“If Mike Helton was in my day, if you did what Austin Cindric did at COTA, they would have parked you.” When Kevin Harvick said these words, he didn’t do so lightly. He remembers facing the intimidating race director, Mike Helton, with Bill France Jr. contemplating suspensions. Harvick isn’t a stranger to getting his elbows out on the track. And with Darlington approaching, one can’t help but go back to Harvick’s legendary fight with none other than Rowdy.

While the Darlington weekend is now known for the Throwback schemes and hosting the Southern 500, over a decade ago, fans came to remember it for different reasons. A brawl between two of its biggest stars was bound to stay in their memories.

Let’s revisit how it all unfolded.

As the 2011 Southern 500 unfolded, fans knew they were in for a chaotic race. 11 caution flags throughout the race, and the wildest one would happen right at the end! With just 4 laps to go, Harvick and Kyle Busch were continually making contact. As the action heated up, Busch drove Harvick into the inside wall. Both cars stood still for a moment, and it looked like just another wreck. Harvick and Rowdy backed out and went into the pit lane, and it was here that the action exploded.

As the two cars crossed paths, Harvick signalled for his crew to come to him, while rushing to jump out of the car. He rushed to Rowdy’s window and threw a punch just as Busch began driving away from the scene. That’s not all! With no driver in Harvick’s Impala, it turned right into the pit wall and crashed. Tempers flared wildly in both garages. Harvick’s crew wasn’t having any of it and wanted to have a go at Busch.

“I made a judgment call there and it wasn’t one of the best choices that I had, but I pushed his car out of the way on pit road and unfortunately there were men walking down pit road. I hate it that somebody could have gotten hurt, but I was just trying to get away from it and get back to my hauler and go on with my own business,” Busch later explained. But the damage was done. NASCAR had to take action. Down came the punishment hammer.

$25,000 fines for both drivers and four weeks of probation were handed out. “We have to maintain a safe environment on pit road. We made it clear to them in our meeting that this was their final warning and that we would be watching them closely and that enough is enough,” NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp explained. However, that wasn’t all. Richard Childress and Joe Gibbs both had to get involved.

Speaking about it recently, Harvick revealed, “We went up in the trailer — and Kyle and I had been in the trailer a lot together over instances — but that night, I’ll never forget it, because that was one of those nights that Joe Gibbs and Richard [Childress] had to go to the trailer, as well, because they were supposed to be in charge of their drivers. And Joe Gibbs said something, and I said something back. Joe actually wrote me a letter after that meeting of just, ‘Hey, this, this and this.'”

Despite the consequences and aftermath of the event, and reflecting on Busch’s evasive action, Kevin Harvick said, “I recall my shoulder still hurting because as I went in to punch him in the head, he decided to take off in his car. Right here, he knew he was going to get punched in the head. He decided that, ‘I’m not going to get punched in the head.'” 

Cut to present day, Harvick is schooling young racers in the art of driving against competitors. While his fight with Kyle Busch was in the pit road, it doesn’t mean Harvick is letting drivers get away with aggression on the track.

Kevin Harvick calls out Austin Cindric’s Martinsville antics

It seems Martinsville has something that brings out drivers’ aggressive side. Last year, blocking antics made headlines during the playoffs. This year, it’s the young drivers who are getting called out for being overly aggressive on the track. One of these drivers was Penske racer Austin Cindric. During the Cook Out 400, Cindric found himself sandwiched between Riley Herbst and A. J. Allmendinger on Lap 201.

In the events that followed, Herbst spun out after Cindric’s slight rear hook. Denny Hamlin certainly wasn’t a happy customer. “When things aren’t going his way, he’s wrecking guys,” he said. However, Kevin Harvick’s verdict was even harsher.

He declared, “If Mike Helton was in my day, if you did what Austin Cindric did at COTA, they would have parked you and you would have sat in the Hauler the whole race by yourself waiting for them to come out of the tower. And they’re going to take their time coming out of the tower. And then they’re going to sit there and they’re going to have, you know, a 30 or 40 minute conversation with you…and you’re going to have a whole new perspective on life and how racing works when you leave that meeting.”

That’s not all. Harvick wasn’t having any of Sammy Smith’s post-race comments when he justified his on-track aggression. “They don’t care. I mean, he pretty much Sammy Smith pretty much said I don’t care what he thinks. I don’t care what they think. I’m doing what I think I had to do. I have no respect for that guy. What about the guys that got to go back and fix your car? I know that I’ve had my a– reamed by my team. They hated me when I would do dumb stuff like that.”

NASCAR has done its job for now. Penalties have been handed out. Darlington will show whether they have had the effect that was intended.