BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Larson won at Bristol Motor Speedway, which wasn’t really a big surprise or even the most interesting thing that happened Saturday night during the first elimination race of this year’s NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
The feud between reigning series champion Chase Elliott and 2014 title winner Kevin Harvick stole the show, especially when Harvick angrily told an energized crowd after the race: “I’m ready to freaking rip somebody’s head off.”
The fickle group struggled to pick a side before settling firmly behind Elliott, the winner of NASCAR’s most popular driver award three years running.
Harvick took the lead from Elliott with 33 laps remaining, but the hard racing caused contact that cut a tire on the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet. After a quick tire change, Elliott exacted his revenge by deliberately slowing in front of Harvick to give teammate Larson a chance to catch Stewart-Haas Racing’s Harvick.
Larson, the regular-season champion who was already into the second round of the playoffs on points, made the winning pass with four laps to go to earn his sixth points win of the year. Then Elliott parked in front of Harvick after an intentionally slow roll down pit road, the two drivers bounded out their windows, and they immediately began jawing at each other.