Test day

Don't believe the schedule. Drivers are still testing at Daytona International Speedway.

Only days after NASCAR chief Brian France pledged to allow drivers to loosen up and be themselves a little bit more, final practice for tonight's Bud Shootout may have put France's words to the test sooner than anyone imagined.

"Are we supposed to walk the line and see where we step over it and where are we going to get fined when we go too far?" Dale Earnhardt Jr. asked aloud during media day on Thursday. "What are they saying?"

Apparently Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch are trying to find out exactly where that line is and what exactly NASCAR is saying. After tangling viciously during practice on Friday night, the drivers -- who have a history with one another, including a wreck in last year's Daytona 500 -- were summoned to the NASCAR hauler for some serious tongue-lashing. Several media outlets are reporting that Stewart may have thrown a punch at Busch; and the Hartford Courant is suggesting that even that activity may have spilled over later in the evening.

Neither driver confirmed anything during television interviews during practice this morning.

France and NASCAR are in a tough position.

On the one hand, France has pledged for drivers to be themselves, and part of that, certainly, is to bring the sport back to its grassroots level to some extent. But allowing fisticuffs and on-track shenanigans to sneak through could be dangerous, too, if it is allowed to escalate.

Fines, yes. Absolutely. Points? It would be hard to justify stripping teams of championship points before the season even starts, for something that happened in practice for an exhibition race. Don't expect swift judgement here, as NASCAR will certainly play their hand carefully here.