At Darlington, Ryan Newman And Juan Pablo Montoya Still Differ On Richmond Incident

Ryan Newman says an innocent racing incident at Richmond drew unnecessary retaliation from hot-headed Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya says he was tired of Newman wrecking him on purpose.

While their opinions on what happened last week at Richmond differ, they agree on one thing: They’re both still mad about it.

The drivers’ interview sessions with the media at Darlington Raceway were separated by 30 minutes on Friday, but their comments about the other person sounded similar.

“Unacceptable,” Newman said.

“I didn’t think I was being treated fair,” Montoya said.

“Disrespectful,” Newman said.

“I did what I had to do,” Montoya said.

“I’m still not happy about it,” Newman said.

Though the drivers eventually met in the NASCAR hauler prior to Friday’s Sprint Cup practice, the issue may not get resolved anytime soon. (UPDATE: FoxSports.com’s Lee Spencer that Newman hit Montoya during the meeting)

“I don’t think once you have an issue that you’ve ever over it with someone else,” Newman said. “Even if you think you’re over it, it can re-flare really quick.”

Montoya said he was treating things at Darlington as “business as usual,” but also said “it gets to the point where too much is too much, and I felt like it had to stop.”

Newman was perplexed, because he insisted it was unintentional and said Montoya ruined both of their nights for no reason.

“The way it worked out, it cost us a lot for what we didn’t do,” he said. “Getting caught up in a racing situation that turns into something else because of somebody’s temper is unacceptable in my eyes. We’ll move on.”