NASCAR Fontana: Harvick accepts blame for crash with Larson
Stewart-Haas Racing's Kevin Harvick says he was at fault for the Fontana crash with Kyle Larson that prevented him competing for a fourth consecutive NASCAR Cup series win
Harvick was running in the outside lane on lap 37 of 200 before he ran wheel-to-wheel with Chip Ganassi Racing's Larson, with contact subsequently pitching the SHR driver into the wall.
The one-time Cup champion had started the race in 10th and worked his way into the lead pack but ended up down in 35th and nine laps down after a lengthy stop for repairs.
Larson meanwhile ran off strategy after the contact to work his way back up to second after a late pass on Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch, but was unable to challenge race winner Martin Truex Jr.
Harvick said he was to blame for the coming together.
"I went down to side draft and he [Larson] was coming up and we touched, and it just knocked the thing to the right and spun out," he said.
"I don't know that it's his fault. I think that's my fault for coming down right there and trying to side draft and then as we touch it just came back up the race track.
"I was just trying to get a little too much right there. I knew the stage was coming in.
"I've just got to thank all of my guys. They did a great job on our Ford and it was just my fault back there."
When asked if four consecutive wins were out of reach in the race, Harvick said: "No, it's not too much to ask.
"That was just a dumb mistake on my part, so it wasn't too much to ask. The race car was there, it was just a mistake."
Larson said that Harvick's move was not surprising and that the SHR man was quicker than him in the early stages.
"It's so hard to tell early in the race, but just the little bit I was around Kevin, I felt like he still had the best car," he said.
"I wasn't surprised that we were racing that hard, or he was racing me as hard as he was to try to hold me off.
"He had pitted a lap before me, so I had a lap fresher tyres than him.
"I think he knew he was better than I was overall, so he was just trying to hold me off, race me hard to maybe burn my stuff up, then he could stay in front of me.
"I was actually having a lot of fun racing like that because this place is really cool, you can just kind of go wherever."
NASCAR Fontana: Cup champion Truex takes dominant first win of 2018
Earnhardt and StarCom NASCAR Cup team split after five rounds
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
Saddled with uncompetitive Minardi machinery, Tarso Marques didn't manage to score points in his three partial seasons of Formula 1. But now the Brazilian has the chance to show what he can do in NASCAR, and explains the story of his comeback with new Cup Series entrant Team Stange
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
NASCAR’s new stock car generation is encouraging an influx of fresh blood into its top tier. But there are concerns that parts are in short supply as the entire paddock tries to build up stocks at the same time
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
After holding his nerve and hip-checking his team-mate on the run to the line, Austin Cindric made a perfect start to life as a full-timer in the NASCAR Cup Series by winning the Daytona 500. Here's how the Penske Ford man emerged first across the line in the first points-scoring race for the much-anticipated Next Generation cars
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
There are plenty of uncertainties ahead of the 2022 NASCAR Cup season as an all-new fleet of cars take to the track for the first time. Ahead of this weekend's Daytona 500, our experts explain what you need to know
How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of its Next Gen arrival
The NASCAR Cup kicks off with the Daytona 500 this weekend, but a major overhaul and a subsequent mountain of work has been required to be ready for the arrival of the Next Gen cars
How Larson took the long way round to NASCAR Cup glory
From villain to hero, Kyle Larson’s journey to the 2021 NASCAR Cup title comes straight from the Hollywood blockbuster scripts. While Larson had to reach his lifelong goal the hard way and go through a very public shaming after a ban for using a racial slur, his talents shone long before his name grabbed the headlines for both the right and the wrong reasons
How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022
It’s not just Formula 1 that’s set for upheaval in 2022, as the NASCAR Cup Series adopts its Next Gen cars that will cast any in-built advantages aside and require teams to adopt a totally new way of operating. Far more than just a change of machinery, the new cars amount to a shift in NASCAR's core philosophy
Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR
Bubba Wallace claimed his maiden NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega on Monday to become the first Black victor in the category since Wendell Scott in 1963. Both Wallace and Scott had faced obstacles and racism in their paths to their breakthrough wins, and NASCAR is trying to put it right with its range of diversity programmes