Having been featured on the Cup Series calendar since 1961, the Bristol Motor Speedway has had a lot of memories attached to it. In other words, there have been several memorable races in years gone by. But apart from racing action, the half-mile concrete track has delivered some of the best post-race entertainment for the race fans. Be it Rusty Wallace’s bottle throw on Dale Earnhardt in 1995 or Tony Stewart hitting a bull’s eye with his helmet throw on Matt Kenseth’s car in 2012. The short track has a rich history of drivers losing their cool.

One such race is from more recent times, specifically the 2021 Bass Pro Shops Night Race. This time around, the on-track feud was between veteran driver Kevin Harvick and rising star Chase Elliott. The friction between the two drivers sparked an incident with 35 laps to go in the race. Both drivers collided with each other racing for the lead, struggling to find their way through the lapped traffic. Elliott, who had led the previous 52 laps, had to go pit after constant beating and banging against the No. 4 Ford.

Back on the track with fresh Goodyear rubber, the HMS star was on the hunt for Harvick, he wanted to settle his score after being forced to concede his lead. His first plan of action was to squeeze the #4 car to get a lap back and then intentionally block Harvick’s path to keep him from contesting for the race win. With 4 laps to go, Kyle Larson took the lead and bagged the win, while the veteran SHR driver was left fuming. The real drama unfolded when Elliott parked his race car in front of Harvick in the pit lane.

Elliott didn’t wait a second and raised his finger right up to Harvick, who still had his helmet on. Soon, the officials and crews surrounded the two drivers, and a lot of words were exchanged. Fortunately, none of the drivers threw punches or objects, but their reactions after the race were real and unfiltered. But the fan clearly sided with the HMS star driver as boos rained on Harvick as he tried to share his side of the story.

Harvick said after the race, “I just told him it was kind of a chicken sh– move that he did there at the end. We’re racing for the freaking win at Bristol, three-wide in the middle and he throws a temper tantrum. I was just trying to get the lead, racing hard. Then he pulls up in front of me and just sits there until I lose the whole lead. Just hate it for our Subway Ford Mustang team, to be able to lose a race like that. I watched him let the #24 go by, and then anytime you run into him, it’s a problem. They can boo all they want, I don’t care. I lost so much there, and when I got behind the car, I kept getting tied off the corner and I couldn’t run my line. I’m ready to rip somebody’s freaking head off.”

Meanwhile, Elliott called Harvick out for not taking off his helmet and his on-track antics. “Whether he did it on purpose, it doesn’t matter. At some point, you have to draw the line. I don’t care who he is or how long he’s been doing it; I will stand up for myself and my team.” The good thing about this interaction was that both drivers met again later in a civilized manner. Not sure what they spoke about, but they seemed to diffuse the situation clearly.

Fast forward to 2025, and we have another blockbuster Bristol Night Race lined up for this weekend. While tempers are going to flare up, Denny Hamlin is on the verge of making history by winning three races in a row. And what better track than Bristol to accomplish this feat?

Can Denny Hamlin bag a three-peat at Bristol?

Having won four NASCAR Cup Series races at the half mile, including the last two of three, the 44-year-old JGR driver is touted the favorite to win this Sunday’s mega event. Now, we don’t have the exact Goodyear tire compound that NASCAR brought last year, but even if tire wear isn’t that big of a deal, Hamlin is a short-track specialist and should be able to get the job done. His first win of 2025 came at Martinsville, leading 247 laps, and he clearly was heads and shoulders above his competition.

But despite the odds favoring him, the veteran driver is putting in the hard yards. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that I’m not going to win these races on raw talent anymore. I’m going to have to out-work people. I’m going to have to look at things that maybe other people aren’t looking at. I do most of the sim (simulator) work for all the (Joe Gibbs Racing) cars. I only trust myself to do it. That’s just the control freak in me to want to have everything absolutely perfect.”

Apart from Hamlin, keep an eye out for Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney. The Penske driver, in particular, will be hungry to get his payback after the Darlington heartbreak where the #11 team’s pit crew snatched a win from his hands.