The Johnson-Elliott Feud--A Timeline

1991: Elliott, a former Winston Cup champion, goes to work as a driver for Junior Johnson, a champion owner in his own right.

1992: Elliott and Johnson narrowly miss out on losing the championship to Alan Kulwicki.

1994: Elliott leaves Johnson's team to start his own operation. Johnson was outwardly supportive, though insiders said he was furious that Elliott was leaving him behind.

1995-2000: The feud simmers through numerous on-track incidents. However, these pale in comparison to what happened when salty snacks were introduced into the mix.

February 2001: Johnson starts his own line of pork rinds, pork cracklins', and the like.

April 2001: Elliott distributes a videotaped image of an anonymous man choking on one of Johnson's products. Bad publicity puts Johnson's business on the brink of bankrupcy, until it is revealed that the "choker" was longtime Johnson agitator Brett Bodine.

August 2001: Johnson works behind the scenes to take away Elliott's biggest on-track advantage--teammate Casey Atwood. Atwood receives an undisclosed amount of money from Johnson, and in exchange enters purgatory (working for Jim Smith).

December 2001: Elliott releases a rap album entitled "His Johnson is Junior". The bulk of the album slams Johnson's career, driving, and snack ingredients, while the track "J.J. is not Awesome" becomes a minor club hit.

April 2002: Elliott is arrested for poisoning several batches of Johnson's pork rinds. He spends 2 years in jail on a work-release program. Elliott is oddly tight-lipped for this period.

May 2004: Johnson, most the receiver of the barbs until this point, refers to Elliott as a "clown" in an interview with Nascar Scene. He also insinuates that Elliott nearly died in prison "without his beloved McDonalds".

July 2004: Elliott, in a profanity-laced press conference, announces the release of his own brand of pork rinds. Johnson, when interviewed about this, simply replies "he will NOT succeed".

October 2004: Johnson is caught on security cameras dumping boxes of Elliott's jerky into a nearby river, a move now known as the "South Boston Tea Party". Johnson spends several weeks in jail for his actions.

January 2005: A fight erupts when Elliott's entourage collides with Johnson's crew at a Charlotte charity benefit concert. Known Elliott henchmen Jerry Nadeau and Jeremy Mayfield are arrested for repeatedly attacking Johnson's right-hand-man, Darrell Waltrip.

March 2005: An attempt at a reconciliation meeting, coordinated by Ray Evernham, goes nowhere.

July 2005: Elliott starts his new ad campaign, "Junior is just that: Junior". Johnson, when reached for comment, vows retribution.

September 2005: The shooting occurs (see below).