The side-by-side finish of Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson at Martinsville a few weeks ago started a debate about the role of team racing in NASCAR. Message boards and chat rooms were all flooded with similar questions:  Should teammates race each other differently than other drivers? To what extent should teammates be allowed to help other? Is team racing good or bad for the sport? The fact is, NASCAR is a team sport, and teams, drivers and owners should take the necessary actions to ensure the greatest overall success for the team.

For the final fifty-two laps of the race at Martinsville, Gordon rode the bumper of Johnson and clearly had the faster racecar. Unfortunately for Gordon, Martinsville is a one-groove race track and he had no way of getting around Johnson without bumping him. Gordon was told via radio communication not to wreck his teammate, so he simply followed Johnson for the remainder of the race.

After the race Gordon was noticeably upset about having to ride in second and concede victory to Johnson, but the alternative is too risky. Maybe Gordon is able to loosen up Johnson, pass him and go on to score the win with Johnson in second place. The more likely scenario, however, is that Gordon wrecks Johnson while trying to bump him out of the way. Even worse, Gordon and Johnson could both be collected in a wreck. Gordon might be upset for a few days about passing up an opportunity to win a race, but in the long run Hendrick Motorsports is better off.

Johnson got the win, and Gordon finished second to increase his lead in the point standings. Gordon shouldn't be that upset anyway since he has been the beneficiary of team racing in the past. When Gordon won his first championship, Rick Hendrick paid for extra cars to qualify for the race, so even if Gordon wrecked or had mechanical problems enough cars would be available to intentionally stop running to secure Gordon the title.

Multi-car teams dominate the sport of NASCAR because of their ability to cooperate and work with one another. Teammates pit by each other, draft with one another and share information about track conditions and setups. In fact, Johnson was the slowest car in practice at Martinsville, so he borrowed Gordon's setup for the race and the results speak for themselves.