Kevin Harvick, 4 team penalized after Las Vegas win, lose playoff points

Turns out there was something to the thought that the partially caved in roof and rear window of the No. 4 Ford might cost Kevin Harvick and his team.

Kevin Harvick was untouchable on Sunday in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas. He just won’t get to reap the benefits of that victory when it comes to this year’s NASCAR Playoffs.

As some members of the media and fans suspected after pictures circulated of the roof and rear window of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford looking a little lower than they should have been, Harvick’s team was issued an L1-penalty today by NASCAR.

The penalty was assessed specifically because of the rear window, as NASCAR explained:

"The team was found to have violated Sections 20.4.8.1 (dealing with rear window support) and 20.4.18 (rocker panel extensions), specifically. A brace that supports the rear window failed and did not meet specifications for keeping the rear window glass rigid in all directions, at all times. Additionally, the rocker panel extension was not aluminum."

In keeping with its stance on race wins, Harvick is still the winner of the Pennzoil 400. However, the L1-penalty will affect the team in several ways:

• The victory won’t count for playoff purposes, a status that NASCAR used to call an encumbered race win but is choosing not to use that language in 2018. The result is that Harvick will lose all of the bonus playoff points he accumulated during the race, including five for the victory and two for winning the first two stages.
• Harvick loses 20 points in the driver standings and the 4 loses 20 owner points.
• Car chief Robert Smith is suspended for the next two Cup Series races.
• Crew chief Rodney Childers has to pay a $50,000 fine.

Last season, a similar L1-penalty to Joey Logano proved costly, as he never won again in 2017 and didn’t have enough points to make the playoffs after a second-half dip in performance. Harvick won’t have to worry about that, as his Atlanta victory still all but assures he’ll be in the title chase this fall.

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Still, it’s a bit of bad news for the Stewart-Haas Racing bunch that has otherwise seen everything go right so far in 2018. The team has the right to appeal, so we’ll see if it chooses to do so and whether it will bear fruit.