Through the years, there have always been rivalries in NASCAR, several of them have been memorable.

Richard Petty and Bobby Allison hated each other on the track more than NHL fans hate Chris Simon.

Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip were filed in the dictionary under "NASCAR rivalry" in the mid '80s.  1986 was the climax when they finished 1-2 in the points in a season that started off in race #2 at Richmond where they wrecked each other out while leading the field with less than 5 laps to go.

Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace had the epic battle in 1993, back in the days when Earnhardt gave Rusty the nickname "rubberneck" because he always wanted to see what was going on.  They also finished 1-2 in the standings that year.

Then there was the respectful rivalry of 1998 where Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin had an all out war with each other, but a clean one, when they too finished 1-2 in the standings, and combined to win 20 of the 33 races!

Who can forget Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle?  That battle will never end.  Check the current standings and speak of the devil, they're right behind each other!

Last year it was HMS teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson racing for the title, and oh what a race it was, but since they were teammates it never got ugly

Now it's Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, and surprise surprise, they're currently the top 2 in points...oh and they drive for different teams, so sparks are guaranteed to fly, and that's just what's happening.

The last time 2 drivers from different teams dominated the season like this was Martin & Gordon 10 years ago.  Could we be watching history repeat itself?  There's a lot of similarities...

• Martin raced for Roush, Gordon for Hendrick...Edwards is a Roushketeer, Busch a year removed from HMS.
• Martin and Gordon by this point in the season had combined to win 13 of the 22 races...Edwards and Busch have combined for 14 of the 24 victory lane celebrations so far this year.
• Martin and Gordon were separated by 67 points at this point of the season and were 156 points ahead of 3rd place...Edwards and Busch are separated by 212, but are still over 200 points ahead of the rest of the competition.

However, the drivers are different, the cars are different, and the points are different, and we're about to go back to square 1 in a couple weeks.  That said, this is still an epic battle nonetheless, one that will continue all the way to the checkered flag in Homestead.

By now you've all seen the latest incident.  For those of you living under a rock, here's the (not so) short version.  Edwards pulled the bump-and-run on Busch with 30 laps to go at Bristol.  Busch bumped him back unsuccessfully, and couldn't get back by Edwards.  On the cool down lap, Edwards was waving to the crowd when the 18 started smacking him in the driver's side door.  Edwards retaliated by spinning Shrub, generating a huge cheer from the crowd.  Shrub said "if that's the way he wants to race, so be it."  Edwards said in victory lane "I thought 'would he do that to me,' and he has."

Now, BOTH drivers have been placed on probation for the next 6 races, starting this week in California.  That means NASCAR will be watching Shrub and Carl like a hawk.  Any retaliatory move made by either driver will mean big trouble.  I understand NASCAR's position, which states both drivers violated a rule that says you're not allowed to hit another competitor's car after the race has ended.  That said, this postrace debacle wouldn't have happened if Kyle Busch would've acted like an adult.  Instead he threw a temper tantrum and showed the NASCAR world he still needs diapers.

Kyle Busch is a hypocrite, as is NASCAR.  Shrub can dish it out, but can't take it.  NASCAR claims they want to see the drivers show their emotions, yet they still penalize drivers when they do just that.  Busch's extra hits weren't necessary, but NASCAR wants drama from the drivers.  They said before the start of the season "we want to see drivers showcase their emotions more."  Umm, excuse me, Mr. Helton...if that postrace altercation wasn't showcasing emotions, what was it, besides immaturity on Kyle Busch's part?

If Shrub had some brains, he would've waited till they were both out of their cars.  That would've been the sensible thing to do.  Instead he decided to body slam the 99, and when Edwards gave him some payback, he unfortunately got penalized too.  Maybe when they said "show more emotion," they wanted to see something along the lines of Kevin Harvick throwing a tantrum on Ricky Rudd's roof in Richmond when Rudd said "he's got that little yap-yap mouth."

Take it from me, you haven't heard the last of this feud this year, not by a long shot.  NASCAR fans, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are the newest Sprint Cup Series rivalry.  I will guarantee you this (not) family feud will continue until a champion is crowned for 2008.  Just watch to see if either of these drivers makes an attempt to test NASCAR's probation ruling this weekend, because they'll be sorry if they do.