Montoya, Harvick fume after clash

Montoya was running sixth and got under attack from Martin Truex Jr on a restart on lap 73. He moved to the inside to try to fend off the DEI driver, but was hit from behind by him under braking for turn 1.

The Ganassi driver tried to stop his car, but helplessly ran into the side of Kevin Harvick's, both drivers spinning and being hit by others, effectively ending their run for victory on the spot.

"We got spun by the No. 1 car and we collected the 29 (Harvick) and then the 31 (Burton) collected us," said Montoya. "It crushed our transmission, everything. We tried to fix it but we couldn't."

Harvick jumped out of his car after parking it in front of Montoya's, and then confronted the Colombian in anger. He grabbed Montoya by his helmet and apparently said some things that made the latter furious.

"I went to Kevin and said 'it wasn't my fault. I got hit from behind'," Montoya added. "He started shouting and grabbing me and I don't appreciate that. If it was my fault I would've gone and said, 'it was my fault'.

"I have a little respect for the guy, well I used to have respect for a guy like that, because he helped me a lot to start with. I tried to tell him this."

Harvick apparently didn't know Montoya had been hit from behind before the Colombian got into him, but still afterwards, that really didn't matter to him.

"My interpretation is you just got run over. I guess the No. 1 [Truex] ran over the No. 42. It just all goes up in smoke because some people get impatient. It just seems like [Montoya] runs over someone every week."

Harvick told ESPN he was shouting to Montoya about 'kicking his ass'. The Colombian said he wouldn't have gone that far. "I wouldn't fight, I don't fight," Montoya said.

Team owner Chip Ganassi supported his driver, saying Harvick didn't help to cool things down. "Kevin was a big help to [Montoya] when he came over," Ganassi said. "They didn't understand what happened. We got bumped from behind."

Despite Montoya and Harvick shoving each other and the latter's words on TV, NASCAR officials said after the race that penalties are unlikely to be issued for either of them.

Montoya was classified 39th and has dropped one place in the standings, while Harvick rejoined the race later to finish 36th. He also dropped one place from eighth to ninth in the points standings.