Penalty phase for Harvick-Dillon dust-up

Harvick, fourth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings driving for RCR, competed with NTS Motorsports in Saturday's truck race. He has three Sprint Cup races remaining with Childress, his car owner in NASCAR's top series since 2001, before moving to Stewart-Haas Racing next season.

The incident began with 13 laps remaining in the Kroger 200, with Dillon challenging Harvick for second place behind eventual winner Darrell Wallace Jr. Dillon dipped inside of Harvick's No. 14 truck in the first and second turn; the two trucks made contact and slowed in front of series points leader Matt Crafton, who plowed into the back of Dillon's Childress-owned No. 3.

After Dillon and Harvick righted themselves, Harvick sideswiped Dillon's truck on the backstretch under caution. Dillon retaliated by repeatedly rear-ending Harvick's truck before the two eventually made their way back to pit road.

Once off the track, Harvick parked his truck in Dillon's pit stall as he was preparing to stop for repairs. The Childress crew confronted him, needing to be separated by NASCAR officials from the driver's compartment. One crewmember lofted a padded mallet at Harvick's truck during the scrum.

Harvick exited the race soon thereafter and blasted the Childress organization and the team owner's grandsons -- Ty and Austin Dillon. He apologized for his heated remarks Sunday morning before driving to a sixth-place finish in the Sprint Cup Series event at Martinsville.

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