So it began, what many were waiting eagerly for happened. Kyle Larson won his first race of the season, a season in which many are betting on him successfully defending his Cup title.

But while the race win in Fontana was well-earned courtesy of some sensational driving in the last couple of laps, Larson, in a way, won at the expense of his teammate Chase Elliott.

This is because while Chase Elliott was building up a charge in Stage 3 to contest for the win, his efforts were cut short by Kyle Larson as he made contact with the No. 9 Camaro, putting him in the wall.

However, after the end of the race, it was revealed that Kyle Larson didn’t actually know his teammate was coming to his right. And by the time his spotter Tyler Monn, let him know that, it was too late, something for which he apologized later.

“Today I made a mistake. I will take full responsibility for what happen on track today. I was worried more about the 22 and not the 9. It was a late call on me it had nothing to do with Kyle,” Monn tweeted.

Kyle Larson explains his side of things

After the race, Kyle Larson addressed the contact with Chase Elliott in the post-race interviews.

He said, “I had a run so I went to peel off and as soon as I peeled off, my spotter’s yelling, ‘Outside, outside, outside.’ And I had no clue [Elliott] was even coming.”

“I mean just an honest mistake on probably both of our faults. I should have had more awareness in my mirror, my spotter could have told me he was coming with a big run and we would’ve avoided that mess.”

Kyle Larson admitted that he hates it happened the way it happened. “I know that they’re upset, but we’ll talk and hopefully we’ll get on the same page,” he added.

“I would never run into my teammate or block him that aggressively — and that late — on purpose.”

Also Read: WATCH: Chase Elliott Goes on an Epic Rant Against “Stupid M**********r” Hendrick Motorsports Teammate Kyle Larson