Kevin Harvick’s playoff opener at Darlington Raceway was a perfect example of how luck can make or break prospects in NASCAR. Despite having a well-planned strategy and a near-perfect race, the SHR driver’s race was derailed by a penalty that was not of his own making.
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Recently, while reviewing the footage of Harvick entering the pits just as the lights turned red, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. provided a solution to what he felt was a somewhat controversial problem.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. provides a solution to the recent Kevin Harvick problem
While speaking on his podcast Dale Jr Download, Junior analyzed, “Harvick is not at the commitment box. All right. But that yellow line that’s drawn to the commitment box there’s this big yellow line that starts back in the middle of 3 and 4, he’s under that, he’s headed toward pit road.”
“He would be unable when the light comes on to make a right turn and miss the commitment box… So in my opinion, he’s in a position where he has made the choice and committed to pit road. And any other time if this was green flag and he takes a right drops out of the box, it’s a penalty. Right?… What NASCAR would have allowed him to do would be a penalty on any other lap…”
Speaking further, Junior added, “But him staying the course and going down pit road and coming into a stall and changing tires is a penalty. And so I feel like that it gets a little muddy. It could probably be cleaned up just a little bit. There may be a way to put more information on the surface of the racetrack…”
Junior suggested that NASCAR could have implemented a rule that allowed drivers to continue their pit stop if they were already committed to entering the pit road when a caution came out.
He explained that this rule would have given drivers enough time to avoid the commitment box before reaching a certain point on the track. By doing so, NASCAR could have prevented drivers from incurring penalties for crossing over the commitment line or box.
Junior talks about the ambiguity of the rules in Harvick’s situation
Lastly, the former Cup Series driver also pointed out that during the race, there was a situation where the #24 car driven by Byron was able to avoid the commitment box by turning right, while the #4 car driven by Harvick was not.
He expressed his concern about the ambiguity of the rules in this situation, as Harvick would have been penalized for crossing the commitment box if he had turned right and not entered the pit road. Interestingly, he added that such a move would have been illegal on any other lap as well.
What transpired at Darlington involving the #4 car would have to be looked into by NASCAR, to make sure that no other driver has to go through such a situation again. Meanwhile, the aftermath of this incident has now left him with only two more races to try and get out of the bottom four in the playoff points.
