NASCAR Cup Series

Harvick, McMurray reflect on being on receiving end of Kenseth payback

Published Nov. 3, 2015 10:26 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

Jared Turner

If anyone can relate to how Joey Logano feels after getting deliberately dumped by Matt Kenseth in Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway, it's Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray.

"I've been on the receiving side of that, too," Harvick, the reigning Sprint Cup Series champion, told a group of reporters after Sunday's opening race of the Chase Eliminator Round. "I got into Matt and it was actually here and he throttled right up and it wasn't 50 laps later that I was in the fence, so that's kind of an eye-for-an-eye type of situation with Matt, and if it's fair, it's fair, and if it's not, it's not.

"There's really no 'in-between' with Matt. I think racing around him for a long time you kind of know where you sit with him, and so be it."

"I am a nice guy," McMurray said. "The only guy I've ever been into it with is Matt. We wrecked each other two, three times in 2004, 2005. Bristol, Loudon, we wrecked each other, yeah, at least two, three times. He's turned out to be one of my best friends.

"I would say growing up Terry Labonte, Ricky Rudd, those are guys you just did not mess with because you knew they would retaliate. Matt Kenseth is in that same category."

On Tuesday evening, NASCAR suspended Kenseth two races and placed him on a six-month probation for his actions at Martinsville. But McMurray -- at least these days -- has no problem with how the Joe Gibbs Racing driver conducts business on the track.

"Matt races everyone fair and he races hard," McMurray said. "I feel if he thinks that there could have been better decisions made, then so be it."

share

Get more from NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

NASCAR Cup Series