“There was no message”: Chase Elliott talks about bumping his car into Kyle Larson at Kansas

Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson had an excellent outing at the Kansas Speedway, with both fighting for the lead at one point and finishing in the top six in the Hollywood Casino 400.

Although the teammates didn't cause any sparks on the track, a pit road incident between them before the final restart caught the attention of spectators. In order to avoid Brad Keselowski's Ford while exiting his pit box, Larson hit Elliott's #9 Chevy, as they raced three wide to the pit exit.

Chase Elliott wasn't happy with the collision on the pit road, as he retaliated on the exit, swerving into Kyle Larson's #5 Chevy. The heated incident between the two was seen as Elliott trying to send a message to his teammate.

However, NASCAR's most popular driver refuted these claims as he told Fox Sports:

“There was no message. No.”

After taking the checkered flag, Chase Elliott rushed to Kyle Larson's car to have a quick chat about the incident, where the two cleared any misunderstandings.

Kyle Larson also spoke to the media regarding the incident on the pit road where he explained that he would have clobbered into the #6 Ford had he not swerved into Elliott.

“From my vantage point, I knew we were three-wide leaving and I didn’t know at the time, the #6 was pitting in front of us. I’m trying to leave as much space as I can. He’s coming out of the lane quickly because the #6 wants to slow us down so I tried to leave as much space as I could,” he said in a post-race interview.

“Obviously, I made contact with him but I felt like if I didn’t, I was gonna clobber the #6 in the right front. I thought the safest bet for all of us was to squeeze out a little bit. So, I understand why he’s mad or was mad in the moment,” he added.

The collision in the pit lane didn't cause any damage to either of the two HMS Chevies as Larson finished fourth while Elliott claimed sixth place.

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Chase Elliott reflects on his result after a solid day at Kansas Speedway

In what has been a disappointing 2023 season, Chase Elliott was a front-runner in the Hollywood Casino 400, where he led 47 laps and was on course for a top-three finish before the final caution.

After missing out on a deserving top-five finish, Elliott reflected on the solid outing as he said:

"Our car was really solid, we were in the mix to have a solid day. We were past Brad [Keselowski] for third, and that's probably where we were going to finish. I'm not sure if we had anything for Denny [Hamlin] or Tyler [Reddick] but we were as close as we have been. So that was nice and appreciate the effort all week."

Elliott will be back in action for the Bristol night race at the Bristol Motor Speedway next Saturday (September 16).