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Sunday’s Talladega playoff race was a disappointing outing for Kevin Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing.
Harvick, who crossed the finish line in second place after losing the race against Ryan Blaney by 0.012 second in a photo finish at Talladega Superspeedway was disqualified by NASCAR after his #4 Ford did not pass the post-race inspection.
After a successful post-race inspection, official haulers found that Harvick’s car had windshield fasteners, which meant an unsecured windshield that was not supposed to be there, especially with Next Gen cars, as per the rules. Disqualification is for violation of NASCAR Rule Book Section 14.5.6.2.F Windshield and 14.1.E&P Overall Assembled Vehicle Rules.
As a result, Harvick lost all stage points which he earned during the race and moved to the 38th place in the final race results. Meanwhile, each driver saw a one spot promotion, with points table leader William Byron promoted to second place.
According to NASCAR, Stewart-Haas Racing has the right to appeal the penalty and there was no response from the team till now.
The 2023 YellaWood 500 was the final superspeedway race of Kevin Harvick’s career as the veteran driver will retire at the end of the season. He holds three wins at Superspeedway including two wins at Daytona International Speedway and one at Talladega Superspeedway.
“I was kind of late blocking the 12 there” – Kevin Harvick on final lap battle at Talladega
Before the post-race inspection, the #4 Ford driver spoke to the media about the outcome of the race. He said that he was in a good position of winning until Riley Herbst took over Byron’s spot behind him.
Speaking about the thrilling final 10-lap battle to the finish line, 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,” as quoted by Speedway Digest.
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”.
Catch Kevin Harvick in action next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.
