Position is always there for the taking -- even if it isn't

Here's the way it's supposed to work. You have 43 cars on the racetrack, often competing in tight, confined spaces, and nobody wants to end up in the wall. The result is an unwritten rule, a sort of fair-play agreement which holds that in NASCAR as on the interstate highway, the faster vehicle should be given the right of way. It's simple, it's easy, it's meritocratic. It's called give and take.

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It's a noble idea that carries the full backing of NASCAR, which stresses the procedure to its competitors before every Nextel Cup event. Yet in practice, it's virtually unworkable. Too many times it leads to situations such as the one involving Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart on Monday at Dover International Speedway, where each driver thought the other should have done the giving. You end up with wrecked racecars, stoked tempers, and the title of a White Stripes song: Take, take, take.

On those rare occasions when it happens like it's supposed to -- such as the event earlier this season at Talladega Superspeedway -- even the drivers seem amazed, and post-race news conferences are full of laudatory comments about how everyone behaved themselves and kept their cool. But more often than not, in a sport where track position is so crucially important, drivers give only when they're forced to. Charity, if there is any, must be extended by the other guy. Everyone preaches give and take, but very few actually practice it.

We saw it in Mexico City, where neither Juan Montoya or Scott Pruett would yield in a corner wide enough for only one car. We saw it in Atlanta, where Jimmie Johnson held off Stewart's last gasp by pinching him into the wall. We saw it in Martinsville, where Jeff Gordon's angry howls over the radio conveyed his frustration over being faster than Johnson, yet unable to get by. We saw it in Charlotte, where overeager competitors drove the first 100 miles like it was the last 100, leaving a trail of twisted sheet metal in their wake.

And we saw it Monday on Lap 271 at Dover, when Busch zoomed past Stewart on the inside as the cars exited Turn 4 (watch video). But Busch wasn't completely clear, and Stewart wasn't going to give him the additional six inches he needed. Suddenly two potentially winning cars are wrecked, Stewart's jackman has to jump out of the way when the No. 2 car makes an unexpected trip down pit road, and Busch is $100,000 and 100 points lighter. All because two guys couldn't play give and take. (Continued)