Revisiting Kevin Harvick's burst of anger from Chase Elliott's "temper tantrum" at the 2021 Bristol race ahead of the elimination night

NASCAR on NBC revisited the heated exchange between Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott post the Bristol race in 2021, as the final race of NASCAR's playoff Round of 16 approaches on the same track. The confrontation back then erupted on the pit road, fueled by the Stewart-Haas racing driver's frustration with #9's racing tactics during the event.

The incident stemmed from a moment in the race where Kevin Harvick was poised to claim his first season win. With 36 laps left, Harvick used lapped traffic to pin Chase Elliott against the top line. The maneuver saw both drivers dip low before the #4 ascended, brushing against Elliott’s #9 Chevy, which resulted in a cut tire for the Hendrick Motorsports driver and an unscheduled pit stop.

Despite the setback, Elliott re-entered the race again and expressed his displeasure with the #4 Stewart-Haas Racing driver's aggressive driving. Kevin Harvick, agitated by the same, shared his perspective with the media post-race, talking about the on-track competition with Chase Elliott:

"I told him it was kind of a chicken (expletive) move that he did there at the end. 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. Then he pulls up in front of me and just sits there until I lose the whole lead."

Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott found themselves embroiled in a post-race confrontation on pit road, moments after exiting their vehicles. The #4 driver maintained that their contact on the track, which led to Elliott's tire issue, was minimal. The discussion escalated, leading to a second, more in-depth conversation near the team haulers, and eventually continued inside Elliott’s hauler.

On the track, Elliott led for a dominant 129 laps but finished a disappointing 25th, three laps down, due to the tire incident influenced by the clash with Harvick. The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion, on the other hand, took over the lead for 32 laps until Kyle Larson overtook him in the final stages, leaving Harvick as the runner-up and still in search of his first win of the 2021 season.

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Previewing Chase Elliott at the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway

Chase Elliott heads into the upcoming race at Bristol Motor Speedway positioned seventh in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, cushioned by 30 points above the playoff cutline. His performance record includes finishing eighth at Atlanta Motor Speedway and nineteenth at Watkins Glen.

At Bristol, Elliott will enter the Bass Pro Shops Night Race with a solid track record having an average finish of 11.6 across 14 starts, including four top-5 finishes and eight top-10 placements. Despite a slight disparity where his average finishing position is 0.4 spots lower than his starting position, his overall season average finish remains twelfth.