At Darlington, Kevin Harvick found himself in an odd situation. He was one of the fastest cars, looked like a big contender to win the crown jewel, was coming in for a pit stop, and then the caution flag waved. Harvick decided to go down the pit road, and this led to a penalty that threw him at the back of the field and started a discussion in the NASCAR community about whether he should’ve been penalized.
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Recently, Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared his take on the subject.
Earnhardt described how instead of putting the blame on NASCAR, the question everyone should really be asking is whether what happened was the best way to deal with such situations under those circumstances.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. explains his problem with Kevin Harvick’s penalty
During a recent episode of his podcast show, Earnhardt touched upon the real conversation we should be having surrounding Harvick’s penalty. Junior said, “This isn’t a fault of NASCAR. This is a reaction to learning and having this process play out and us go, ‘Okay, is this really the best way to be doing this?’ I’d love to know NASCAR’s opinion on should we adjust what is committed to pit road.”
He explained how there’s a pit road line and there’s an orange box before that. Both Harvick and Byron had crossed that box and were on their way to the pit road. But while Byron was able to drive over the line and bow out, Harvick wasn’t able to and had to commit to the pit stop. “I feel like maybe we need to look if you’re beyond the box and committed to the pit road, you’re free and clear to go ahead and come down pit road,” Earnhardt described.
“It’s a balls and strikes kind of a thing. It’s not giving an advantage to this team. It just so happens that the caution comes out in this moment. It’s not manipulation or manufactured. I believe if you’re saying, ‘Okay, here’s the commitment box, and now the driver is beyond the commitment box, he’s committed to pit road, caution comes out, he can continue his plan to go down the pit road and do what he wants to do. Free and clear.'”
Junior demands NASCAR make things clear on this subject
Further speaking on this subject, Earnhardt claimed how under a green flag if Harvick had crossed that box and then taken a right, it would’ve been a penalty. But his staying on his course and committing to the pit road under caution was also a penalty. “If Harvick turns right, and doesn’t go down pit road, he is committed a penalty by going under the commitment box and skipping the pit road. That’s not legal any other time,” he described.
“I feel like it’s a little muddy. It could probably be cleaned up a little bit.”
Earnhardt Jr. added that there could be a way to put more informaton on the surface of the racetrack itself so that drivers and their crews would have more clarity when making decisions during such situations.
