This weekend, the NASCAR playoffs kick off with the Southern 500 race at Darlington. Chase Elliott heads into this race as the pole-sitter, but has some bad memories of this race.

Back in May, Elliott got involved in a small scuffle with Kyle Busch and he was furious with the defending champion. As it turned out, Busch tagged Chase Elliott and sent him straight into the wall.

With that, his race was practically over and done with, while Kyle Busch went on to win the second stage and finish 3rd overall. Suffice to say, Elliott was furious and when Busch eventually passed him, he flipped him the bird.

How fierce is the Chase Elliott-Kyle Busch rivalry?

Fortunately, the two drivers have cleared the air between them since the incident. Apparently, Busch misjudged how close he was to Elliott and the wreck was unavoidable.

After the obscene gesture, Elliott was not done with Busch, not by a long shot. During a brief rain spell at the South Carolina track, some of Elliott’s crew members gathered near Busch’s parked car. They soon proceeded to engage in a massive stare down with the #18 driver.

The Joe Gibbs Racing team told Kyle Busch about the welcoming committee. The tensions between the two parties got to a point where one of the JGR crew members acted as de facto bodyguards.

Not wanting any trouble, NASCAR official eventually broke up the tension. They ordered the crew to get back over the wall and back to their own side of the pit area. The ordeal appeared to dissipate when Busch was spotted having a small discussion with Elliott’s team.

Luckily, it has been some time since that incident, so the red-blooded adrenaline would have calmed down. In other words, things are now cool between Elliott and Busch. However, the #9 driver will be keen to avoid a similar incident in this weekend’s race.