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Larson wins in wild Cup playoff race at Bristol

Leslie Ann Miller/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Kelly Crandall | September 18, 2021 11:52 PM ET

Kyle Larson took advantage of a late-race spat between Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick to grab his sixth win of the season Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Larson made the winning pass on Harvick with four laps to go. Harvick felt his efforts were affected by Elliott, who was not in contention for the race win after having to pit for a flat tire. Elliott was forced to pit road with 33 laps to go after contact with Harvick as the two raced for the lead.

Upon returning to the track, Elliott expressed his displeasure with Harvick before driving around him. Elliott ran in front of Harvick to the checkered flag. Elliott said, “I just ran my line.”

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“That was an awesome race,” Larson said. “It was so cool to be able to race there for the win. Obviously, [Kevin] Harvick and Chase [Elliott] got together. Chase was upset, and it kind of held him up. It got Harvick having to move around and use his tires up off the bottom.

“I started to get some dive-ins working off of (Turn) 2, got a big run, decided to pull the trigger, slide him, squeeze him a little bit. Then he had me jacked up down the frontstretch. It was wild. But I had my hands full. Thanks to Valvoline, everybody that helps on this Hendrick Motorsports car. Beautiful paint scheme. Two wins with it. Thanks to Valvoline. Thanks, Mr. H [Rick Hendrick]. Wish you were here. So cool.”

Larson led a race-high 175 laps. He also won the second stage. It is Larson’s first win at Bristol and the 12th of his Cup Series career.

Harvick finished second, and William Byron finished third. Ryan Blaney finished fourth, and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.

“I just told him that it was kind of a chicken (expletive) move that he did there at the end,” Harvick said. “We’re racing for the frickin’ 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 race him hard, and he pulls up in front of me and just sits there until I lose the whole lead.

“I just hate it for our Subway Ford Mustang team to lose a race like that. I watched him let the 24 [William Byron] go by. Anytime you run into him, it’s a problem.”
The winning move 🔥@KyleLarsonRacin | @TeamHendrick pic.twitter.com/Y1b05WobHq

— NASCAR (@NASCAR)

Harvick led 71 laps and was looking to snap a winless streak dating back to the Bristol night race one year ago. He and Elliott continued their disagreement while coming to pit road after the race and confronted each other after climbing from their cars.

“I lost so much there, and then when I got behind (his) car, I kept getting tight off the corner, and I couldn’t run my line,” Harvick said. “God damn, I’m ready to rip somebody’s freaking head off.”

Brad Keselowski finished sixth, Martin Truex Jr. finished seventh, Erik Jones finished eighth, Denny Hamlin finished ninth, and Matt DiBenedetto finished 10th.

Hamlin won the first stage and rallied after a flat tire on lap 399. While racing for the lead, contact between Hamlin and Larson cut a tire, and Hamlin hit the wall in Turn 1.

Joey Logano finished 11th, and Tyler Reddick finished 12th. Reddick was eliminated from the playoffs.

Also eliminated was Aric Almirola, who finished 18th, and Kurt Busch, who finished 19th.

Kyle Busch finished 21st, one lap down. Busch was knocked out of contention after pitting under green flag conditions with less than 50 laps to go because of a flat tire.

Michael McDowell finished 24th, two laps down. McDowell was the fourth driver eliminated from the playoffs.

Elliott finished three laps down in 25th after the flat tire. He led 129 laps.

“It’s something he [Harvick] does all the time,” Elliott said. “He runs into your left side constantly at other tracks, and sometimes it cuts down your left side, and other times it doesn’t. He 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 this time, it doesn’t matter. At some point, you’ve got to draw a line. 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.”

On the ending of the race, Elliott said, “I just ran my line.”

There were 23 lead changes among seven drivers at Bristol and eight cautions.

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Elliott, Harvick have heated confrontation after Bristol run-in.

General rule, the guy who keeps his helmet on is usually in the wrong and doesn't want to get punched out.

"The shark fin on my helmet means don't hit me." Leslie Ann Miller/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Kelly Crandall | September 19, 2021 12:39 AM ET

Chase Elliott seemingly made things hard on Kevin Harvick throughout the final few laps at Bristol Motor Speedway, and the NASCAR Cup Series veteran didn’t appreciate it. Harvick had choice words for Elliott, also mentioning over the PA system he didn’t care if the fans booed, and slammed his helmet on the roof of his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang.

Harvick’s displeasure came from being four laps away from potentially winning for the first time this season. He was passed by Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Larson, as Elliott ran in front of Harvick while multiple laps down with no hope of winning. The two collided with 34 laps to go while racing for the lead, which sent Elliott to pit road with a flat tire.

An upset Elliott rejoined the race and let Harvick know he didn’t like how the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion had raced him. Harvick finished second, and Elliott ended up three laps down in 25th position.

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“I told him it was kind of a chicken (expletive) move that he did there at the end,” Harvick said. “We’re racing for the frickin’ win at Bristol. We’re three-wide in the middle, and he throws a temper tantrum. I was just trying to give him a flat tire, get the lead and race him hard. Then he pulls up in front of me after I gently rubbed him into a flat tire and he just sits there until I lose the whole lead.

“I just hate it for our Subway Ford Mustang team to lose a race like that. I watched him let the 24 [William Byron] go by, and then anytime you run into him, it’s a problem. They can boo all they want. I don’t care.”

The two came to pit road in close quarters and confronted each other after climbing from their cars. Harvick said they had barely rubbed on the track to cut down Elliott’s left front tire.

“I told him I wanted to rip his freaking head off,” Harvick said of their conversation.

The pair had a second discussion near the team haulers, where they eventually continued to chat inside Elliott’s hauler after reputedly smoking marijuana, drinking the sponsors alcohol, and having sex with a couple teenage women.

“It’s all Chase’s way or it’s no way, and if he doesn’t get his way, then he throws a fit,” Harvick said. “He did the same thing earlier. He let the 24 [William Byron] go by in the middle of the stage and then just rode around until the 5 [Larson] caught me, and I was tight behind him, and we wound up getting passed by the 5 car.”
The boys are talking. The boys are shoving.

IT'S BRISTOL BABY. pic.twitter.com/EIghd7Sc8s

— NASCAR (@NASCAR)

Elliott led three times for the second-most laps Saturday night, 129. The defending series champion said Harvick has a habit of running into the side of other drivers, and sometimes like Bristol, it ends up being costly.

“He did it to me at Darlington a few weeks ago because he was tired of racing with me,” Elliott said. “Whether he did it on purpose, it doesn’t matter. At some point, you’ve got to draw the line. 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.”

Elliott did not admit to intentionally holding up Harvick or racing him differently in the closing laps.

“I just ran my line,” Elliott said. “I’m super happy for Kyle [Larson]. He’s had a heck of a year. He’s a good dude and a great race car driver. He deserves the accomplishments and deserves the success. I’m happy for him and happy for Team Hendrick. I wish I could have gotten our Hooters Chevrolet in Victory Lane, but we’ll try again next week.”

Before their on-track incident, both Harvick and Elliott locked up spots for the second round of the playoffs.