NASCAR defending champ Harvick denies intentionally causing crash

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Reigning NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick shrugged off his critics Tuesday and insisted he did not intentionally cause a wreck at Talladega Superspeedway to preserve his spot in the playoffs and keep his bid for a repeat alive.

Harvick was accused by at least four other drivers of triggering an 11-car accident at the end of Sunday’s race to avoid being eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field. NASCAR said Tuesday a review of the incident failed to show Harvick did anything intentional, and he also dismissed the claims.

“They can look at it 100 different ways, but you can’t quit. You can’t roll over and be done with it and say, ’We tried our best,”’ Harvick said. “I don’t need to defend myself.”

Harvick had an ailing engine and knew his Chevrolet would struggle to accelerate on a restart at the end of the race. Harvick maintained his position in line, and when Trevor Bayne darted around his slow car, Harvick ended up hooking the back of Bayne’s car, triggering the crash.

Among those who accused Harvick of intentionally starting the wreck were Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth, who were both eliminated from the playoffs.

“From their perspective, I can understand their frustration of not being in the Chase,” Harvick said. “I am not going to throw stones because I don’t believe that’s the right thing to do. I did the best I could on the restarts to get going, I got out of the way, and I never even saw [Bayne] until he was by me. You can’t stop. You have to try to let it play out.”

Not everyone thought Harvick was in the wrong.

“That was his shot, he did what he had to do,” four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon said Tuesday. “You can’t blame him for that.”