Jeff Gordon has said that his pit road confrontation with former Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Busch after last weekend's Coca-Cola 600 may have stemmed from bitterness Busch feels about being released from the team after last season.

But, perhaps Gordon, a four-time NASCAR champion with a lifetime contract at HMS, may be a little bitter himself about the success Busch has found since joining his new team -- Joe Gibbs Racing.

The 23-year-old Busch has three victories in the season's first 12 races and a 94-point lead in the Sprint Cup standings over Jeff Burton, who drives for Richard Childress Racing. Hendrick's four drivers, meanwhile, have totaled just one Cup victory after winning 18 of 36 events in 2007 -- Gordon has yet to win in '08 and has just six top-1o finishes.

Regardless of the reason, Busch and Gordon appeared to have a problem with each other Sunday night after they battled intensely for a third-place finish over the final laps. Busch managed to finish third just ahead of Gordon.

The two drivers had a brief, seemingly heated conversation after the race.

Their encounter made for more -- and perhaps continuing -- drama and controversy that the sport of stock-car racing seems to thrive on.

According to an article in SceneDaily.com, Gordon said Busch may harbor bitterness toward his former organization, which replaced Busch with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"I think that you look at the situation, and there was going to be one person that was the odd man out," Gordon said. "We chose him, and I'm sure he questioned why would we choose him.

"We all know how talented he is and how fast he went and how he won races, so obviously there's a reason why he was the odd man out, and I'm sure that he probably does have some bitterness towards that. But look at the situation that he's in: Shoot, I feel like we did him a favor."

"He's at an organization that they're fast," Gordon said of Busch. "He's leading the points; he's winning races. He's really got this sport kind of the in the palm of his hand right now. I think that he sort of is not appreciating and respecting that because he could have easily drove by me the other night, and he just likes to do things the hard way."

Busch apparently felt Gordon made him work too hard for his finish and interrupted Gordon during an interview to voice his displeasure.

Gordon said there was no animosity, that he was just racing like he always does.

"I raced him hard just like I did everybody," Gordon said. "And when track position is as important as it is here, you've got to race every single car for every single position. I wasn't going to give anybody an inch."

Busch has chosen not to discuss the incident publicly. Gordon has continued to talk it about this week.

"I like Kyle," Gordon said. "He has my (phone) number. He can call me any time. But don't come up after the race while I'm doing an interview and tap me on the shoulder and want to ask me if there's a problem -- especially when he finished third. He had a pretty good night."

Labels: Hendrick Chevrolet Coca-Cola 600, Hendrick Chevrolet NASCAR Champion, Hendrick Chevrolet Replaced Busch., Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Bitterness