Tempers were still raging Friday between #42-Juan Pablo Montoya and #39-Ryan Newman, who had a heated discussion at Darlington Raceway about an extended on-track feud. Newman, asked if he hit Montoya during what sources called a heated session inside the NASCAR hauler, said, “That’s speculation.” Asked the same question Montoya said, “I don’t know. Ask him.” Both drivers tried to downplay their latest flare-up in their morning media sessions, but a later meeting moderated by NASCAR did not go well. The two were called in to discuss their actions last Saturday night at Richmond, where Newman wrecked Montoya early in the race, and Montoya later retaliated by intentionally crashing Newman. “We did have a meeting with both Ryan and Juan relative to their incident, and we made it clear to them that this is their final warning. We also made it clear to them that we will be watching them very closely,” NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said. “The meeting did not go as well as we had hoped it would.” NASCAR told the two drivers the discussion is not finished.(Associated Press/ESPN.com)(5-6-2011)
UPDATE: The Juan Pablo Montoya/Ryan Newman feud erupted Friday afternoon at Darlington Raceway. Sources tell FOXSports.com that an altercation broke out between the drivers in the NASCAR hauler, the sanctioning body’s at-track office where private meetings can be held. One source told FOXSports.com that Montoya said after the incident that “Newman hits like a girl.” When asked directly about the incident after his qualifying run Friday, Montoya said, “I’m not going to tell you s—. Let’s leave it at that. What happened in the trailer was between me, Ryan Newman and NASCAR. That’s it.” Asked about whether Newman threw a punch, Montoya smiled and said, “That’s just speculation. It was a private meeting; that’s why we met in the hauler.”(Fox Sports)(5-7-2011)
