By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
Following the penalty assessed by NASCAR on Wednesday evening that resulted in the loss of all seven playoff points, Kevin Harvick had stern words for the post-race technical process and fan officiating on Friday at ISM Raceway.
The No. 4 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team was found in violation of sections 20.4.8.1 (Rear Window Support and Structure) and 20.4.18 (Rocker Panel Extensions) of the NASCAR rule book. According to the rule book, the rear window support braces must keep the rear window glass rigid at all times, and the right-side rocker panel extension was aluminum and did not meet specifications.
While losing the seven playoff points he lost 20 championship points and his car chief for two races. Harvick admitted that the side skirt penalty was justified, but is confused about the rear window support and structure penalty.
“As you look at the penalty itself it is very confusing. I think as you look at all the chatter that was created on social media afterwards — the whole findings of the whole thing started with the roof braces not working in the car which are non-mandatory braces that exist in the back of the roof. That is what squished it down,” Harvick stated.
“The window bracing itself, there were no issues with. When you look at the perpendicular bar, there is no specific way it says it has to be connected. Ours is connected. As you look at the bracing itself, there was no issue with that. The roof caved in, pulled the back and top of the window down, and that is really the root of the social media outrage that came after the race.”
Harvick mentioned that everything on the winning car from Las Vegas was the same as it was from Atlanta, alluding to the fact that the No. 4 car has went to the NASCAR Research and Development Center 49 times over the past three years. As a result, Harvick is looking for consistent rulings across the board from NASCAR on the issue.
“If you have to find a technicality that is that deep, that is the thing that is frustrating from a team standpoint and especially the explanation when you look at the window bracing and the way the window is attached to the car. You could call that penalty on any car in the field at some point. I have had window braces smashed in the front of my car, several times,” Harvick continued.
“They fail all the time in the front. If we want to officiate it with fan pictures – if you want to officiate it with pictures during the race and call people to pit road and do those types of things, from a NASCAR standpoint I am fine with that. As long as it is consistent. As you can see, from a lot of the pictures roaming around on the internet this week, it is not consistent.”
If it wasn’t for the social media outrage following the race, Harvick believes that he would not have been penalized. Harvick believes that taking a car back to the R&D Center and assessing penalties on Tuesday and Wednesday creates confusion amongst the casual NASCAR fan. This is a topic that has been discussed in driver council meetings.
“As a sport, that is something that we have all been talking about. That was definitely something that the optical scanning station was definitely supposed to help alleviate,” Harvick continued. “That is what we have been told. When there are things wrong, things fail, things happen, they still have to officiate the sport but when it comes out on Tuesday, to the casual fan it is very confusing.”
Stewart-Haas still has the option to appeal the penalty. In an effort to not prolong the penalty car chief, Robert Smith, will not be in Phoenix with the team this weekend; Nick DeFazio will serve as the car chief this weekend.