The recent NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway saw Austin Cindric take the win. But not before failing to win Stage 2, as Bubba Wallace instead drove to victory. With Cindric failing to launch an attack on the lead behind Wallace, Team Penske teammate Joey Logano was seething. Now, Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick has weighed in on the resulting messages from Logano, offering the point of view of an experienced racer.

At the end of Stage 2, as the cars headed towards the checkered flag, Logano expected his teammate to join him in a bump draft, with the objective of out-drafting Wallace. This didn’t happen, with Cindric instead lifting and allowing the 23XI driver to take the stage win.

“Way to go, Austin. Way to go. You dumb f—. Way to f—ing go,” Logano said, angered. “What a stupid s—. He just gave it to him. Gave Toyota a stage win. Nice job. Way to go. What a dumbass.”

This language against his teammate has received plenty of reactions, including from Baseball Hall of Famer Chipper Jones who didn’t hold back in his criticism.

Now, on the Happy Hour podcast, Harvick has given his say:

“I do disagree with Joey’s assessment of that,” Harvick stated. “It looked to me like there was so much momentum going forward that he had to pop out of line and put himself, you know, in a spot where he wasn’t just going to ram into the back of the No. 22.

“So, I felt like there were a couple cars behind him pushing, and a lot of times what happens in that scenario is, if you just try to hit the car in front of you, then it stacks you up, and you’re already being pushed, then sometimes it spits you out and spins you out. So, it’s really kind of 50-50, as to whether you know that gripe from Joey is legitimate.”

He continued:

“I think, from a driver standpoint, you always feel like you’re getting hung out like your teammate, or he could’ve helped you. You have this plan that’s laid out before the race with the manufacturers, and you’re expecting him to push you. I think there was more to it than just being able to push. But Joey definitely went off. I was a little surprised that he went off on the radio like that.”

Talking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday, Logano doubled down on his take.

“Yeah, my perspective is the same. It hasn’t changed a bit. I don’t think TV captured exactly what upset me. And I’m not here to irritate Audrey (Austin) either. I’m here to talk about what our internal rules of going at it at super speedways are. At this point, there’s sometimes a straw that breaks the camel’s back. It may have been at that moment.”