Following issues from the last playoffs race at Las Vegas, NASCAR has suspended Kevin Harvick’s crew chief Rodney Childers.
In the Cup Series playoffs race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Harvick was found to have two lug nuts that were not safe and secure. Due to this, NASCAR has decided to suspend Childers from the next playoffs race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, along with fining him $20,000.
He will be replaced by Greg Zipadelli, vice president of competition at Stewart-Haas Racing. Also, Tony Gibson will be the interim competition director for SHR this weekend.
Kurt Busch will drive a special car in Charlotte
Harvick has struggled throughout the season to replicate his 2020 form and right now he finds himself at risk of missing out on the next round of the playoffs. He is currently in the 10th position seven points behind the cutoff line. In the last race at Las Vegas, he finished ninth.
Childers was not the only one fined as NASCAR issued fines to five other crew chiefs (four in Cup and one in the Xfinity Series) for having one lug nut not safe and secure.
Each of the chiefs Cliff Daniels (driver Kyle Larson), Phil Surgen (driver Ross Chastain), Ben Beshore (driver Kyle Busch) and Travis Mack (driver Daniel Suarez) were fined $10,000 and Michael Bumgarner (driver Josh Berry) was fined $5,000.
Additionally, the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing team could face a big punishment as the wheel of Joey Gase’s car came off, leading to a violent accident.