NASCAR: Is Kevin Harvick’s punishment enough to send the message?

NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and team were docked 40 points and had their win last Sunday vacated. Is this enough to send the message?

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is deep in the heart of its playoffs with just two races remaining in the 2018 season. We thought that heading into the Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway that just two spots were left for grabs in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway after Kevin Harvick won this past Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

However, news broke earlier informing all of us of a failed inspection for the #4 team, which resulted in a loss of points for Harvick and an additional spot being left to claim for the Championship 4.

This penalty in no way helps Harvick or his team’s chances. He went from being locked into the Championship 4 and having his sights set on Homestead-Miami to now being in the last position above the Championship 4 cut line and just three points ahead of teammate Kurt Busch for the final transfer position.

Lurking in the background is Chase Elliott, who is now just 17 points behind Harvick for the fourth and final playoff spot. The other punishment to consider is the loss of crew chief Rodney Childers for the remaining two races as well.

Going from being locked in and having a guaranteed spot in the Championship 4 to having to race his way in for sure sends the message, but is it enough to keep Harvick and his team from committing the same violation again?

More importantly, does this send enough of a message to keep other teams from doing it in the future? In my opinion, I am saying no. My reasoning? This sort of thing happens way too often and needs to be addressed differently.

What I would do to punish cheating teams

Forget crew chief suspensions

Some teams just seem to be able to put things together and find ways to win and jell so well they can’t stop winning. For example, Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson have won seven championships together. This weekend, Harvick will be without Rodney Childers, whose substitute is set to be Tony Gibson.

So you take away Childers and add a veteran to the top of the pit box who has 440 all-time appearances in the Cup Series as a crew chief. With the technology that teams have these days, Childers could easily text Gibson and tell him what to do while listening to Harvick talk about the cars. I just flat-out don’t see this as a punishment. Sure, the crew chief is important, but take away a man over the wall or something to really put a team shorthanded and against the wall.

No practice time the following week

Imagine the disadvantage teams would be put in if they took away all practice time. Harvick would have no idea what his car handles like going into the race on Sunday other than what he would get during the qualifying session.

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There is always the argument that cars need to be on the track to satisfy sponsor obligations. However, I could be wrong, but I would guess sponsors would think twice about sponsoring someone who frequently gets caught cheating and missing on-track time with their logo on the hood.

Sponsors are looking to improve their marketing and brand awareness at tracks in positive ways. Being known as the sponsor of the team that cheats and gets in trouble for it is not a good look. Therefore, I say taking away practice time would make teams think twice about breaking the rules and limiting their sponsors’ exposure time on the track.

40 points; why not 50, 60 or more?

The amount of points taken away from the Harvick as a result of this penalty seems a bit odd to me. I do understand that all of the non-stage points that he earned in the AAA Texas 500 were taken away, but does this send the right message?

With all of the points he accumulated in this race, including stage points, Harvick was 43 points ahead of Kurt Busch after it, so he is now still three points ahead of him and above the Championship 4 cut line.

Why not make it a situation where Harvick would be put one point behind the driver in eighth place? In this instance, he would essentially sit 52 points below the Championship 4 cut line and basically have to win the Can-Am 500 in order to advance to the Championship 4.

Sure, a message was sent with Harvick’s 40-point penalty, but did it come with enough for Harvick and his team to get the point that cheating will not be tolerated in the future? I say no.

Do you think the punishments should be harsher in NASCAR when teams are in clear violation of the rules? Did the penalty handed down on Kevin Harvick and his team fit the crime committed? What other ways could NASCAR try in an attempt to eliminate teams from trying to cheat?