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From the Marbles - NASCAR

From the Marbles

Mon Dec 06 10:46am EST

Jimmy Spencer and Kurt Busch: a gold standard for NASCAR feuds?

By Nick Bromberg

We'll be honest, no fight in NASCAR recently has lived up to the standard set by Kurt Busch and Jimmy Spencer in the early 2000s.

Spencer, now an analyst for SPEED, and Busch started sparring at Phoenix in 2001 when Busch said Spencer dumped him.

That continued into 2002, where Busch bumped past Spencer for the win at the spring Bristol race. That carried into the Brickyard 400 in August, when Spencer and Busch got together entering turn three, prompting Busch to walk out on the track and gesture to his hindquarters as Spencer drove past. (We really don't need to explain that one, do we?)

Fast forward to Michigan in 2003, and Busch ran into Spencer as the two were racing on the frontstretch. After the race, Spencer punched Busch as Busch sat in his car. That punch -- which Busch called "an assault" in the video above -- resulted in Spencer being suspended from the next race at Bristol. (Side note: did anyone think immediately after the punch that Busch would be the Cup champion the following season?)

More often than not, NASCAR feuds now tend to simmer as quickly as they sizzle, whether it's for fear of retribution or sponsor obligations. This three-year fight certainly didn't, and it had it all with longevity, on-track gesturing, fender-rubbing, smack-talk and even some off-the-track fisticuffs. It was the quintessential fight.

And yes, that really was seven years ago.

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