Griping is order of the day at Chicagoland

By: Associated Press | Friday, July 13, 2007 11:40 PM PDT ∞

Paging Dr. Phil: Please report to the infield.

A pair of frayed teammate relationships showed no signs of mending at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday in Joliet, Ill. Denny Hamlin returned a verbal volley from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Tony Stewart, and Kyle Busch continued to vent about being ostracized by his teammates at Hendrick Motorsports.

Hamlin said he was still upset that Stewart blamed him publicly for an incident that took both drivers out of last Saturday's race ---- criticism Hamlin called "painful."

"Even if it was a situation where I had wrecked him from behind, he still probably shouldn't have thrown me under the bus as far as he did," Hamlin said. "But I was the guy in front. It was a little bit of a disappointment, so that's why I've taken this week to kind of calm down and I'll think with a much clearer head when I talk to him."

Running first and second early in the race, Stewart ran into the back of Hamlin's car, then blamed Hamlin for slowing suddenly in front of him and wondered whether Hamlin knew what the "definition of team is right now."

Stewart wouldn't talk about the incident on Friday, or confirm that he and Hamlin had spoken.

At Hendrick, it already has been decided that Busch will be moving on after this season to make room for Dale Earnhardt Jr. ---- and Busch seems to thinks he's being shoved out the door prematurely.

"I'm in the team meetings, just sitting there listening," Busch said. "I don't even really talk about what my car does, because they all seem to talk amongst themselves. I'm sort of just sitting there in the corner."

Et cetera

NASCAR: Hendrick Motorsports announced that Budweiser would not continue as the sponsor of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car next season because of Hendrick's "long-term contractual commitments to existing sponsors." ... Casey Mears turned a lap of 182.556 mph in his Chevrolet, taking the pole position for Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway.

INDYCAR: Scott Dixon edged Dario Franchitti, the man he's chasing in the IndyCar Series, to take the pole at the Nashville Superspeedway in Gladeville, Tenn.

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