By Joey Gucciardo | October 26th, 2015
Talladega, AL --- Kevin Harvick put him in a position in Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega that gave him a 15th-place finish in the 500-mile event, putting him seventh in the CHASE standings after the race, giving him a berth in the CHASE's third round, also called the Eliminator round.
"I was just trying to get out of the way once I got going there," Harvick told FOX Sports after the race. "I thought I could get going better than I did the first time and I just didn't get going. So as I was pulling up, I was looking to the inside waiting for them to shoot the gap and I hit the 6."
Harvick's crew chief Rodney Childers said after the race that "the motor was blowing up," referring to the late-race issues that caused Harvick to fall back in the pack before the final race-ending restart.
"He's trying to get out of the way, but not lose too many spots -- it's easy," Childers said. "We're not the ones that invented this (expletive)."
But Bayne wasn't so sure that engine issues were the problem for Harvick. Bayne spoke out his opinion after the 500-mile race at Talladega.
"That's a crappy way for Harvick to have to get in the Chase is to wreck somebody -- what I believe on purpose," Bayne said after the race. "Maybe it wasn't … the restart before that he had engine problems and got out of the way. I think he realized if the caution came out he was gonna be fine, so I go by and get hooked in the left-rear.
"Harvick is a really good driver. I think he knows the limits of his car and where it's at, that's why I think it was intentional."
Matt Kenseth had the sane opinion as Bayne, seconding what the driver of the No. 6 Frod has said.
"(Harvick) pulled out of the way the first time because he knew he was blowing up and this time he said he was going to hold his lane, so we went up to go around him and then he clipped the 6 (of Trevor Bayne)," Kenseth said after the race. "He knew if he put him in a slow spin the race was over and he'd make it."
Kenseth's teammate, Denny Hamlin, who was involved in the wreck and eliminated from the CHASE, spoke out on Twitter.
NASCAR Officials and team members met after the race at the NASCAR hauler to review the restart, and to determine whether or not Harvick's actions were intentional and if something needed to be done.
NASCAR said that no action was necessary.
"What we saw, there's no evidence right now that there's anything the 4 car did that was questionable other than moving out of line," NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton said. "…"Obviously there are some of the teams that have questioned what the 4 car did on the restarts. We went back and walked through with him but procedurally from NASCAR, we don't see anything there that was of suspect."
"So far," he added, saying the sanctioning body would review footage from different angles in case something fell "out of the woodwork in the next 24 hours."
- Information from NASCAR.com was used in this article.
- Tweet me @GucciardoJoey
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| Cars wreck on the final restart during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 25, 2015 in Talladega, Alabama. (PHOTO: Brian Lwdermilk/Getty Images North America) |
But suspiscion rose about the reigning Cup champion's late restart actions.
Harvick started the race-ending green-white-checkered restart by wrecking Trevor Bayne in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Some speculated that the daring move by Harvick was for Harvick to gain position so that he could clinch a berth in the third round.
"I was just trying to get out of the way once I got going there," Harvick told FOX Sports after the race. "I thought I could get going better than I did the first time and I just didn't get going. So as I was pulling up, I was looking to the inside waiting for them to shoot the gap and I hit the 6."
Harvick's crew chief Rodney Childers said after the race that "the motor was blowing up," referring to the late-race issues that caused Harvick to fall back in the pack before the final race-ending restart.
"He's trying to get out of the way, but not lose too many spots -- it's easy," Childers said. "We're not the ones that invented this (expletive)."
But Bayne wasn't so sure that engine issues were the problem for Harvick. Bayne spoke out his opinion after the 500-mile race at Talladega.
"That's a crappy way for Harvick to have to get in the Chase is to wreck somebody -- what I believe on purpose," Bayne said after the race. "Maybe it wasn't … the restart before that he had engine problems and got out of the way. I think he realized if the caution came out he was gonna be fine, so I go by and get hooked in the left-rear.
"Harvick is a really good driver. I think he knows the limits of his car and where it's at, that's why I think it was intentional."
Matt Kenseth had the sane opinion as Bayne, seconding what the driver of the No. 6 Frod has said.
"(Harvick) pulled out of the way the first time because he knew he was blowing up and this time he said he was going to hold his lane, so we went up to go around him and then he clipped the 6 (of Trevor Bayne)," Kenseth said after the race. "He knew if he put him in a slow spin the race was over and he'd make it."
Kenseth's teammate, Denny Hamlin, who was involved in the wreck and eliminated from the CHASE, spoke out on Twitter.
What a joke we have a car with no motor wreck the field to end the race. Complete crap. Sorry to anyone who spent $ coming to this circus
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) October 25, 2015
NASCAR Officials and team members met after the race at the NASCAR hauler to review the restart, and to determine whether or not Harvick's actions were intentional and if something needed to be done.
NASCAR said that no action was necessary.
"What we saw, there's no evidence right now that there's anything the 4 car did that was questionable other than moving out of line," NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton said. "…"Obviously there are some of the teams that have questioned what the 4 car did on the restarts. We went back and walked through with him but procedurally from NASCAR, we don't see anything there that was of suspect."
"So far," he added, saying the sanctioning body would review footage from different angles in case something fell "out of the woodwork in the next 24 hours."
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- Information from NASCAR.com was used in this article.
- Tweet me @GucciardoJoey
He should have went to the back Harvick I like but he knows he did wrong
ReplyDeleteHe should have went to the back Harvick I like but he knows he did wrong
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