Teammates. In the world of racing, they can be the ultimate asset — someone to work with in the draft, to share information with, to help out when one's own team is falling off the pace.
It's not always a perfect world, though, this of teammates. In recent weeks, that nature of these relationships gained headlines in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Interestingly enough, it is one group's dedication to working together that has put it under the microscope. The Joe Gibbs Racing contingent has labored to work together in chasing the championship — perhaps, in some situations, to its detriment.
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Now, though, with berths in the championship finale on the line, and with at least one of the organization's teams certain to fail to advance, how will that relationship change?
What, exactly, is the nature of teammates within an organization in a more individualized sport like NASCAR? And what happens now?
Former NASCAR driver and current NBC analyst Jeff Burton understands these relationships. He worked with teammates throughout his career, particularly during his tenure at Roush Fenway Racing and at Richard Childress Racing.
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So, what are the advantages to having someone under the same banner in the Chase with you?
"When you're not running well you have some people to lean on to hopefully help you," he said.
And the flip side of that?
"The disadvantage is, because they're helping you, you have to help them," he said. "You want to have it both ways, where you're just getting help and you don't have to give any help, but that's not how it works, as we all know."
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Joe Gibbs Racing showcased just how well teammates within an organization can work together this year. It has all four of its drivers into the Round of 8 — but soon at least one of those will be eliminated from title contention. How does that change things?
At Talladega three weeks ago, JGR's Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth were in position to advance through the elimination round and into this, the Round of 8, in the Chase if they stayed out of trouble. They did just that, riding at the rear of the pack all day. Teammate Denny Hamlin, needing a better outcome, stayed in that pack and after the race, all four had advanced to the next round.
At Martinsville last Sunday, Hamlin, Kenseth and Busch ran in a line in the top five in the closing laps of the race. Hamlin, who went on to finish third, didn't seem to have a problem with the scenario. But at different points in those final laps, both Kenseth and Busch indicated they believed they could challenge for the win — if they could just get past Hamlin. But they couldn't just nudge him out of the way as if he were, well, not a teammate.
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While Burton dismisses that the scenario handed the victory to race-winner Jimmie Johnson, he did understand the drivers' frustration.
That illustrated the negative side of having to work together.
"You saw Matt Kenseth, he said, I was better than Denny but I couldn't get into him and not that Matt Kenseth would just drive in there and knock somebody out of the way, but when you're racing someone aggressively, things happen, right?" Burton said. "But he couldn't let things happen with Denny Hamlin. He couldn't push his car to a point where he might have made a mistake and got in the side of him. He never could get there."
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Busch seemed to have felt the same way, offering somewhat cautious remarks after the race.
What were those laps for these drivers?
"It's a completely different thing when you're driving a race car and your internal rule says no matter what I can't touch this guy versus saying I don't want to touch this guy. …," Burton said. "So you're afraid you're going to cross that line by going too hard and that's what we saw at Martinsville."
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Now, though, things change. Johnson's win gave him one of the four spots for the championship contenders in the finale.
With three left, and four JGR drivers, somebody won't make it. Edwards is in the most trouble after setbacks at Martinsville have left him eighth, 32 points outside of the top four.
Still, he could rally and win this weekend — as could any of the four. Whatever happens, they will head to the third segment race at Phoenix knowing that at least one of them will be eliminated.
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And, at that point, there's only so much one can do to help the others.
"If you get to Phoenix and that spot in front of you is whether you're going to make it to Homestead or not, it changes because you've all worked together to get yourself in this situation, but at some point, and your team matter more to you than him and his team," Burton said. "And by the way, that's how it should be."
He's not saying they will be willing to wreck one another. They will, however, be pushing the limits more.
"All that I am saying is you'll be more willing to drive that car to its complete limit and if you make a mistake, you're willing to live with that mistake," he said. "Listen, we saw Carl Edwards knock Kyle Busch out of the way to win Richmond, so I think we would damn sure see it to win the championship or to put yourself in position to contend for a championship."
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And that is something he understands.
He knows just how hard it can be to push the limit and take the risk, especially when a teammate is involved.
He's seen it from both sides. Burton says it's "you really want to work with your teammates … especially people that you respect, people that you know respect you."
At some point, though, you must make the choice. You must decide to put your team first, to chase the title.
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How far that goes depends on the driver involved — and what he can deal with going forward. In the end, that will be the factor that determines exactly how these drivers race one another in the next two weeks — and what the outcome of those choices will be.
"It's truly difficult," he said. "I've had teammates at post-race inspection at Daytona come up yelling at me, furious at me because they thought I could have helped them and I didn't and they thought if I had helped them they would have won the race and I thought if I had helped them I damn sure wasn't going to win the race and it's a touch and go thing.
"Ultimately you've just got to do what you think is best and go from there."