On Wednesday NASCAR announced that Harvick and his #4 SHR team have been hit with a penalty of 40 driver and owner points for a spoiler infraction.
Harvick’s Texas win was ruled as ‘encumbered’, which means it cannot count towards a place in the championship’s ‘final four’.
A NASCAR statement said: “The team violated Section 20.4.12 of the NASCAR Rule Book that is specific to spoilers.
“Spoilers must be used exactly as supplied from the manufacturer and not altered.
“The infraction was discovered in post-race tear down at the NASCAR Research & Development Centre.”
Harvick’s crew chief Rodney Childers and car chief Robert Smith have also been suspended for the next two races at Phoenix and Homestead, adding a further blow to his championship hopes, with Childers also fined.
The points deduction drops Harvick to fourth in the playoff standings, which means he can still qualify for the title decider by holding that position or by winning at this weekend’s Phoenix race.
Reminds me of something I heard once:
“In NASCAR if you cheat the rule book in 10 areas and NASCAR Tech inspection only catches 7.........your 3 to the good”
_Junior Johnson
Penalty PING !!!
If intentional, they got to ask if it was worth it.
“I’m shocked, shocked to find that cheating is going on in Nascar!”
they’re all LASER scanned, yes?