"We put them in a tough position" - Kevin Harvick empathizes with NASCAR after Denny Hamlin's Richmond restart debacle, offers automated solution

Denny Hamlin's infamous late-race restart during the Toyota Owners 400 has had everyone talking about it, and Kevin Harvick is the most recent person to add his two cents to what has been a confusing situation, to say the least. Even after NASCAR defined a specific area for drivers to restart from, Hamlin was not penalized for going slightly early to the restart zone, based on what cars behind him were doing.

While Harvick acknowledged the fact that drivers such as Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano were trying to engineer runs on the leader by laying back during the restart phase, the former NASCAR Cup Series driver-turned-broadcaster called for a decisive solution from the governing body.

Harvick also sympathized with NASCAR's situation as deciding while a race is going on which could completely flip the result is a difficult call to make. He elaborated on his 'Happy Hour' podcast:

"I'm at if you're going to paint a line on the track you should use the line. None of us want NASCAR involved in it but NASCAR wouldn't even have to be involved in it. Put a speed line there, just like they do on pit road. Make the speed entering the box X amount and put a line across the racetrack. If you're faster than that, the computer can call the penalty at that particular point."

Harvick added:

"I'm all for leaving NASCAR out of it but as a driver, we know that we put them in a really tough position. Take yourself out of that position, to make that call."

It remains to be seen what further actions can be taken in the sort to avoid such incidents going forward.

Fans react to Kevin Harvick's solution to NASCAR driver's pre-empting the restart zone

While Kevin Harvick certainly had a unique take on how NASCAR can keep out of making a difficult call at the end of the race, fans on social media had their own thoughts on how the restart zone should be officiated by the sport.

Here are some of their reactions:

"Why complicate it? If you go before the box, penalty. The end."

Meanwhile, others had different thoughts on the use of logic in NASCAR:

It remains to be seen whether Kevin Harvick being one of the numerous personalities linked to the sport speaking about the incident will urge NASCAR to take a call on what to do during future races.