NASCAR: Kevin Harvick Says Drivers Are ‘Throwing Stones’
Kevin D. Liles-USA TODAY Sports
Well it looks as though it’s time to put a bow on the Kevin Harvick/NASCAR/Talladega situation and it would seem as though Harvick will be getting the last word.
After Sunday in Talladega it appeared as though Harvick intentionally tried to slow the field behind him and then intentionally turned into Trevor Bayne in an effort to create a caution and save his spot in the Chase. The immediate impact of his actions was that he stole a potential win away from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and by keeping himself in the Chase he took an opportunity for guys like Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin to move on. NASCAR came out Sunday night and said that nothing appeared to be an issue. NASCAR came out again on Tuesday and reaffirmed that Harvick did nothing wrong.
Later on Tuesday Harvick got the final word in when he was asked during the Chase media tour about the incident. According to comments reported by NASCAR.com, Harvick maintains his innocence and takes shots at other drivers in the process.
"I don’t need to defend myself. Here’s the deal: If those guys were in the same situation and their car would still function, it’s like a football player. If his knee’s blown out and he’s playing in the Super Bowl, he’s going to play as long as he can. We maintained the speed on the caution. If all the circumstances would have been different, it might’ve had a different outcome. Those guys have been throwing stones all year, so you just go on with it.I didn’t cause the first wreck. I definitely don’t believe that I caused the second wreck either, so it’s just one of those situations where I did the best I could on the restarts to get going, and I got out of the way. I never really even saw the 6 car (Trevor Bayne) until he was by me and doing what he was doing. It was just one of those situations where, you can’t stop. You have to continue to try to let it play out and it really did play out."
For someone that didn’t need to defend themselves it’s hard not to notice the fact that he still tried to defend himself. Harvick was asked later about Hamlin’s comments specifically and Harvick described Hamlin as passionate and opinionated. Harvick then talked about how he was not going to “throw stones” because he has been in situations this season where he has been made about one thing or another.
Aside from Hamlin, one would have to assume that the other drivers Harvick referred to as throwing stones all season are Matt Kenseth and the rest of the JGR crew who were all critical of Harvick to a certain extent along with Bayne.
This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head to Martinsville where one has to wonder if it will even be possible to come close to the drama that happened in Talladega. Regardless of Harvick’s comments, it’s clear that he and others will do whatever it takes to get to the final four in the 2015 Chase. The tight confines of Martinsville already make things more stressful for the drivers, the added pressure of the Chase should only add to that stress level and tension during the race.