Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth highlight pattern of big feuds at Martinsville

Racing at Martinsville Speedway always brings its share of dust-ups. Usually there is a little bumping and banging, a little fiery conversation on the radio, and that can be the end of things.

Sometimes, though, a confrontation carries on beyond what happens on the track. Sometimes drivers share cross words and offer snarky comments on their contenders. Sometimes that returned bump crosses over into more of a slam into the wall.

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Sometimes, a feud is born.

This weekend, as the Sprint Cup drivers make their first trip to the .526-mile paperclip this season, special attention will be paid to Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth, who famously sparred at the track last year. Their confrontations resulted in Kenseth being suspended for a pair of races and Logano essentially being eliminated from championship contention.

But theirs is far from the only angry moment at the track.

In recent years, four-time champion Jeff Gordon, champion Kevin Harvick and others have left the track less than happy with someone.

Here is a look at some of the top driver feuds racing at Martinsville has sparked or heightened:

Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth: This actually started at Kansas Speedway last season, when Logano bumped race leader Kenseth, causing Kenseth to spin out with five laps to go — and essentially ending his shot at the championship. Fast-forward to Martinsville, where vengeance came in the form of Kenseth hitting Logano and taking him out of title contention as well. While intent can be argued, the fact is Kenseth was suspended for his actions at Martinsville and Logano, winner of six Cup races in 2015, was outside the title race in the season finale. Kenseth and Logano met with NASCAR officials prior to returning to the track at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but Kenseth said prior to this season that he had no regrets about wrecking Logano.

Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon: Gordon looked to be on track for an emotional win for Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville in 2012. He was battling teammate Jimmie Johnson late in the race. The pair were fighting to give team owner Rick Hendrick his 200th victory at a track near where the organization lost 10 family and friends in a plane crash in 2004. Bowyer tried to take Gordon and Johnson three wide on a restart, hitting Gordon, who then hit Johnson, causing both of them to crash. Ryan Newman rode through the wreck to win the race. At Phoenix later in the year, Gordon responded by wrecking Bowyer, costing him a shot at the title with one race remaining. Gordon wasn’t over the Martinsville wreck a year later, according to a Sporting News report. “Well, yeah, you know, he wrecked us, so whether it was intentional or not, it’s still something that was in the back of my mind," he said. "You could say it set the stage. But for me, it’s an accumulation of things; sort of like a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ deal. And we just made contact too many times last year.” Even Bowyer discussed it again as he talked about Gordon retiring at the end of the 2015 season.

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Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth: Certainly their on-track incident drew attention, but it was an on-camera confrontation between the then-Roush Fenway Racing teammates (now Joe Gibbs Racing teammates) that really gained attention. After the race, as Kenseth prepared to do an interview, Edwards walked up to him and appeared to push him back as they were talking. He then climbed over the pit wall, turned around and pulled back his fist, acting as though to throw a punch before walking away from a somewhat stunned Kenseth. The two have since ironed out their differences — and become teammates once more.

Kevin Harvick and NASCAR: In 2002, his second full season in the Sprint Cup Series, Kevin Harvick found it doesn’t pay to run afoul of NASCAR officials — in any series. In the Truck race at Martinsville the day prior to his scheduled Cup start, Harvick spun Coy Gibbs and was parked by NASCAR as a penalty. He was already on probation for an incident with Greg Biffle at Bristol. NASCAR reacted to his latest incident swiftly — parking Harvick for the entire weekend, forcing him to sit out the Cup race at Martinsville that Sunday. At the time, it was a virtually unprecedented penalty.

Brian Vickers and the field: Brian Vickers is not generally known for having a fiery temper or for having run-ins with other drivers. At Martinsville in 2011, though, he had more than his share. First, there was a skirmish with Jamie McMurray, which resulted in McMurray — who also has a reputation for racing clean — retaliating and hitting Vickers. Then came Matt Kenseth, who was battling teammate Carl Edwards for the title when he got into a tight battle with Vickers for position. Kenseth spun out Vickers, then cut a tire and fell back in the title race. Vickers wrecked Kenseth in retaliation later that year at Phoenix. Less than two years later, in an interview with ESPN, Kenseth discussed the incident, saying: "I've done a lot of dumb things in my career. That (Martinsville) was obviously one of them. We've both moved past it."

Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers: Again, this was a battle of two normally mild-mannered drivers, but Martinsville tends to bring out the worst in people. That was certainly the case for this pair in 2014. They were involved in an incident that caused Vickers’ car to be damaged enough to lose its hood. Vickers retaliated by hitting Kahne later in the race, causing Kahne to head to the garage for repairs to his car. Kahne hit Vickers again late in the race. According to a Sporting News report, Vickers said on the radio at the time that “we could do this all day,” but a warning from NASCAR ended the hostilities.