By Cole Cusumano

If there’s one thing we’ve been shown throughout NASCAR’s 72 years of competition, it’s drivers are rarely quick to forget when a victory has been taken away due to an on-track incident. Bristol Motor Speedway has been sight for some of the most infamous brawls and rivalries in the sport as the .533-mile track lends itself to hours of continuous side-by-side racing accompanied by prodigious physical and mental acuity. 

Most recently, many will remember the incident that occured with three laps remaining at Thunder Valley between Chase Elliott and Joey Logano. After a couple of nudges to the rear of the No. 22, the two-time Most Popular Driver throttled his Camaro deep into Turn 4 and snapped loose underneath the leader, sending both cars into the wall as they parachuted back to 21st and 22nd, while Brad Keselowski stole the show.

Following the event, tempers flared on pit road after a failure by Elliott to own up to the blunder and a forced apology prompted Logano to label the 24-year-old as “childish.” Four month later, this moment has been simmering in the backburner of the Team Penske driver’s mind until now. The NASCAR Cup Series will turn the lights on again and there is more at stake than ever as the primetime event will conclude the Round of 16 in the playoffs.

With both drivers sitting comfortably above the cutline, can we expect more drama than anticipated heading into the elimination race?

“We race to win,” Logano told POPULAR SPEED. “That’s what we’ll continue to do. Race people the way they race you. That’s kind of the expectations that I’ve always had. That, to me, is the driver code. As this sport has been brought up so many times and talked about what is code, what is code to me, that’s what it is. You treat people how they treat you and that’s just the way I kind of move through on the racing side of things.”

Starting on the front row, Logano is essentially locked into the Round of 12, but he’ll need eight additional points to solidify that. With nothing to lose, it’s not out of the question for the 2018 Champion to make things difficult for Elliott. In fact, he’s grown notorious for making controversial and aggressive moves in the postseason, specifically at short tracks.

Up by 28 points over teammate, William Byron, Elliott should feel at ease heading to a place where he led 88 laps and almost won earlier this year, but the reality is he may come to regret the stunt pulled in May. Anything is possible at Bristol and with a potential bounty set out by Logano, intensity is sure to be heightened in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race from Thunder Valley at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.