Kevin Harvick’s disappointing final season in NASCAR hit another low when a top-2 finish was snatched away from him at Talladega. The driver of the #4 car seemed set to take the checkered flag but Ryan Blaney beat him to the line in a photo finish. The veteran racer is yet to record a victory this year and it is becoming increasingly unlikely. Talladega seemed like a good place where he could have at least finished in a good position but Stewart-Haas Racing’s inefficiency cost him yet again.
Tony Stewart has come under a lot of fire of late for not meeting Kevin Harvick’s standards. The 2014 Cup Series champion is one of the greatest drivers of the modern era, yet he looks like a backmarker in every race. He will get a grand send-off regardless of how this season goes but it would have been better had he won at least one race.
Kevin Harvick’s comments cast doubts over SHR’s honesty
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Kevin Harvick had finished P2 at the Talladega Superspeedway, only for NASCAR to take away his glory. According to the organizers, the #4 car was found to be in violation of sections 14.1.e&p (overall vehicle assembly) and 14.5.6.2.F (Windshield) of the NASCAR Rulebook.
Denny Hamlin explained the situation well in a recent episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast. The JGR star said that Harvick’s windshields were not secured to the car’s greenhouse (the roof of the car). This, according to Hamlin, gives the car an aerodynamic advantage. A higher windshield would ensure air being deflected from inside the car and over the spoiler, which would reduce drag significantly.
Kevin Harvick seemed to be unaware of the whole matter before it was brought to light by NASCAR. The retiring veteran did not seem to care too much but alluded that Tony Stewart’s men might have had an idea beforehand.
“Obviously you don’t want to be in the middle of those situations but I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other. I can see it both ways and so you know, it’s just…I did my job. I don’t know any other way to say that. I did my job and the rest of it is open for debate as to who did what and the rules, good or bad or…I don’t know,” he said.
“You know, I don’t know all the scenarios from either side so, I hear it from sides, can see it from both sides in some way shape or form so…but I didn’t dig deep into whether it was just or unjust. I just went home and heard the news like everybody else and I went on with my week. I didn’t cry myself to sleep over that,” Harvick added.
A lot of people seem to believe that the whole situation was done on purpose by Stewart-Haas Racing. Among them is the seven-time Cup Series champion Richard Petty.
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Seven-time Cup champion claims SHR guilty
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In a recently released video on Instagram, Richard Petty said that he believed the team knew exactly what they were doing with Kevin Harvick’s car, and were just covering it up.
“I don’t think that was a mistake. I think intentionally somewhere down the line somebody figured out that if the brackets that were holding the windshield came loose, somehow or another the windshield changes, and the aerodynamics changed on the car. You know you gotta figure that he was the best of that particular group of cars and so the rest of them must not have been doing what he was doing,” the seven-time champion said.
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Whether it was on purpose or not, perhaps we will never know for a long time. Do you think SHR knew what they were doing or was it just an honest mistake? Let us know your views.
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