Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick’s feud escalated at the Roval, so NASCAR’s hoping to ‘put a truce in place’

“We definitely have something brewing between those two.”

Welcome to FTW’s NASCAR Feud of the Week, where we provide a detailed breakdown of the latest absurd, funny and sometimes legitimate controversies and issues within the racing world.

It’s unclear if what happened Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway was the beginning of the end of the ongoing feud between Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick or if it — and the last few weeks — actually marked the start of what could become a years-long thing. Whatever it was, it resulted in some hilarious jabs after the race.

The two drivers have been feuding for weeks now after getting into it with each other at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Round of 16’s elimination race. And things continue escalating.

Let’s break it down.

A brief summary of what happened at Bristol a few weeks ago

Four playoff races ago, both Elliott and Harvick were championship contenders — Elliott still is, but Harvick was just eliminated after the Round of 12 — going into the final Round of 16 race. Late in the race at the Tennessee short track, the two made contact as Harvick passed Elliott for the lead, and as a result, Elliott had to pit for a cut tire.

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Elliott lost a few laps while pitting, but he returned to the track with a vengeance. He got in front of Harvick, took away his line and impeded his progress, as Elliott’s teammate, Kyle Larson, made a pass for the lead and eventual victory.

The pair then had multiple heated (and well-documented) confrontations after the race ended and then heaved insults at each other during interviews. Harvick called Elliott’s late-race tactics a “chicken-[expletive] move,” while Elliott accused Harvick of running drivers up the track all the time.

And the following week, Harvick slammed Elliott for having a “a 9-year-old temper tantrum” because he was being raced hard.

More contact and jabs at the Roval

Elliott managed to secure a 12th-place finish at Charlotte’s Roval on Sunday, which is pretty incredible considered the shape of his mangled No. 9 Chevrolet. And some of that damage was thanks to Harvick.

In the middle of the race at Charlotte’s half-oval, half-road course, Harvick in the No. 4 Ford punted Elliott’s left-rear bumper, which sent the No. 9 car into the track’s wall and caused some serious damage to the back.

The No. 9 team rallied to repair the car — even after his bumper cover fell off — but it certainly seemed like this move from Harvick was payback.

But before Elliott could retaliate against Harvick — something the No. 9 team discussed on its radio — Harvick crashed himself with 10 laps to go in the race and was eliminated from the playoffs.

What Harvick and Elliott said after the Roval race

While it’s unclear what exactly Harvick was trying to say here, when NBC Sports asked him if bumping Elliott was retaliation for Bristol, the driver said:

“Sometimes real life teaches you good lessons.”

And when asked if they were even now, Harvick didn’t answer, but he turned back to the camera briefly and smirked.

As for Elliott, when asked about Harvick, the defending Cup Series champ dodged many of the questions and said he’s focused on doing his job at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend in the opening race in the Round of 8. But he did, however, give possibly the best quote he’s ever given.

“As far as Kevin goes, just want to wish them a merry offseason and a happy Christmas.”

He also added that his presumably low opinion of Harvick is “certainly not changing.”

This level of pettiness is incredible, and NASCAR fans probably wish drivers would trade jabs like this with each other more often. And Elliott’s teams even turned this into a money-making opportunity.

NASCAR, however, wants to put an end to the on-track feud.

NASCAR officials are talking to Elliott and Harvick about their feud

NASCAR is not super happy that this feud has escalated on the track, and Scott Miller, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday, “We don’t need that continuing on” and the governing body will push for a truce.

Miller said:

“We definitely have something brewing between those two, and we spoke to them after the thing at Bristol and we’ll circle around. And I don’t know if we’ll have them together or talk to them individually to see where they are right now, but we don’t need that continuing on, and we’ll do what we think is necessary to kind of get that one calmed down. …

“Every situation is different, and now we’ve had Bristol, one felt slighted on, and obviously [Sunday], which the other feels slighted on. So hopefully, we can put a truce in place there, but we will just continue to monitor the situation and really try not to let it get out of control.

“We don’t want to park anybody. We want all the fans to see the drivers that they came out to see, so that’ll try to be a last resort. But if we keep seeing things, then we will absolutely have to take some sort of action there.”

The next NASCAR race is the Round of 8 opener at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC).

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