FONTANA, Calif. -- -- If the dynamic between Chase and non-Chase drivers has changed as a result of the Kyle Busch-David Reutimann incident a week ago at Kansas, it hasn't reached the garage area at Auto Club Speedway.

If there's a Golden Rule in racing, it's what Kevin Harvick repeated Friday: "You race those how they race you."

“

I race guys how they race me and I've always gotten raced really, really hard against David Reutimann and I've gotten no room, no slack, no nothing.

”

-- KYLE BUSCH

That's pretty much how Busch expressed his feelings about the incident with Reutimann, which heavily damaged his Toyota and in his opinion cost him a top-five finish. Busch minced no words Friday when asked about it.

"I race guys how they race me and I've always gotten raced really, really hard against David Reutimann and I've gotten no room, no slack, no nothing," Busch said. "I had the opportunity to pass him at Lap 30 in the race and he raced me so hard it lost me two spots and I just backed off.

"I said, 'You know what, not the time in the race to do this, no big deal, I'll get him back later.' The next time I got back to him was Lap 50 and I didn't cut him any slack. I got into him, which was my fault, not meaning to."

Should Chase drivers be given special dispensation in the final 10 races of the season? Not according to a couple of those on the inside looking out: Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.

"I think that's the great thing about our sport: It's the race within the race," Harvick said. "There are a lot of guys that have created new life in their season that want to win a race, and there are a lot of guys that are racing for a championship.

"It's all about 43 cars on the racetrack and if there is a scenario that something happens between a Chase guy and a non-Chase guy, then those things are going to happen."

For Kenseth, it's all about give and take. And that doesn't change just because some drivers have championship aspirations and others are finishing out the season.

"I think you race the same all year," Kenseth said. "I think you should race everybody the same whether they're in the Chase or not in the Chase.

"I think you try to show people respect all year because everybody has the same right to be out there, whether they're first in points or last in points."

Kenseth said there should be a way to race hard without creating intentional incidents. That's how he tries to run every weekend.

"I don't want to ruin any race," he said. "No matter where you are in the points, they're all big races. I think you go out there and you're gonna race whatever your style is all the time. I don't think that really changes.

"You still have to race hard all the time because it's so competitive that you can't just go out and think about not knocking a fender off. You go out there and think about trying to get to the front."

Harvick reiterated that no one should change the way they race just because of the Chase format. But just like his incident with Denny Hamlin two weeks ago at Dover, a lingering issue can fester if the air isn't immediately cleared.

"I think everybody needs to race us as hard as they can," Harvick said. "Everybody will race everybody with respect, and obviously if you feel like you've been done wrong, then you are going to handle it however you think that it needs to be handled.

"I think that's part of what makes our Chase unique. You have all these past moments that have happened through the year that could bear their ugly head again if they haven't been settled."

Count Busch among those not particularly pleased with NASCAR's laissez-faire approach to incidents like last weekend.

"I think in the instance in which everybody knew payback was coming, I think that's kind of dumb to let it happen," Busch said. "Before [Reutimann] ran into me off of Turn 2, he brake-checked me 30 miles per hour getting into Turn 1 and so I had an idea of what was coming, but thought that this would be really dumb if this did happen. It did, so it just makes us look like idiots."