Jeff Gluck

USA TODAY Sports

JOLIET, Ill. — Six days after it seemed their longtime friendship could be permanently fractured by harsh words, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart emerged from the NASCAR hauler on Friday apparently on good terms.

The drivers displayed a united front in telling reporters their relationship would not change despite Stewart intentionally wrecking Newman at Richmond International Raceway, who then said Stewart was “bipolar” and had “anger issues.”

The most biting remark of Newman's rant came when he referred to the 2014 sprint car incident in which Stewart’s car struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr.

But on Friday at Chicagoland Speedway, the drivers left their required meeting with NASCAR officials seemingly on the same page.

Tony Stewart doesn't blame Ryan Newman for harsh words at Richmond

No apologies were given in the meeting, they said, but none were necessary.

“We don’t have to apologize to each other,” Newman said.

“You have to remember, we’ve been teammates, we’ve known each other since long before either one of us got an opportunity to come to NASCAR,” Stewart chimed in.

“I’ll text you an apology,” Newman said as the drivers chuckled.

Stewart didn’t seem to have much remorse for crashing into Newman (“I’d love to be able to be perfect and do everything right 100% of the time, but we don’t,” he said) and Newman said he did not regret his comments (“It’s just words, right?” he said).

But Newman acknowledged his comments made for a difficult week.

“I’m frustrated by the situation and the actions that came about in respect to all of it, I think most importantly how it affected people who are associated with both of us,” Newman said. “That’s probably the roughest part.

“Nobody understands what we do in our business except us. You (media) guys are there as soon as we walk out of the infield care center and no other sport is like that. It’s challenging.”

On two separate occasions since Newman’s comments, Stewart had said he understood they came in the heat of the moment. He appeared eager to put the blowup behind him after the Friday meeting, showing a glimpse of irritation with reporters.

“Both of us are ready to move on and we’re still getting poked and prodded about it,” Stewart said. “That’s where it makes it even more frustrating across the board. It’s like you’re being laid on a table and dissected. Everybody is trying to pick your brain.

“We’ve had a week to think about it and get over it. As far as we’re concerned, it’s over. Now let us go race and worry about it Chicago.”

Stewart said making peace had nothing to do with the start of NASCAR’s 10-week Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff (which he is a part of and Newman is not).

“We’re two guys that have been friends for a long time,” he said. “The hell with the Chase. It wasn’t about the Chase, it’s about two people. That’s the bigger part.

“It’s important for us to be in there and talk about it. Can we go to work now?”

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