WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson have no hard feelings after multiple run-ins during last week’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway.
The pair of former series champions made contact during a Lap 186 restart in the Iowa Corn 350, with Elliott entering Turn 1 three-wide middle and pushing Larson, the outside car, up the track. They found each other again on a re-fire 23 laps later, before Larson got doored by fellow dirt competitor Christopher Bell exiting Turn 4 at Lap 251.
That contact ultimately set off the building fuse for Larson, who’s generally even-keeled and collected over the radio. But initially, Larson believed he had been wronged.
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“How much [expletive] room do I have to leave people,” he said over the radio to his team at Iowa. “I’ve been trying to be good — a good teammate, I’m trying to be a good competitor and it hasn’t gotten me anywhere the last hour.”
Larson finished 28th last weekend, a race that marked a fifth finish of 13th or worse over the last eight races, dating back to mid-June in Mexico City. But after digesting each of the incidents, the 33-year-old said Iowa was no harm, no foul.
“Everybody’s making a big deal about Chase. I really wasn’t that mad at Chase, and too, after seeing the replays and stuff, I was less frustrated,” Larson explained Saturday at Watkins Glen International. “I move on from things quickly. I don’t really even think that there was a need for a conversation. I’ve ran into him way more, so no, I’m all good and moved on from it.”
“It wasn’t what I thought it was from the seat. I was less frustrated with him than I was others. It was just everything kind of compiled and I was trying to keep my cool and then I just exploded.”
On the other side of the coin, in typical Elliott fashion, the No. 9 driver wasn’t aware of Larson’s comments during the Iowa race. He admitted, however, that Larson might not have been put in the best spot during the two incidents but didn’t feel that it warranted any further conversation.
Elliott finished 14th at Iowa, keeping his streak alive of 23 consecutive top-20 finishes to open the 2025 season.
“I didn’t know there was any issue, honestly,” Elliott said on Saturday. “I just feel like we were going for the same gap at the same time. I didn’t think any of that was intentional, either way. So yeah, I haven’t felt the need [to talk]. If we need to talk, we will, I’m sure. But we haven’t had any issues.”
Heading into Sunday’s 90-lapper at Watkins Glen International (2 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), Elliott and Larson share common ground along with fellow HMS teammate William Byron. The trio remains in pursuit of the Regular Season Championship, which pays out an additional 15 playoff points to the series leader after Daytona International Speedway in two weeks.
With his Iowa victory, Byron regained the lead by 18 markers over Elliott, with Larson waiting in the wings at just minus-45. The three are also responsible for five of the last six wins at Watkins Glen, dating back to Elliott’s first career win in 2018.
Back in 2022, Elliott and Larson were locked into a fierce battle on a restart with five laps to go. Larson locked his tires entering the 90-degree Turn 1 and ran Elliott wide, forcing him to lift and settle for fourth as the No. 5 team scored its second consecutive WGI victory.
There’s certainly no ill will dating back three years, but with its August date on the Cup Series schedule, the wild card could produce major postseason implications with just three regular-season races remaining. But according to Elliott, it’ll stay business as usual for all three HMS drivers in the mix for the regular season crown.
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“Generally speaking, I feel like the communication and things that go on behind closed doors are all very open and honest, and good relationships around the campus,” Elliott said, referring to the next three events. “I don’t think there’s really any need for us to change our procedures or how we go about things throughout the week. We just handle things indoors and internally and feel like that’s the best way to go about it and we’ll keep doing it.”
Elliott’s 170 laps led at Watkins Glen are second only to Kyle Busch (249) among active drivers, but he’s finished 19th or worse in each of the last two Upstate New York races — including a Stage 2 fuel miscalculation in 2023.
For Larson, his six road-course victories are tied for fourth all time, but the left- and right-hand turns haven’t treated him kindly in 2025 with an average finish of 29th — third worst among full-time drivers. He’s going to need a turnaround at The Glen to stay in contention for the Regular Season Championship.
“Some good finishes, good stage points these next few weeks would be really important. We’re definitely not out of it,” said Larson, who will head to Iowa after qualifying to race for his fourth Knoxville Nationals title. “You’ve seen big swings kind of happen in points for Next Gen racing, just how crazy the races get. Watkins Glen has been a track that we were good at the previous two years before last year, Richmond’s kind of a hit-or-miss track for us, and then Daytona, anything can happen.
“We’re definitely not out of it.”