Well, that’s awkward. Two Hendrick Motorsports teammates had a slight feud during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
While exiting pit road late in the event, Kyle Larson swerved to the right to avoid Brad Keselowski, who was exiting his pit stall. With the swerve, Larson doored his teammate Chase Elliott on pit road exit.
Elliott was unable to swerve to avoid Larson due to Tyler Reddick being to his outside. After the initial contact, Elliott swerved into the side of Larson’s car on the apron of the track.
They're teammates. 😬
Chase Elliott wasn't happy with Kyle Larson. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/71G4fYHT72
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 10, 2023
It didn’t end there, though, as Elliott sought out his teammate following the race. Elliott walked up to the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and confronted Larson to talk about the issue man-to-man.
"I understand why he was mad."
Chase Elliott went to Kyle Larson's car after the race. Take a look at the contact racing off pit road. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/KJNQXlcDax
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 10, 2023
“From my vantage point, I knew we were three-wide while we were leaving. And I knew — well, I didn’t know — but the [No.] 6 is pitted in front of us, and I just trying to leave as much space as I can,” Larson said to NBC Sports after the race. “He’s coming out of the lane, because the 6 is trying to slow us down. I tried to leave as much space as I could. Obviously, I made contact with [Elliott], but I felt like if I didn’t, I was going to clobber the 6 right in the right front. I thought the safest bet for all of us was for me to squeeze out a little bit.”
Larson says while he understands that Elliott is upset about the move, he hopes he’ll eventually understand it was the best option available for him at the time.
“I understand why he’s mad, or was mad in the moment,” Larson stated. “I hope when he sees the replay, he understands I didn’t have the space, or not much. It was just inches.”
