“What a disaster for no reason” - Kevin Harvick blasts NASCAR and Next Gen car after Darlington incident

The Cook Out Southern 500 turned out to be a disappointing event for Kevin Harvick after he was ruled out of the race earlier than expected. His #4 Ford Mustang burst into flames as his front rocker panel caught fire on 275 of the 367 laps, forcing him to park the car on the apron and make an exit through the driver’s side window. He posted his sixth DNF of the 2022 season, finishing 33 out of 36 at the end of the race.

Speaking with NBC Sports after exiting last Sunday’s race, Harvick expressed his frustration with Next Gen cars and had strong words about NASCAR's safety efforts as it ruined his first playoff race.

Harvick lamented that the creepy parts that are used in the car are a major reason for the vehicle catching fire. He went on to say that safety stuff hasn’t been fixed yet, though such accidents have happened earlier before. He later called the Darlington incident a disaster that had happened to him as he was in a pitlane with a burned car without even touching the barriers and failing to finish the playoff race.

Harvick said:

“I’m sure it’s just crappy parts on the race car like we’ve seen so many times. They haven’t fixed anything. It’s kind of like the safety stuff. We just let it keep going and keep going. What a disaster for no reason. We didn’t touch the wall. We didn’t touch a car and here we are in the pits with a burned-up car and we can’t finish the race during the playoffs because of crappy-ass parts.”

The P33 result dropped Kevin Harvick from 9th to 16th place in the Cup Series points table. He currently holds 2016 points, below the cutline going into the next two races of the Round of 16.

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“I ran a couple laps and then as the flame got bigger” - Kevin Harvick

Further in the conversation, while describing the incident, Kevin Harvick said that his #4 car started burning and as it burned, the flames started coming through the dash. He later said that he started to run more laps and then, the flames started erupting on both sides of the car.

Harvick said:

“The car started burning and as it burned the flames started coming through the dash. I ran a couple laps and then as the flame got bigger it started burning stuff up and I think right there you see all the brake fluid that was probably coming out the brakes and part of the brake line, but the fire was coming through the dash.”

Catch Kevin Harvick at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 11, 2022.