Kevin Harvick on Joey Logano

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Oh man, some of these gems are classic!

Being brought into the sport when I was 23, I said a lot of things where you look back and you go, 'I probably shouldn't have said that.' (Logano's comments were) right on the edge of making it personal, and personal...I don't think he really wants to get into that. That'd be a lot worse for him than just handling it man-to-man and doing it the right way.

Let me break all this down for you.

We had the issues (in the Nationwide race) at Bristol. We raced for 40 laps, chop, chop, chop, chop. That one ended up the way it ended up (Harvick wrecked Logano).

Dad (Tom Logano) has physical contact with one of my PR people (after Bristol). We go to Nashville and I tell him, ‘Alright, Joey, best thing you can do is get your dad under control.' And he turned around, laughed at me, and said ‘Do you really think that was a big deal?' Obviously, now, it's a pretty big deal.

So at that particular point, I said obviously he really doesn't want to take any advice and doesn't want to talk about things any further than what he thinks is right.

We go to Phoenix (for Cup), he crashes into the back of me and tries to spin me out down the straightaway. I blow it off.

Richmond (Nationwide), last restart, dumps me out of the way, lose four or five spots. So at that point, I get out of the car, tell him how I feel. We go to Pocono, race hard, things just happen. That's how you gotta race him from my standpoint.

I tried to break the ice at Nashville at driver intros, and he pretty much turned around and told me his dad having a problem with my PR person was not a big deal and he pretty much laughed in my face. And so at this point, it's up to him.

I'd love to work it out. I feel like I can go to pretty much anybody in the garage and work something out. It's just at that particular stage where it's up to him as to what he wants it to go into and how he wants to play the game. I'm fine with the game; been on both sides of it.

Racing hard is one thing, but chopping and blocking and not giving somebody a lane to race is different. Joey Logano's a good race car driver. He deserves to be here. He's going to have a long career at this level. The hardest part to figure about this sport is how the politics work, how the on-track stuff works and how to handle yourself as a race car driver and unfortunately, he's 20.

There's a big step that has to be taken: Obviously, shedding the dad. That was the biggest issue last week. After the race, same thing: Dad's up in the motorhome driver's face, chanting and hollering. Those things don't need to happen. At this particular point, he's responsible for his own career. He can either fix it and go about things the right way, and in my opinion, he gets bad advice on how he needs to race.

He's getting pushed, and it's very evident who's pushing him the most, and that's his dad. His dad shoved him into a pile like a dog chasing after a bone last week to go over there and want to fight. The good thing about it is, my guys did a great job in handling it. That could have escalated into something that didn't really need to be.

His father has no place in this. His father needs to step back and act like the rest of the dads and be happy that his kid is here. This isn't Little League baseball anymore. He just needs to stay away and act like a 50-year-old man or however old he is.

(On Mark Martin's comments that Harvick should be worried about retaliation): You gotta figure Mark Martin, him and the Loganos are buddies. He's on whoever's side is most convenient this week.

(On whether he's worried about Logano retaliating): He's had two chances and you guys didn't even notice. However he wants to play it, I'm fine with it. These things are a lot easier to work out in the motorhome lot or on the phone. I tried to break the ice once and help him with his dad, and he laughed at me. Now look where he's at.

I caused a lot of trouble in the beginning of my career, but I still have an understanding for all the things I did wrong, and I still do a lot of things wrong. It's not like I'm the angel sitting up here. I think we all know that.

I don't think causing a ruckus on pit road last week is going to define him not taking any more crap. You do things right on the racetrack and I think you earn that respect from your competitors.

Kevin Harvick Explains His Side, Says Tom Logano Has No Place At Track - SBNation.com

Shorter Harvick:

 

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To add to this, Ralph Sheheen (TNT Sports) said Tom Logano shoved him when he (T. Logano) was trying to get to Harvick.

If this stuff that Harvick and Ralph Sheheen has said is true, then Tom Logano needs to be banned from the NASCAR garage. They already pulled his hard card once, time to do it again.

 

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NASCAR and Texas Motor Speedway officials pulled our hard cards because our reporter in Texas got a driver's autograph (and I can't disagree with TMS/NASCAR for doing that). It's not like it's a hard thing for NASCAR to do.