NASCAR penalizes Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing after Las Vegas win

NASCAR issued stiff penalties to Kevin Harvick, crew chief Rodney Childers and the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team on Wednesday after officials found a violation on the car Harvick drove to victory Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Harvick will still receive credit for the Cup Series win, however he will lose the seven playoff points he earned -- five for the overall victory and two for each stage win -- along with 20 additional driver points. Childers was fined $50,000, while car chief Robert Smith was suspended two races. SHR was docked 20 owner points.

Harvick also cannot use the Las Vegas win for playoff eligibility, though because he won at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Feb. 25 he is already virtually assured a postseason berth. The loss of seven playoff points could prove critical, with those points possibly the difference between elimination and advancing to the next round.

The penalties stem from the rear windshield support braces on Harvick’s car failing to keep rear the rear windshield rigid in all directions. Officials also determined the right side rocker panel extension (the bottom of the side skirt) did not meet NASCAR specifications, with the extension not being made of aluminum.

SHR can appeal the penalty and has three days to decide if it will exercise that option.

”We’re going to take the time and evaluate our options, and we plan to continue dialogue with NASCAR to fully understand the rationale behind the penalty,” SHR vice president of competition Greg Zipadelli said in a statement.

The legality of Harvick’s car became a hot button topic almost immediately following the Pennzoil 400 when photos were posted on social media showing the upper right corner of the rear windshield having a dip. Chase Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson also discussed the peculiar shape of the windshield during the race.

Harvick’s car cleared pre- and post-race inspection. But as NASCAR does with all race-winning vehicles, it brought the car back to its Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., for closer scrutiny.

Childers said a rear window brace broke to cause the caved in rear windshield and there was no intent to work around NASCAR’s rules, in an interview Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“We’re going to learn from this,” Childers said. “It’s not something that we wanted to happen. You definitely don’t want the back of the roof sharp. You want the back of the roof round and you want that to be a smooth transition. I think that everybody thinks that it helps. I would suggest that it probably didn’t help.”