situation not without precedent. Gordon battled former Hendrick teammate Terry Labonte for the 1996 title, losing the crown by just 37 points. He and Johnson were each in the hunt for the 2004 championship eventually claimed by Kurt Busch. In each case, the teammates pulled no punches, but relationships still survived intact.

"It's something that I think we've been dealing with for a long time," Johnson said. "We understand that on the track, we're competitors. We try to help each other, work with each other the best that we can. But at the end of the day, I know he's trying to win races same as I am, and that goes for the championship race as well. I'm not saying it's a piece of cake, especially if we get to Homestead and it's Jeff and I fighting for the championship. It's going to be very challenging. But through it all and through the years and with all the competitive moments we've had, we've always had a lot of respect for one another, and I don't see that changing."

It didn't in 2004. Johnson said he finished that season with even more respect for Gordon's ability and the camaraderie in the shop shared by the No. 24 and 48 teams, designed to function as complementary pieces as well as separate units. Labonte's title in 1996 served as a motivating factor for Gordon, who went on to win the next two NASCAR crowns.

"Terry and I, I don't think we ever once, in all the years we ran together, had issues," Gordon said. "Sure, maybe one time at Talladega we weren't happy with one of us hanging the other out, but that's a typical thing that happens. We never had any confrontations, any issues. We went out there and we raced our car with our team the best we knew how to do it, we got the best finishes we could, and at the end of the day we saw where the points ended up and who the champion was. They did it better than us. That's how I approach it. I don't take it personally."

Track Smack

Three car-clanging weeks have separated the pack in the Chase. The question now is, who, if anyone, outside of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson can make a run at the Cup?

• For the full banter, click here

While friction between teammates is nothing new -- witness Brian Vickers' inadvertent spin-out of Johnson last year at Talladega -- championship hunts often enhance rather than erode the bonds between drivers sharing the same shop. Roush Fenway Racing drivers Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle were both in the thick of the championship in 2005, tying for a runner-up position that went to Biffle because he had more race wins. But, Edwards insists, the teamwork never ebbed. He and Biffle helped one another then, just as he and Chaser teammate Matt Kenseth help one another now.

"On the racetrack, I'm here to beat everyone, teammate or not," Edwards said. "But this sport is a lot bigger than what happens just on the racetrack. There are things that happen behind the scenes. We help each other as much as we can."

That's the mantra at Hendrick, and it comes from the top. Why are Johnson and Gordon able to maintain such a close relationship despite battling one another for race wins and championships? How can crew chiefs Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus play golf together, and then try to beat each other on race day? Because according to former Hendrick crew chief Robbie Loomis, team owner Rick Hendrick demands an ability to see the bigger picture.

"The tone comes from Mr. Hendrick," said Loomis, who won the title as Gordon's crew chief in 2001, and is now vice president of Petty Enterprises. "Rick is not going to have somebody in the organization, and I think we saw that this year [with Kyle Busch], who doesn't respect the system or see the bigger picture beyond themselves. He doesn't care if it's a great driver or a great crew chief or a great crew member, he wants them to see how much bigger this thing is than themselves. As long as you see that, you can work for Hendrick Motorsports."

It's not a job prerequisite. But team members at Hendrick either get the message, or they don't last. "Usually they respect [Hendrick] so much that they get it," Loomis said. "We saw where a driver this year wasn't quite getting it, and that's probably the reason he made the decision he did to take [Dale Earnhardt] Junior on. But I think when you work there, you just have this tremendous amount of respect for Mr. Hendrick and the organization and the way he does things, it makes you work really, really hard to give something back."

It's not always easy. For crewmen who work in the shop every day, putting company loyalty above individual team success can be difficult. But even now, with he and Johnson hurtling toward what seems an inevitable collision in the Nov. 18 finale at Homestead, Gordon said the cooperation between his team and Johnson's is as good as it's ever been. The only thing that could change that, Johnson said, if is one were to crash the other out of malice.

"I don't think that's Jeff Gordon's style," he said. "You wouldn't see that happening with him, or on my side. Even if it wasn't Jeff, I would race the same way. If it was [Tony Stewart] or [Clint Bowyer], whoever it may be, I'm going to race these guys with respect and the way I want to be raced. So there's really nothing different. Even though the tension is building for the championship in general, it's really no different than any other time. I mean, it will get more and more intense. But our relationship and the dynamic we have as teammates, friends, and all that, it won't change. I have no plans or intentions to cross the line or take cheap shots on my teammate, car owner, and friend, and I know he feels the same way."

It's not like they haven't had scrapes on the racetrack. Gordon was clearly agitated with his teammate after the spring race at Martinsville, when he thought he had the faster car but Johnson wouldn't let him by. Similarly, Johnson certainly wishes that Gordon had continued to push him last weekend at Talladega, rather than jumping to the high line and using a shove from Stewart on the final lap to win. But those frustrations, the drivers say, would be the same regardless of who they're battling with at the end. And in each case, the friendship remained unscathed.

"Neither one of them wants to go home second, but at the same time they have such a good friendship that they're not going to let that mess it up, either," said teammate Casey Mears, who won the spring race at Charlotte. "I think it's kind of fun watching them negotiate that balance of competitiveness and friendship. When you're close friends, it's kind of like racing your brother. You love him to death, you want him to be the best he can be also, but at the same time you don't want to go back to the house and know that your brother beat you."

Now these two Hendrick Motorsports brothers may find themselves in a one-on-one duel for the title. And neither seems to mind.

"It definitely has its challenges, but I'd rather be facing that challenge than another competitor, because we do know what we have," Gordon said. "If one of us is strong and one of us is not, we share information. We know what's there. I want this championship to come to Hendrick Motorsports. If I can't win it, I definitely want a Hendrick Motorsports teammate to win it. I think that ever since Jimmie came on board at Hendrick, he's pushed me, and I think it's made me a better driver."

Added Johnson: "I hope that is comes down to the 24 and the 48. Our company deserves it. So much hard work at Hendrick Motorsports goes into it. It would be the perfect situation for us to be in. Then it would be tough. It wouldn't be a lot of fun living it. But I hope we have that problem. That would be a good problem to have."