Kevin Harvick eager to see how Michael McDowell sending Ross Chastain plays out

Ross Chastain had dreams of kissing the bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway entering last weekend. However, those quickly evaporated during Sunday’s race.

The Trackhouse Racing star hit the wall in Turn 3 on Lap 17 of the Brickyard 400. The replay showed that Michael McDowell got into the back of Chastain in the corner, and the Alva, Florida native agreed, with some choice words.

“I went into Turn 3 and think I got ran into,” Chastain told TNT Sports following the incident. “Tough weekend for our Busch Light Lime Chevy. Felt the same balance wise and grip wise as the next couple cars in front of us. Just plugging along and yeah, we’ll take this one and go to Iowa.”

Alas, Chastain, who qualified 33rd, was running 34th at the time of the contact with McDowell. As it would turn out, it simply wasn’t Chastain’s weekend at the “Racing Capital of the World,” as he left Indianapolis with a last place finish.

For McDowell’s part, he showed a bit of sorrow at least. The Spire Motorsports driver did acknowledge he made a mistake in shipping Chastain over the weekend.

“Darn it, man. Didn’t mean to do that,” McDowell said on his radio, via Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “Just didn’t think he’d jump on the binders that hard.”

Regardless of whether he meant to or not, McDowell might have some payback coming from Chastain in the future. Kevin Harvick believes it’s possible we see some retaliation in the near future. 

“Let’s not forget that Michael McDowell planted Ross Chastain this weekend,” Harvick stated, eager to see what happens next via the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. “Let’s see how that develops as we go through the next few weeks. … Michael didn’t like getting blocked, so he just sent him, ‘You’re gone.’” 

As you can tell, Harvick believes there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to Chastain and McDowell. Usually the Trackhouse Racing star is on the other end of these confrontations though, so perhaps he’ll have some sympathy for the Spire Motorsports wheelman.

At least Chastain is already locked into the playoffs with a win, because it’s been tough for the No. 2 Chevrolet team since their Coca-Cola 600 win in late May. They’ve compiled just two top 10s in nine races in the time since Charlotte.

Moreover, qualifying has continued to be an issue for the No. 1 team, as their speed hasn’t been enough to compete. Chastain grinded out quality finishes earlier this season, but it’s been a struggle to do that of late, and Indianapolis was another example of that.

We’ll see if they can start to turn things around at Iowa this weekend. Kevin Harvick’s attention will be on Ross Chastain and Michael McDowell as the Cup Series returns to the Hawkeye State for the second consecutive season. 

— On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this article.