The Roanoke Times

NASCAR's Nextel Cup season hasn't had its first race in 2005 and already drivers are feuding.

Rusty Wallace said he hasn't talked with teammate Ryan Newman since a late-race incident at Martinsville three months ago. Their only communication has been trading barbs through the media.

Wallace said he does not like how Newman treats him.

"Above all, what I want is some respect," Wallace said during a break in testing last week at Daytona International Speedway. "I'm not in the mood for dealing with no respect.

"I felt like we've done a lot for [Newman], and I want him to realize that, and I want him to race me like his teammate and owner, not just some other driver that he doesn't like. We're really not saying anything, but I promise you before the Daytona 500 we'll sit down.

"I'll be the one to ask for the meeting. I just don't feel like it's going to come from the other side of the camp. I'm going to do it and diffuse it all and try to get at least this last year working together."

Newman's take?

"You can't always expect teammates to get along," he said during Daytona testing two weeks ago. "I'm in a difficult situation, and Rusty is in a difficult situation. We're not teammates in the way Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte are. Tony Stewart doesn't own part of Labonte's car.

"Not only does Rusty own part of my car, but he competes against me and we're supposed to be teammates. Usually teammates in any kind of sport don't compete against each other, and that makes it super difficult. When you mix in egos and attitudes and theories behind that you can have a very big source of conflict. That's something we've tried to deal with and sometimes the best way to deal with it is to just ignore the whole thing."

Ignoring each other might only make the problem worse. This is Wallace's last season and the demanding driver will expect more from his team - and teammate - as he hopes to end the year successfully. That begins by winning the Daytona 500, a race he's never won.

During last week's test session, Wallace and his team searched for ways to find more speed from their cars. Wallace said that a crew member told him he wasn't sure if they could make all the necessary changes in time for next month's race because the team has several cars to build.

"Look, man," Wallace said he told the crewmember, "I want to win the Daytona 500. You'd better work 24-7 to get it done. It's not my problem we've got three teams right now. My goal is to get [my] car in Victory Lane."

While Wallace and Newman have had a strained relationship - Newman's success along with Wallace's struggles separated them as did their philosophies on car setups - the Martinsville incident unleashed the anger.

Jimmie Johnson led with 10 laps to go with Wallace second and Newman third. Wallace moved high to make a move on Johnson. Newman charged into the opening. Wallace tried to get back into the low groove but made contact with Newman. Wallace fell back and finished 10th. Newman placed third. After the race, Wallace ran into the back of Newman's car. NASCAR fined Wallace $10,000 for the bump.

"I told [Newman] to stay out of my way, and I could win the race, but he didn't do it," Wallace said after the race.

Said Newman: "I wasn't going to give him anything, so he got loose and lost a bunch of spots. Then he came up and hit me after the race. Our car was faster than his at the end. I'm not sure if he's aware of that, but he will be."

While teammates can be friends - Jeff Gordon was in Jimmie Johnson's wedding last month - not every combination is as smooth. Dale Earnhardt often gave Mike Skinner a cold shoulder. Kevin Harvick and Robby Gordon didn't always get along. Wallace and Jeremy Mayfield often went their separate ways. Greg Biffle lashed out at Kurt Busch after Busch wrecked him in the all-star race last year.

The spat between Wallace and Newman could outlast those. Wednesday, they are scheduled to be together when NASCAR's media tour makes its annual visit to Penske Racing South. While they might say all the right things that night, how they act and interact at the track will tell if they're really getting along.