NASCAR Cup Series: Kevin Harvick penalized after 2018 Gander Outdoors 400

Kevin Harvick has been issued a 10-point penalty following the Gander Outdoors 400, which was the 21st race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, the driver of the #4 Ford, has been penalized 10 points in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings as a result of a post-qualifying inspection failure prior to the Gander Outdoors 400, which was the 21st race of the 36-race 2018 Cup Series season, at Pocono Raceway this past Sunday.

The #4 Stewart-Haas Racing team have been docked 10 owner points as well. Harvick finished the race in fourth place after qualifying on the pole position but being forced to start all the way in 29th since he was one of 13 drivers who failed post-qualifying inspection.

Those 13 drivers who failed post-qualifying inspection for the race around the three-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Pocono Raceway triangle in Long Pond, Pennsylvania were sent to the back of the starting grid and lined up based on their respective point totals in the championship standings.

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Before this 10-point penalty, Harvick sat in second place in the championship standings with 843 points. He still sits in second, but as opposed to trailing Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch for the lead by just 48 points with 843 points, he trails him by 58 points with 833 points, as Busch leads all drivers with 891 points.

Harvick is still comfortably ahead of Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., the defending Cup Series champion, in third place in the championship standings. Truex Jr. sits 129 points behind Busch and 71 points (previously 81 points) behind Harvick with 762 points of his own.

Five races remain on the 2018 Cup Series regular season schedule, meaning Harvick does not have much time to try to pass Busch for the lead of the championship standings.

The regular season champion is awarded 15 playoff points to carry with them throughout the playoffs until the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, so this penalty could make a big difference as far as whether the driver who earns those 15 playoff points is Harvick or Busch.

Harvick was already issued a 20-point penalty after the third race of the season, the Pennzoil 400, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, so his penalties could very well come back to bite him in the championship standings. Without these two penalties, he would trail Busch by just 28 points for the lead of the standings.

Harvick’s penalty has been reflected in the Beyond the Flag NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. However, while the formulated and non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Team Power Rankings and NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings have not yet been published on Beyond the Flag after the Gander Outdoors 400, these sets of rankings have all already been calculated and scheduled and therefore will not be changed as a result of Harvick’s penalty.

That said, the variables affected by this penalty are scheduled to be updated accordingly in the formulated sets of these power rankings before the sets of rankings that are scheduled to be published following this weekend’s race at Watkins Glen International, the Go Bowling at The Glen, are published to ensure that accurate statistics are used to arrive at the rankings.

How will Kevin Harvick respond to this penalty in the next NASCAR Cup Series race? That race is the Go Bowling at The Glen, which is scheduled to be broadcast live on NBC this Sunday, August 5 at 3:00 p.m. ET for from Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York.