Oakland Press photo/MATT MYFTIU
Driver Kevin Harvick speaks to the media Friday at MIS about his feud with Kyle Busch and other topics.

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BROOKLYN, Mich. -- In case you haven’t heard, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch don’t like each other.

And just in time for the Michigan race, they are both off probation for their recent on-track and pit road battles.

So that’s a recipe for more action, right?
Well, that depends on who you ask.

For his part, Kyle Busch is claiming he’s over it, and doesn’t care whether he is on probation, and that the change will have “zero” effect on his driving style.
"It didn't matter being on it or being off of it. I try to race the best I can each and every week, as hard as I can and as clean as I can. Sure, sometimes there's a time where you get into somebody or you get loose and you get into them and you spin them and they're mad at you. It wasn't intentional. There's no malicious intent involved in it. It's just a product of racing. Hopefully we can keep racing that way," Kyle said in deadpan style.

"I'm not expecting (retribution), but that doesn't mean that it won't happen. It's fine with me. It's not my problem. I race my race car and he drives his. You saw how I raced."

Now, we all know he isn’t completely innocent, but it’s clear Harvick is the aggressor here. After a rough go at Busch by Harvick vat Pocono, Harvick did not back down at MIS.

When asked whether Busch still has one coming, Harvick said: “A lot of these things, you go out on the race track and things happen and you do what you think is right at the right time.”
To translate that to English, he’s not done getting back at Busch.

Harvick said getting off probation is a bonus for when you need to race hard on track.
“You know obviously the probation ties your hands a little bit on certain things, but you have to go out and you still go out and you race as hard as you can and do the things that you need to do. And I’m going to just keep doing most of the same things that we’ve been doing and just keep racing hard,” Kevin said.
Looking back at the Pocono battle between the two, Kyle had harsh words for Kevin, and referenced a previous battle the two had at Homestead.

"Yeah, when you're getting pushed down the front straightaway all the way to the bottom of the race track you're trying to get away from the situation. It wasn't happening. He (Kevin Harvick) kept following me so I backed off and waited for my
next opportunity to pass him and then when I did pass him, he then pushed me all the way down the frontstretch. At first, it brought back a memory of what he said after Homestead and how he was racing me like a clown all day and then he parked me. So, it seems like there was a different side there."

Busch said, though, that if the race was on the line, he might not be so gentlemanly.

How hard is it to stay patient in a situation like last week at Pocono?
"It's a lot easier to do earlier in the race than it is at the end of the race. If it was for a win, it would certainly be a heck of a lot harder to do than if it's for a fifth or sixth or a something like that.

And in case you were wondering, no they have not talked since their incident, which is probably a good thing.

And will this end? Of course it will, at some point, but I’m guessing Harvick will try to get in another shot before that happens.

Harvick knows though, that retaliating against Busch is not his main goal – that would be the Sprint Cup title.
“I think for us, our main focus is racing for the championship. You have to do what’s right for your race team and sometimes it works that way and sometimes it doesn’t. So it’s all in what’s right for my team at that particular moment to try to put ourselves in the best position to try to be competitive for the championship."

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