NASCAR: Top 5 controversial moments of the 2021 season

Controversial moment no. 5: Harvick vs. Elliott; the battle begins

As the first elimination race of the playoffs was winding down, three drivers in championship contention found themselves battling for a win at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Chase Elliott, who held the lead, was being run down by Kevin Harvick, who had gone nearly one full calendar year since his most recent win. Behind the leaders, Kyle Larson was lurking just a few car lengths back.

In the closing laps, Elliott and Harvick were door-to-door for the lead. Both drivers had already solidified a spot in the round of 12 on points, but that didn’t stop them from racing hard through lapped traffic.

With 35 laps to go, however, Harvick, who was on Elliott’s inside, appeared to overdrive the entry to turn three, and he slid up the track and into the driver-side door of Elliott’s #9 Chevrolet. Elliott had a tire go down as a result of the contact, costing him a shot at the race win. But after a quick pit stop under green flag conditions, he retaliated.

No longer on the lead lap, Elliott put his car directly in front of Harvick’s #4 Ford after coming off pit road and trading some paint. Elliott blocked Harvick, and eventually, Larson was able to find his way around him to secure his sixth win of the season. Following the race, a very long conversation occurred between Harvick and Elliott, one in which it appeared they agreed to disagree.

At first, many NASCAR fans began taking sides on the issue, but this evolved into criticism against NASCAR. Some fans believed that Elliott’s intentional retaliation cost Harvick the race win and that NASCAR should penalize him for his actions, which potentially altered the outcome of the race.

Others said that the retaliation was justified with a philosophy of “You cost me a win, I cost you a win.” Ultimately, NASCAR opted not to hand down any penalties for the incidents that took place, which led to further criticism for a short time. But just as things appeared to simmer down, part two of the heavyweight battle brought out even more opinions from fans.