Elliott, Truex chalk up Darlington tangle as mere racing incident

Chase Elliott chalked up his on-track run-in with Martin Truex Jr. last weekend at Darlington Raceway as a "racing incident," saying he feels the two drivers have a foundation of mutual respect. RELATED: Elliott, Truex tangle at Darlington | Cup Series standings Elliott and Truex collided during their contest for the lead with 15 laps left in Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500, the opener of the 10-race NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Truex, running second, made an aggressive move heading into Turn 1 and his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota slid up into Elliott's No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Both cars scrubbed the wall and later faded to mid-pack finishes. Elliott said he anticipated competing onward against Truex without any repercussions from their late-race clash. "No, I feel like Martin and I both have a lot of respect for each other," Elliott said in a Thursday teleconference ahead of Saturday's Federated Auto Parts 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) at Richmond Raceway. "I know from my end, I respect him -- he’s a champion. I feel like we’ve had some really hard battles together, so I would hope that’s mutual. And if it’s not mutual, I still have respect for him either way. I do think that situation was a racing incident. I think we were both battling really hard for a win. I think any other time in the race, I probably would give him the position. But in that situation, you have to know that nobody is going to let anybody in for a race win with 15 laps left. "I hate that it happened – it hurt both of us. So, like I said, I don’t think it was something he did on purpose. I think we were both being aggressive and when you’re coming to a race like that and a potential win of the Southern 500, I mean I think I’d be foolish not to push for every last inch that I would have an opportunity to get. It was just an unfortunate end to a solid comeback for us." Elliott finished 20th as the last driver on the lead lap, and Truex placed one lap down in 22nd. Their contact allowed Kevin Harvick to take control and hold on for his series-leading eighth victory of the season. The result dropped Elliott two positions to seventh in the Cup Series Playoffs standings. He sits just four points behind sixth-place Truex with two races left in the opening Round of 16. Truex took some ownership of the incident shortly after it happened, telling his No. 19 team on the radio after the checkered flag: "Sorry, man. I was going for it. I guess I shouldn't have." Told of Elliott's assessment in a teleconference earlier Thursday, Truex agreed with his view of the moment. "It was just kind of one of those racing deals, where it was obviously really close," Truex said, adding that he thought he had enough momentum to complete the pass. "It was pretty much going to be the pass for the win in my eyes. I feel like in that moment, we both made a split-second decision and tried to anticipate or think about what the other one would do, and I think we both guessed wrong, to be honest with you. Just really close, obviously, nobody’s fault. I don’t think you can really put blame on one guy. Just kind of a racing deal that was unfortunate for both of our teams." Sunday's 500-miler marked the second consecutive Darlington event where late-race contact denied Elliott's strong bid for a victory. During the track's May 20 race, Kyle Busch inadvertently clipped Elliott as they vied for second place, sending the No. 9 Chevy into the inside retaining wall. Elliott reacted with a middle-finger salute directed at Busch after exiting that wreck, but said the incident with Truex was comparable in venue and the stage of the race only. "I do think that was a little different than the May thing," Elliott said. "Similar and different, I guess. But definitely the situation was different."