RELATED: Chase Grid | See Truex's initial reaction
LOUDON, N.H. -- Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick had an on-track incident last Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in the opening race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but don't expect it to escalate further between the two title contenders moving forward, according to the Furniture Row Racing driver.
Truex, who wound up winning the race, said in his post-race press conference that the left-rear contact to his No. 78 Toyota from Harvick's No. 4 Chevrolet was "on purpose," but the pair has discussed the incident since and put it to rest.
"We did talk. We're fine; we're good to go," Truex said Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, site of Sunday's Bad Boy Off Road 300 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). "We just talked about what our perspectives were on it and agreed that it's over, it's done with and we'll move on and race like we always have, which is hard -- very hard -- we've raced very hard, but always clean. So we agreed that it was a racing deal and we'll move forward."
Truex explained that he still isn't positive why Harvick was upset with him in the first place, just offering that it was "heat of the battle stuff" and "I guess he thought that I ran into him."
"I'm not real sure (if he was trying to ignite a caution), I'm not sure, honestly," added Truex, who clinched his berth in the next round of the Chase with his Chicago victory. "I really don't care at this point, because we went on to win the race and we're going to move on."
While the contact didn't impact Truex's finishing position, it was perhaps nearly costly in another way -- the No. 78 failed post-race LIS inspection. Furniture Row Racing put out a statement on Monday, with president Joe Garone saying that the failure, "in high probability was due to damage in that area as a result of being hit by the No. 4 car."
The No. 78 team was not penalized by NASCAR, but Truex doesn't want the win tarnished by the failed inspection, either.
"It's such a little thing and it so easily could've went the other way, it's frustrating that it kind of taints your win a little bit, honestly," Truex said. "That's the biggest part for me and for my guys. I don't want people to look at them or us as cheaters, for 10 thousandths of an inch. It's really nothing."