Tag: NASCAR Feud of the Week

Trackhouse Racing co-owner on NASCAR drivers threatening payback for Ross Chastain: ‘Let’s battle’

Trackhouse Racing co-owner Justin Marks continued defending Ross Chastain’s aggressive racing.

After an aggressive performance Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series’ first race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Ross Chastain made a couple on-track enemies. Despite his eighth-place finish, the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet racer even said “it was terrible driving” on his part.

But the co-owner of Chastain’s team, Justin Marks — Pitbull is the other owner — feels a little differently about how his driver raced and the subsequent feuds his style ignited. And, in fact, Marks is “here for it.”

Although Chastain took responsibility for tangling with Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott during the Gateway race, Marks defended his driver’s actions afterward and expanded on his perspective during an interview Monday with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Marks noted that Chastain, as a young driver in only his fourth full-time Cup season, still needs to figure out the “dance and the balance” of racing at NASCAR’s highest level but applauded his effort.

“I’m proud of his aggression,” Marks told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I think he probably beat himself up a little bit too much after the race over it. I don’t want to see cars wreck. We certainly don’t want to see that. But I just, I don’t know. I don’t want him to slow down or take any aggression away because it’s exciting for all of us to watch.”

Sure, it is exciting. But Hamlin made it clear after Sunday’s race that Chastain — one of four drivers with two wins so far this season — should expect some on-track payback.

“This sport is self-policing, and usually when you least suspect it and when it means the most is when it comes back around,” Hamlin said Sunday.

Still, Marks is on board with the drama and feuds.

Marks continued to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio:

“Honestly, I’m here for it. Like, I’m ready. I mean, Denny’s texting me right now as we’re talking actually. And, you know, it’s the drama, the controversy. I guess there’s a lot of talk in this sport, right? There’s a lot of time we spend telling everybody what we’re gonna do, and not a lot of time doing it. So if they want to play, it’ll be fun. …

“I’m a huge fan of the sport. I love entertaining fans and doing stuff out there that gets the conversation going. So if we want to battle, let’s battle. I’m not going to shy away from that. But again, at the end of the day, I’m also not driving the car myself. So, I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”

Marks said he knows drivers self-police, but he still wants Chastain and No. 99 Chevrolet driver Daniel Suárez to be aggressive and “go fight for everything that they can.” And he said he made that clear to Chastain after the Gateway race.

More from Marks’ interview:

“I said, ‘I don’t think that you really did anything wrong. I think that you’ve just walked into a club [that] the same couple of guys have been in for a long time, and that’s the top-5, top-10 club. And you’re aggressive and you’re upsetting the applecart, and they’re not happy about it. But don’t really change what you’re doing because we got way too much money invested and time and effort to have either of our guys lay down.’

“So, yeah, I’m glad through all the drama and everything that he was able to come back and get a top-10 finish.”

What kind of retribution Chastain will suffer at the hands of Hamlin, Elliott or anyone else he’s frustrated remains to be seen, obviously. But, as Hamlin noted, it could come at the least ideal time for Chastain and the No. 1 Trackhouse team.

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Ross Chastain after infuriating Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott at Gateway: ‘I’ll have to pay for it’

Ross Chastain didn’t exactly make friends with this World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway performance.

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.

Ross Chastain scored his ninth top-10 finish of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, finishing eighth behind winner Joey Logano. But the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet driver didn’t exactly make a ton of friends along the way.

What’s more, Chastain — one of four drivers to have two race wins so far this season, including Logano and Denny Hamlin — admitted he was in the wrong for getting too aggressive at times. And looking ahead to this weekend’s race at Sonoma Raceway and what’s left of the 36-race season, he’s now bracing himself for (more) payback from Hamlin and Chase Elliott.

Let’s break down what happened between Chastain, Hamlin and Elliott on Sunday during the Cup Series’ first-ever race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

William Byron slammed ‘idiot’ Joey Logano after NASCAR’s latest bump-and-run incident

William Byron was not happy after NASCAR’s spring Darlington race.

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.

If you’re leading a NASCAR race by the end, Joey Logano is not the kind of driver you want right behind you. And after Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, William Byron became the latest driver to learn that — the hard way.

Logano is known for his aggressive racing style, including moving another driver out of the way when the checkered flag is on the line. But for Byron, his fans and Logano haters, the No. 22 Team Penske Ford driver’s late move for the win was too far.

Let’s break down what happened.

Joey Logano says Ty Gibbs throwing punches after NASCAR race was ‘not the right direction’

“I don’t know if he had to go straight to fists right off the bat.”

Quite often, NASCAR drivers are furious with each other. Sometimes, that leads to heated confrontations after the race, revenge on the track at a later race and, occasionally, some thrown punches.

Joey Logano, now in his 14th full-time Cup Series season, has been in those types of situations in the past, and he said he can relate to what second-tier Xfinity Series driver Ty Gibbs was feeling when he punched Sam Mayer multiple times after Friday’s race at Martinsville Speedway.

Despite joking that he “shouldn’t be commenting on this” because he’s not picking sides, Logano did offer his perspective on the race and altercation. The Cup veteran had no issues with the racing, but the fight is a different situation.

“I wouldn’t say what happened on the race track was wrong, but I’d say what happened after was probably not the right direction,” Logano said Monday.

Logano began his full-time Cup career at 18 competing for Joe Gibbs Racing, was aggressive on the track and has had his fair share of altercations over the years. Nineteen-year-old Gibbs — the grandson of legendary NASCAR owner Joe Gibbs for whom he currently races — is a talented and somewhat similarly aggressive driver whose star is rapidly rising with seven checkered flags in 26 Xfinity starts, including three already in 2022.

Gibbs looked poised to grab his fourth win of the season at Martinsville with a dominating performance that had him out front for 197 of 261 total laps. On the last lap, he lost the lead but still had a chance to win $100,000, depending on his finish, with NASCAR’s Dash 4 Cash bonus.

Mayer was also in the running for the 100 grand, and after Gibbs got shuffled back from the lead, Mayer pushed Gibbs up the track and out of the way. Mayer finished fifth, Gibbs was eighth and neither won the Dash 4 Cash (A.J. Allmendinger in third place did).

On pit road afterward, Gibbs shoved Mayer as Mayer took his helmet off, Mayer eventually shoved him back and Gibbs ended up punching his rival multiple times.

“I have a lot more grace for seeing that stuff after going through it myself,” Logano about the bump on the track as well as the fight. “Do I agree with the way it went down? No, I don’t. Have I done that type of thing before? Yeah, I have. Am I proud of it? No, not at all, but I learned from it, at least.

“And it’s part of growing up on TV. You’re growing up in a limelight, right? [He’s] a very popular driver, he’s very good, he wins, he’s in a great car and he’s pretty dang aggressive. And I can relate to all that. … So, I guess, taking a deep breath and understanding the big picture and handling things correctly is probably the way to go.”

But, Logano said, he’s “learned a lot” since his early days racing in NASCAR and noted that Gibbs throwing punches wasn’t the right way to address his on-track frustration.

The 2018 Cup champion also reiterated the common NASCAR mentality that drivers should expect to get raced the way they race others. So when Gibbs has previously bumped other drivers out of the way — like he did to his teammate, John Hunter Nemechek, at Richmond Raceway earlier this month before taking the checkered flag — he can’t be surprised that when he gets a taste of his own racing style.

“I don’t know if he had to go straight to fists right off the bat, but for what it was, if you’re gonna race a certain way, you gotta expect to be raced that way back,” Logano said. “That’s the driver code, and nobody can understand — that’s it. If you’re willing to push, you gotta be willing to take some pushes. And that’s kind of what it comes down to. …

“If you’re willing to push for a win, and someone’s willing to push for 100 grand behind you, one for the other at that point.”

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Denny Hamlin called Alex Bowman ‘an absolute hack’ after Martinsville incident in NASCAR playoffs

Denny Hamlin was furious with Alex Bowman after Sunday’s NASCAR race at Martinsville.

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.

Denny Hamlin was furious with Alex Bowman after Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, and he certainly didn’t hide his feelings.

With less than 10 laps to go in the scheduled 500-lap race at the Virginia short track, Hamlin — a playoff driver who was fighting for a spot in the final Championship 4 — was leading the field with Bowman — a playoff driver who was previously eliminated — chasing him down.

With just seven laps left, Bowman was on the inside of Hamlin in an attempt to pass for the lead, and his No. 48 Chevrolet got loose and made contact with Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota.

Hamlin spun out and lost the lead, along with several positions. And while Bowman won his fourth race of the 2021 season, Hamlin finished 24th but still advanced to the Championship 4 to compete for a title next weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

When the race was over and Bowman returned to the frontstretch to celebrate, Hamlin parked his car in front of Bowman’s to cut him off just in front of the finish line. Bowman drove around Hamlin, but then Hamlin hit and pushed the nose of Bowman’s car, and he flipped off the No. 48 driver.

Over the team radio, Hamlin was reminded to think of the “big picture,” which was surely his team cautioning him not to do anything dumb that would warrant a penalty from NASCAR or impeded their championship hopes. And eventually, Hamlin drove away.

During Bowman’s on-track interview with NBC Sports, he said the contact wasn’t intentional and explained he got loose and couldn’t do anything to avoid Hamlin’s car.

“I hate doing it. Obviously, it’s not — I don’t want to crash somebody. I just got in, got loose underneath him and spun him out. … I’m not trying to drive underneath there and crash the guy. I got under him fair, under him clean. I just got sideways underneath him, spun him out. Hate to do that. Obviously unintentional. Part of short-track racing.”

Hamlin’s post-race interview went a little bit differently, and as the crowd roared with a booing soundtrack, the No. 11 driver slammed Bowman. Hamlin said to NBC Sports:

“He’s just a hack. He’s just an absolute hack. He gets his ass kicked by his teammates every week and just, he’s [expletive] terrible. He’s just terrible, and he sees one opportunity and he takes it. But obviously, he’s got the fastest car every week, and he runs 10th. So he didn’t want to race us there. We had a good, clean race. I moved up as high as I could on the race track to give him all the room I could, and he still can’t drive.”

Of course, this is far from the first incident Hamlin’s been involved in at Martinsville, and his critics surely remember that in 2017, Hamlin wrecked Chase Elliott late in a Martinsville race.

But what happened between Bowman and Hamlin just seems like a hard-racing situation. It also seems like Hamlin will have to let this feud go either way if he wants to stay focused on trying to win his first championship next Sunday at Phoenix.

In addition to Kyle Larson — who entered the Martinsville race with a spot in the final Championship 4 locked up — Elliott, Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. advanced to the title race.

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After Denny Hamlin called Chase Briscoe ‘a [expletive] idiot,’ the NASCAR drivers traded barbs on Instagram

Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe moved their feud from the track to social media.

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.

NASCAR’s latest feud seems like it’s just one of those racing deals between Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe, but their little tiff from Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday has spilled over onto social media. And it’s pretty entertaining — unless you’re one of the two drivers involved.

In the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 — the first NASCAR Cup Series playoff race in the Round of 8 — Hamlin, a playoff driver, finished 11th, while Briscoe, who’s not in the playoffs, finished 15th.

But with about 60 laps to go in the 334-lap race, Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota and Briscoe in the No. 14 Ford were racing each other hard, side-by-side with Briscoe on the outside of Hamlin. At one point, Briscoe’s car bounced off the outside wall and suffered some right-rear damage, including a cut tire, which forced him to pit.

“That’s what he gets for being a [expletive] idiot,” Hamlin said on his team’s radio after the incident.

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But this isn’t the first time these two have gotten into it on the track.

In August at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course race, Hamlin was in position to get what would have been his first win of the 2021 season. But out front in overtime, Briscoe nailed the back of Hamlin’s No. 11 car, which sent it spinning as Hamlin lost the lead. Later, Briscoe said he was racing for the win and was unaware that NASCAR had penalized him for cutting a corner earlier on the lap.

Between that and what happened a couple months later at Texas on Sunday, it’s safe to say Hamlin and Briscoe aren’t happy with each other. And they traded jabs on Instagram on Monday in response to a post about the Texas incident by the NASCAR on NBC account.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVJO0iJNDrs/

First, Briscoe responded to the post with a reference to Hamlin’s claim from 2017 that he’s run 10,000 races since he was 7 years old (and the math didn’t quite check out there).

And then Hamlin shot back, seemingly with a reference to Briscoe ruining his hopes for a win at the Indy road course.

The two went on from there with Briscoe defending himself as a non-playoff driver, and Hamlin offering a lesson in risk management.

While Briscoe is not competing for a championship this year, Hamlin enters Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway third in the standings and nine points ahead of the cutoff mark. After Kansas and Martinsville Speedway the following weekend, the playoff field will shrink from eight drivers down to the final Championship 4, who will compete at Phoenix Raceway in a winner-take-all event for the title.

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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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Kevin Harvick said heated confrontation with Chase Elliott ‘was like speaking to a 9-year-old’

Kevin Harvick had some more chastising words for Chase Elliott after their Bristol feud.

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.

While Chase Elliott said he’s moved on from last weekend’s drama at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick had plenty to say about his feud with the defending NASCAR Cup Series champ.

In last Saturday’s first playoff elimination race, the two title contenders got into it on the track and then had multiple heated confrontations when it was over. With 35 laps remaining at Bristol, Harvick and Elliott made contact while Harvick passed the No. 9 car for the lead, and Elliott had to pit for a cut tire, losing a few laps in the process. When Elliott returned to the track, he got in front of Harvick in the No. 4 car, which helped eventual winner and Elliott’s teammate Kyle Larson pass for the lead.

Elliott unloaded on Harvick over his team’s radio during the race, and afterward, the two had tense and animated words with Harvick later calling Elliott’s late-race tactics a “chicken-[expletive] move.”

Talking to the media ahead of Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Harvick described his post-race conversations with Elliott like talking to his 9-year-old son, Keelan.

Harvick said, via FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass:

“It was like I was talking to Keelan, it’s identical. Like it’s 100 percent the exact same scenario. They get hung up on one thing, and you can’t speak to them about the broader picture of how the whole thing works. It was like speaking to a 9-year-old, so I have a bit of experience with that.”

After last weekend’s Bristol race, Elliott accused Harvick of running into his left side all the time at tracks, which can result in a cut tire, and cited an incident earlier this month at Darlington Raceway. And at the time, Harvick said he was so furious he was “ready to rip somebody’s freaking head off.”

Sunday, Harvick said that Elliott wants to race hard for an eighth-place position while at the same time being mad that others are racing him hard back for that spot. Elliott can’t have it both ways, Harvick added.

Harivck continued on Sunday at Las Vegas:

“I don’t know that I’ve ever been that mad, to be honest with you. That was probably the maddest I’ve ever been. …

“It was just like I said, it was a chicken-[expletive] move. I’d rather be wiped out than have some bull-[expletive] like that happen. It was a 9-year-old temper tantrum over a situation that was put into place from the other vehicle that wiped you out, took your chances from winning the race. Like I said, you can’t have it both ways. It can’t go both ways. That’s not how this deal works.

“I don’t care if you’re the most popular driver or not. You can’t race everybody, side-drafting, bouncing off their doors and then slam into them. That stuff all comes full circle in this deal and has a funny way of teaching you.”

When it comes to Elliott taking away Harvick’s line to help out Larson, Harvick added, via NBC Sports: “Look, I never got past the point of the racing being manipulated.”

More from Harvick:

From Elliott’s point of view, he said, “I hope so,” when asked if the feuding pair left it as an agree-to-disagree situation. The No. 9 driver explained he’s much more focused on the Las Vegas race — the first of three in the playoffs Round of 12 before the playoff field shrinks down to eight drivers — and keeping his hopes for a second consecutive championship alive.

When Harvick’s comments comparing Elliott to his son and criticizing his racing style were relayed, Elliott said in response:

“I don’t have much to say to be real honest. Everybody has got their opinion, and he’s entitled to his, just like I am [with] mine. It’s why we live in America, we’re entitled to it. …

“Entitled to his opinion and that’s great. For me, I’m looking forward to today and as much as I think everybody tries to let that and last week weigh over, I think you have to have your eyes forward, and it’s up to those guys how they wanna be and act. but for me, I don’t really have a lot to say about it anymore. I’ve kind of said my piece.”

Seemingly unbothered by the drama at Bristol more than a week later, Elliott added that he doesn’t care about the confrontation and is just focused on advancing through the playoffs.

Elliott continued:

“I care less about this confrontation than I ever [in] any other one in the past, I don’t know if that’s just time, being around more you just are focused on the right things a little more as the weeks come along.”

And when asked about the possibility of retribution from Harvick or any of his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, Elliott said:

“I don’t know, ask them. They can do whatever they want. Nothing that I’m gonna say or do is gonna stop that so yeah whatever they want to do is fine with me, and we’ll address it as it comes.”

Going into Sunday’s race at Las Vegas, Elliott is sixth in the playoff standings, while Harvick is 12th and 12 points below the next cutoff.

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Breaking down Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick’s Bristol feud and the ‘chicken-[expletive] move’ in the middle

It’s Chase Elliott vs. Kevin Harvick in the latest NASCAR Feud of the Week.

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.

If you watched Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, you know what this one is about. Tension was high and tempers were animated between Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick — who, in no uncertain terms, expressed their extreme displeasure with each other during and after the race.

Kyle Larson won the first playoff elimination race and his sixth checkered flag of the season, but Elliott and Harvick were the main story out of the weekend and into this week after both advanced to the next playoff round.

The two playoff drivers got into each other, literally, on the track, had multiple confrontations once they exited their cars and might seek out retribution as they get deeper into the postseason. Let’s break it down.

What happened on track between Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick at Bristol?

Elliott led 129 of 500 total laps at Bristol on Saturday night, and while out front, Harvick made a move to pass the No. 9 Chevrolet driver for the lead. The two made contact with 35 laps to go, and as a result, one of Elliott’s tires was cut, forcing him to pit and go down by three laps.

As Larson was chasing down Harvick for the lead — Harvick led 71 total laps at Bristol — Elliott returned to the track and raced Harvick hard to get one of his laps back. Once Elliott passed the No. 4 Ford driver, he grabbed Harvick’s line at the top of the track, remained in front of him and hindered his progress, aiding Larson’s push to get out front.

On Lap 497, Larson eventually passed Harvick — who was racing for his first win of the 2021 season. Seemingly furious with the Hendrick Motorsports drivers, Harvick hit Larson’s rear bumper, but Larson was able to maintain control and eventually took the checkered flag.

Harvick finished second, while Elliott finished 25th and three laps down.

Elliott and Harvick’s heated confrontation on pit road

Unsurprisingly after all that, Elliott and Harvick were both pretty upset with each other. Harvick parked his No. 4 car right on the back bumper of Elliott’s No. 9 car, and they then exchanged some intense words on pit road.

What did Elliott and Harvick say afterward?

A lot.

(Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Both drivers were fuming with each other and had different takes on what exactly happened. Harvick said Elliott made a “chicken-[expletive] move” taking his line away until he lost the lead, while Elliott said Harvick runs into drivers’ left sides all the time at other tracks.

As fans booed, Harvick said during a pit road interview:

“I just told him it was kind of a chicken-[expletive] move that he did there at the end. We’re racing for the freaking win at Bristol. We’re three wide in the middle, and he throws a temper tantrum. I was just trying to get the lead and racing hard.

“Then he pulls up in front of me and just sits there until I lose the whole lead. Just hate it for our Subway Ford Mustang team to be able to lose a race like that. … They can boo all they want; I don’t care.”

“Goddamn, I’m ready to rip somebody’s freaking head off,” Harvick added.

Elliott, obviously, had a different perspective on how the pair raced each other and what happened at the end. And the fans at Bristol did too, cheering for the defending champion and reigning most popular driver.

Elliott said:

“It’s something he does all the time. He runs into your left side constantly at other tracks, and sometimes it does cut down your left side. Other times it doesn’t.

“Did it to me at Darlington a few weeks ago because he was tired of racing with me. And whether he did it on purpose, it doesn’t matter. At some point you’ve got to draw the line. So I don’t care who he is or how long he’s been doing it. I’m going to stand up for myself and my team, and we’ll go on down the road.”

More from Elliott, via NBC Sports:

“I couldn’t hear him,” Elliott said when asked what was said. “He had his helmet on and stuff. I’m 25 and I at least took my helmet off to have a conversation with him and he’s 40-however years old. Nothing new.”

(Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

But their confrontation didn’t end on pit road. Afterward, Harvick smashed his helmet on the roof of his car, and he and Elliott met up again — this time near the haulers. And as NBC Sports reported, the pair went into the No. 9 hauler together for at least 10 more minutes.

An intense ending to the NASCAR playoffs Round of 16 for sure, and fans will have to wait and see if these two get into each other again on or off the track.

The Round of 12 opens Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, followed by races at Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval. After that, four more drivers will be eliminated from championship contention, and Harvick enters the next round in 12th place and below the cutoff, while Elliott is sixth in the standings.

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Tyler Reddick and his team were NASCAR’s real Daytona winners after finishing with this mangled car

And Tyler Reddick qualified for the NASCAR playoffs in this thing.

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.

Our last NASCAR Feud of the Week of the 2021 regular season is an incredible and goofy one with a really clear winner.

The regular season ended Saturday night with Ryan Blaney winning the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, and the 16-driver playoff field was set. Now, after a typically chaotic and unpredictable Daytona race, we could talk about how Kurt Busch made contact with Daniel Suárez and triggered a massive wreck, or Bubba Wallace’s annoyance with his Toyota teammates, or how several of the Rick Ware Racing drivers wrecked with each other.

Instead, however, let’s talk about the absolute beating one car took at Daytona in a feud of Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 team versus Daytona International Speedway.

By the time the race ended, Reddick’s car was a mess, especially after being involved in a wreck with about 15 laps to go in the race’s scheduled distance. The wreck left Reddick and the No. 8 car smoking and without a functioning oil cooler, per NBC Sports.

But the team pushed on and made some miraculous repairs to get the car back on track and up to speed, as Reddick raced for the lone playoff spot remaining at that point.

(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
(Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

After another late wreck — which didn’t involve Reddick toward the back of the field after the repairs — sent the race into overtime, the No. 8 driver pulled off some magic moves. On the last lap of overtime with Blaney out front, the field behind him started wrecking in a massive way, but somehow Reddick missed most of it before getting dinged by Justin Haley in the No. 77 Chevrolet.

(James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Not only did Reddick manage to avoid getting taken out in the last-lap wreck, but he also finished fifth and earned his first playoff berth. Amazingly, this is the car he did it with.

LOOK AT THIS DISASTER:

Both ends of the car are destroyed, there’s grass in the grille, the nose is dented and this thing was a mess. But Reddick made the most of it and qualified for the playoffs, which begin Sunday with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

“It feels incredible,” Reddick told NBC Sports after the finish. “But I’m not going to lie to you, my emotions were shot as soon as we took the green on the last green-white-checkered. I couldn’t believe we finished seventh. The getting through that last crash coming to the line, it was a lot, I’m not going to lie. …

“What a roller coaster it is to be on the [playoff] bubble going into Daytona and running into the back of somebody and have all the issues we did at the end there. Almost felt helpless there, but we didn’t give up, and we fought through it.”

We don’t often have a winner of the NASCAR Feud of the Week, but when it comes to Reddick and the No. 8 team versus Daytona, the Richard Childress Racing team clearly won big.

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