Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott Clear the Air at Las Vegas

One of the main storylines from last weekend's race at Auto Club Speedway was the potential feud brewing between Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. The two most recent Cup Series champions made contact in the closing laps of the race, when Larson claimed that he did not see Elliott trying to pass him on the outside going into Turn 1.

While Larson went on to win the race, the contact between the two drivers caused Elliott to fall off the pace, eventually spinning out on Lap 192 and finishing 26th. Elliott let out his frustration over the team radio. “What (expletive) is he doing, man? It wasn’t even close. It’s probably going to break again before the end of the race. But I don’t really give a (expletive) who is leading the race.”

Following the conclusion of the race, Larson tried to explain his side of the incident.

“Joey (Logano) did a good job on the bottom, and then we were side-drafting each other, and I’m not even looking in my mirror at that point because all I’m worried about is Joey and I’m looking out of my A-post window,” Larson said. “I had a run, so I went to peel off, and as soon as I peeled off, my spotter (Tyler Monn) is yelling, ‘Outside! Outside! Outside!’ and I had no clue he (Elliott) was even coming.”

Larson referred to the moment as an honest mistake, and his spotter took some of the blame himself. Still, it was Larson that tried to smooth things over. “I should have had more awareness in my mirror. It happened, and I hate that it did. I know they’re upset. But we’ll talk, and hopefully we’ll get on the same page. I would never run into my teammate or block him that aggressively and that late on purpose.”

That meeting took place virtually, and was led by Rick Hendrick himself. “Rick called a meeting with all four teams and just kind of reiterated his expectations with us drivers, so it’s good to get those reminders every now and then,” Larson said on Saturday. “We’ll continue to race good in the future with each other, so I’ll catch up more with Chase here in a little bit and we’ll be good.”

The two young talents met on Saturday at Las Vegas, and ironed things out quickly. “I felt like he was understanding,” Larson said. “I was encouraged by that. He’s always been a great teammate. And we’re both young; we’re both going to be fighting for wins together. Hopefully, nothing like that happens again.”

"It went well," Larson proclaimed. "Honestly, better than I anticipated. He’s a good teammate and I’m going to do my part to be a great teammate each and every week, and hopefully, we never have any instances happen like what happened last week." That is exactly what the team needs.

The season has just begun, with today's race marking Round 3 on the 36-race calendar. Larson and Elliott are clearly title contenders and all four drivers could very well be race winners again this season.

One of the main reasons why Hendrick Motorsports has won back-to-back championships is because they all operate as one team. The focus and preparation was done by all four teams working together, earning them 17 race wins a year ago. The foursome of Larson, Elliott, Alex Bowman, and William Byron became the only team in modern history to win six consecutive races last season.

Mr Hendrick himself believes that the organization is back where it needs to be, in terms of dominance. "When you have everybody working together, when you have the crew chiefs not trying to hide things but legitimately wanting to help each other and make all the cars better. Communication between the drivers where you don’t have a driver that’s upset with the other driver or jealous, just building a wall between them."

This is the strongest four-car lineup that the organization has ever had, and they want to keep it that way. There is no Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson taking the majority of the pie. Everyone contributes and gets an equal opportunity to have success.

Teammates not seeing eye to eye is nothing new. The fire and desire to win is what fuels their greatness. This will not be the last time teammates have a run in. The fact that these two were able to clear the air and move on without much drama speaks volumes about their relationship.

Larson starts on the front row in the Pennzoil 400 later today, while Elliott starts from the 5th position. Larson won the spring race here last season and Elliott is still searching for his first victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Chase has finished 2nd and 3rd, leading 178 laps along the way. Larson will be aiming for his second consecutive win after taking the checkered flag last weekend at Fontana.

Coverage for today's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas begins at 3:30 PM ET on FOX.