Truex on Harvick: "He just hit me for no reason"

He had multiple things to overcome during the race, including some contact with a fellow Chaser. After getting back on the lead lap, Truex was fighting his way back through the field when he encountered Harvick, who was still a lap down.

As they two went side-by-side, the No. 4 came up and hit the door of the No. 78, causing Truex to fume on the radio.

Truex believes Harvick intentionally got into him, but doesn't understand why. In Victory Lane, he said, "Harvick ran into us and bent our fender, I think on purpose and we had to come back from that."

During the post-race press conference, Motorsport.com asked the race-winner to elaborate on the incident and why he thought Harvick intended to hit him. 

"Well nothing led up to it. We hadn't been around each other all day, really. I passed him once earlier. I had fresh tires, he was lapped and that was after I had my flat (so) I was racing to get my lap back."

It was after Truex had gotten his lap back that the incident took place. "He got underneath me, we come off of (Turn 2) and he just hit me in the left rear, for no reason. We were going straight. The reason I thought it was intentional was because we were on a straightaway. Typically, it's real easy not to run into somebody's left rear on a straightaway. And so, as far as I could tell, he did it on purpose. All I can do is assume that and wait for him to tell me otherwise."

While Truex would go on to win the race, Harvick never did get back on the lead lap, finishing 20th. 

And on Monday afternoon, the team also cited the contact for why the No. 78 failed post-race LIS inspection twice (READ MORE HERE).