Bump-and-run: Notable nudges in NASCAR history

Kevin Harvick's victory Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway used a tried-and-true driving technique: the 'bump-and-run.' The tactic -- a subtle nudge from behind meant to upset, but not fully crash, the leading car -- has made its mark on NASCAR history. With Harvick's maneuver fresh in mind, here's a look at several noteworthy bump-and-run instances through the years.

Harvick was involved in a give-and-take version of the bump-and-run with Ricky Rudd in the 2001 Chevy Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond Raceway. Harvick gave Rudd's No. 28 Ford a shove sideways off Turn 2 with 18 laps to go, but Rudd charged back 12 laps later in Turns 3 and 4, applying what he called 'just a friendly little short-track bump-and-run' for the win.

Short tracks bring out the best in full-contact racing, and Bristol Motor Speedway has been host to plenty. Jeff Gordon (24) timed his bump-and-run move on Rusty Wallace just right in April 1997, waiting until the last lap to brush his rival out of the groove. 'Got one of those ol' love taps,' Wallace lamented post-race.

Gordon reprised the late-race bump-and-run on Wallace at Bristol in August 2002, moving his car aside and scooting past with three laps left. Gordon said Bristol's fans had come to expect an aggressive approach: 'They eat that stuff up,' he said post-race. 'I think if I hadn't done that, they probably would have booed me.'

NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt had his share of bump-and-run moves, and he made a stirring shove of Bobby Hamilton in February 1996 at Rockingham. Earnhardt caught Hamilton's bumper in the 345th of 393 laps, knocking his No. 43 Pontiac sideways and into a glancing blow of the Turn 4 wall. Earnhardt went on to hold off Dale Jarrett for the victory.

It was rare, but occasionally the 'Intimidator' was on the receiving end of the bump-and-run. Jeremy Mayfield did some intimidating of his own on the final lap at Pocono Raceway in June 2000, catching Earnhardt in the final turn and pushing him out of the racing line on the white-flag lap. 'You don't ever have a win until the checkered flag falls,' Earnhardt said.

Kyle Busch's recent New Hampshire dust-up wasn't his first participation in a bump-and-run. The bumper of Carl Edwards' No. 99 directed Busch out of the way with 30 laps remaining at Bristol in the 2008 night race. That led to a post-race bumping duel between the two after the checkers. 'Carl's going to say he's sorry, that he didn't want to race that way, but he always does,' Busch said afterward.

Nearly eight years later, Busch and Edwards were back at it again, but this time at Richmond Raceway in 2016 as teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards gave a final-lap boot to Busch's car, sending it out of the preferred line. After visiting Victory Lane, Edwards said he regretted nudging a teammate, but added, 'If the roles were reversed, I would have expected him to bump me the same way.'

The addition of stages to the racing procedures for 2017 added mid-race incentives, plus another opportunity for bump-and-run moves. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. gave it a whirl on the last lap of Stage 2 at Martinsville that spring, inching leader Kyle Busch out of the low lane to put his No. 17 Ford back on the lead lap.

Kyle Busch had a noteworthy exchange with Kyle Larson in a spirited final lap at Chicagoland Speedway. After Larson slid up the track and made contact with Busch's No. 18, Busch evened the score with a solid push to Larson's bumper on the final set of corners to ice the victory. Larson congratulated Busch post-race, saying that he expected the bump-and-run after their initial contact.

Honorable mention goes out to famous instances where bump-and-run was the intent, but the result was a dramatic crash. Dale Earnhardt said he meant to 'rattle his cage' in his duel with Terry Labonte at Bristol in 1999, but the outcome was a last-lap stack-up that crumpled Labonte's No. 5 Chevrolet short of the finish.

A more recent occurrence of a bump-and-run gone bad came at Martinsville Speedway last October. With four laps to go, Denny Hamlin gave Chase Elliott's No. 24 too forceful a push, spinning the leader around and into the Turn 3 wall. Their contact led to angry words and further bumping after a finish that had the Martinsville crowd buzzing.