Kevin Harvick's crew chief fined $100,000 right after record 600th NASCAR Cup Series start

NASCAR issued an L2-level penalty to Kevin Harvick and his #4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team after discovering that the team had modified a single source supplied part.

The violation was discovered when the sanctioned body took the #6 Ford Mustang to their Research and Development Center following last weekend’s Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

The penalties fall under the headings of Sections 14.1 and 14.5 in NASCAR's rule book. This includes docking 100-point penalties for both Kevin Harvick and his team in their respective points tables. In addition, Harvick’s crew chief Rodney Childers, who just made his 600th Cup Series start, was fined $100,000 and suspended for the next four Cup Series races.

Childers will miss the next four races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Martinsville Speedway. He will be eligible to return for the season finale at Phoenix Raceway on November 6, 2022.

On Twitter, Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass shared the news, stating that:

“NASCAR has suspended Kevin Harvick crew chief Rodney Childers for four races, fined him $100K and docked Kevin Harvick and the team 100 points for modification of vendor-supplied body part that affects the aerodynamic properties of the vehicle. Harvick already as 16th in points.”

Harvick has already been ruled out of the Cup Series playoffs in the first round and will likely end the season in 16th place in the standings. With a deduction of 100 points, he falls from 2071 to 1971 points in the 2022 Cup Series points table.

Stewart-Haas Racing has not yet released a statement on whether it would appeal the penalty. It will have time to challenge the penalty until 5 pm on Friday, October 7th, 2022.

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Kevin Harvick’s team was the third to be penalized this season

Kevin Harvick and his #4 Stewart-Haas Racing was the third team this season to receive L2-level penalties for modification of single-source parts. Brad Keselowski’s Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing was the first team to be penalized at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March and Michael McDowell’s Front Row Motorsports also received a similar L-2 level penalty at Pocono Raceway in July after discovering that the team had modified a single source supplied part.

In addition to the penalties for Harvick’s team, NASCAR also announced a penalty to Young Motorsports’ #20 team crew chief Andrew Abbott in the Camping World Truck Series for violating NASCAR’s Member Code of Conduct. Officials confirmed that he must undergo anger-management training to be reinstated.