Kevin Harvick's crew chief has questioned his driver's disqualification from the race in Talladega. The notorious track saw the NASCAR veteran fight for the win late in the race but lose out to Ryan Blaney by a minuscule margin of .012 seconds in the drag race to the finish line.
The loss also meant that the winless streak from Kevin Harvick extended to 43 races dating back to last year. Even though the NASCAR veteran was still satisfied with the job that he had done, there was a shocker in store for the Stewart Haas racing driver. After inspection, NASCAR disqualified Harvick, saying the windshield fasteners on the No. 4 Ford were not secure post-race.
Harvick was stripped of his position and of all the points he had gained on the stage. This also promoted William Byron to P2 in the race. Kevin Harvick's crew chief Rodney Childers however questioned the decision in a deleted post on X (formerly known as Twitter). He wrote:
"There have been times I've got caught doing something I shouldn't have. ... got DQ'd for the car buffering in the draft all day and some windshield bolts vibrating out. My guys had silicon on the threads and gobbed on the tip. Still came out. Not sure what else we could do,"
Kevin Harvick recaps what happened at the end of the race
Looking back at the race where Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney fought to the finish line, the Stewart Haas racer felt that the win was within his grasp. As quoted by Speedway Digest, Harvick said:
“Well, I just tried to block the lanes, and then I was kind of late blocking the 12 there. He got to the outside of US, but it actually worked out okay because the 24 was a great pusher. Then it got shuffled again, and I had Riley behind me,”
Harvick continued:
“I thought I was in a really good spot headed down the back straightaway with everything that was happening because I knew if I could get off the trioval with Riley right on my bumper, I was still going to be okay, and then he got spun in the middle of the trioval”.
This is still a developing story but with Harvick getting disqualified, he was eliminated from the round of 16. At this stage, William Byron leads the standings with Denny Hamlin in P2 behind him.