Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano have confrontation following Sprint Unlimited

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Unhappy with what he deemed over-aggressiveness, Kevin Harvick confronted Joey Logano on pit road following the Sprint Unlimited Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

The encounter stemmed from Logano forcing Harvick up the track during the final laps of the non-points exhibition, causing the defending Sprint Cup champion to graze the wall and suffer a flat tire.

“He just drove us straight in the fence,” Harvick said. “Everybody is trying to be aggressive, but you still have to know when and where you can do things. You can’t just drive somebody in the fence.

As Harvick and Logano exchanged words on pit road they were quickly surrounded by their respective teams and NASCAR officials. Both drivers were separated without any escalation.

In large part because no points were awarded, Logano was nonplussed both by the incident, as well as Harvick body-slamming Logano’s No. 22 car post-race.

“That is Kevin just being an instigator just like everywhere else,” Logano said. “It is a new year and the same stuff. We had a run and I was pushing. I was doing the same thing with (Martin Truex Jr.) all night and it was working. We got in the corner and he got tight and he got into the fence. I was trying to help. He just doesn’t understand I was trying to help.

“I understand his frustration but I was trying to help out and get to the front and try to win this thing. There are no points or anything like that so you go for the win.”

Non-points or not, Harvick said drivers can’t push like Logano did and not expect repercussions. Harvick cited an incident between the two last year at Talladega Superspeedway as evidence of Logano’s aggressiveness.

“It’s just one of those deals where you just know that it isn’t going to work,” Harvick said. “Whether it is an all-star race or not, it doesn’t really matter, you can’t just take your head off and throw it on the floor board and not use your brain. You still have to have some common sense.

“Like I told him last year, that kind of stuff catches up with you. It caught up with him last year and you can only do things like that so long before it catches up with you.”

Harvick wasn’t alone in taking exception with Logano. Danica Patrick was also upset with the Team Penske driver, walking over to Logano and saying something to him post-race.

“I don’t know. I am confused,” said Logano of why Patrick was irked. “I don’t know what’s going on right now. I am really confused about everything.”