Kevin Harvick’s Spotter Cost Him His Dream Darlington Finish and Maybe a Championship

Sunday saw this year’s final 16 drivers course through the Darlington Raceway to secure their spots in the coming playoff rounds. As Hendrick Motorsports and their driver Kyle Larson ended up victorious, the rest had their own reasons behind the disappointments that they faced. For some, it was the pit crews, and for others, it was an underpowered car. For 47-year-old Kevin Harvick, it was his spotter and misfortune that ended up costing him a potential win.

Announcing his retirement early in the year, the Stewart-Haas Racing star entered the playoffs with the hopes of winning his second-ever championship in 23 years. As he looked poised for the perfect first step at Darlington, an unlikely stutter in step, courtesy of his spotter, broke things apart.

Kevin Harvick’s shot at glory brought down by an experienced spotter

An unexpected caution and penalty cost Kevin his shot at winning the Southern 500. With 56 laps left in the 367-lap race, Kevin attempted to make a green flag pitstop. Noticing this move, then race leader Tyler Reddick too attempted the same to prevent the former from having the advantage of fresh tires. But unfortunately, he wasn’t able to execute the move and decided to go another lap before pitting.

The quick change in decision caused chaos on the track and Rick Ware Racing’s Ryan Newman spun out, trying to avoid a collision with Tyler. The sequence brought the caution flag out just before Kevin could enter the pit road for his stop. Continuing down the pit road while the caution flag was out meant attracting a penalty.

This was when Kevin’s spotter and former racer Tim Fedewa gave a warning too late, asking the driver to stay on the track. But by then, Kevin was already committed to the stop and had to continue. The penalty that he attracted because of this, impacted his chances heavily.

As reported by The Athletic, adding further weight to an already committed mistake, spotter Tim had instructed the crew to get Kevin to pit for a change of tires and fuel. Had he not stopped in his stall, the driver would’ve still lost positions, but wouldn’t have attracted a penalty. Speaking about the stop, crew chief Rodney Childers said, “Timmy was yelling, ‘Might as well go ahead and pit,’ and that confused me. We should have drove through, but we were going to be 25th no matter what.” 

It is notable that Tim Fedewa served as a spotter for legend Bill Elliott. He was also the ‘eye in the sky’ for Kevin Harvick during his maiden and only Cup Series championship win.

Watch Story: Denny Hamlin Blames Tony Stewart for Letting Down “slowest” Kevin Harvick

Where do Kevin Harvick’s championship chances go from here?

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Coming back from the race, Kevin Harvick expressed his disappointment. “It was f—ing great,” he said. In the outcome of his long career, Kevin Harvick boasts 60 Cup Series victories. Formerly racing for Richard Childress Racing, he now drives the #4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, the team with which he won his first championship back in 2014. Despite being winless throughout the 2023 season, Kevin had put up enough stellar finishes to be able to qualify for the playoffs.

Entering the final 16, his crew would’ve longed to give him a win at Darlington, a track that he had conquered on two occasions before. But what they ended up with was plain, old frustration. Expressing the desire to give Kevin the perfect farewell gift, Rodney Childers said, “Right now, I want to go to victory lane and I want to win races with him. We came here with a good car, we were strong all weekend, and just unfortunate.”

The P19 finish at Darlington means that Kevin and his crew will face an uphill climb at the other two races in the first round of the playoffs. The only consolation for now is that the upcoming venues at Kansas and Bristol are two of his better tracks. There’s just one move left to make now and as the driver himself put it, “We’ll just go and put the gas pedal down and do the exact same thing we’ve done for 23 years.”

Read More: Amidst Ongoing War With Bubba Wallace, Kyle Petty Calls Out “Big Loser” Kevin Harvick’s Bad Timing