Kevin Harvick’s crew chief Rodney Childers shed some light on the struggles that his team is having in the 2021 season.
Five races into the 2021 season and Harvick and his No. 4 team is comparatively slower than they used to be in the past seasons. For the standards that Harvick and Childers have set, the way the season has gone so far for them seems like a disappointment.
While Harvick has had four top-10 finishes in the five races, it isthe speed that’s lacking, unlike the past. The No. 4 team has had the fastest car in five out of six seasons from 2014-19. In this season so far, they rank 12th in average median lap time.
Speaking to SiriusXM Radio’s NASCAR channel, Childers provided some explanations as to what could be leading to this decline in their speed.
“We had some rules changes and some new templates and stuff like that that really changed the shape of the rear wheel openings. Just to be frank, it knocked 70 counts of downforce off the cars, and when you knock that amount of downforce off, especially when it mainly comes off the rear, it just completely messes up your aero balance.
“And when it messes up your aero balance and you have limited wind-tunnel time, it’s hard to get that figured out before the season starts.”
Last season, Harvick’s first win came in in the fifth race. While he might have to wait for more races to register his first win of this season, Harvick will surely come around good as the season progresses.
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