DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Report by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR photos —
The Stewart Haas Racing cars of 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Chevrolet) and Brian Vickers (No. 14 Chevrolet), who is substituting for injured three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart, failed post-qualifying inspection Sunday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.
Both cars’ track bars were not in compliance with the Sprint Cup Rulebook due to reported track bar split issues (the split on both cars being outside of the three-inch maximum allowed in the rules) and as such had their qualifying times disallowed.
Crew chief Rodney Childers, who led Harvick to the 2014 Cup championship and is entering his third season working with the California veteran, weighed in on what happened to cause the 4’s issues on Twitter following the announcement.
“We measured our track bar in a different spot than they (NASCAR) did and ended up with a quarter-inch too much rake,” Childers said. “I want to apologize to NASCAR, Jimmy Johns and our fans. It was a simple mistake on our part and [we] look forward to racing [in the Duels] Thursday night.”
Due to the technical disqualifications, Harvick will start last (22nd) in Duel No. 1, while Vickers will do the same in Duel No. 2.
Harvick’s lap of 46.404 seconds (193.95 mph) was good enough for 16th on the provisional speed charts before the issues were detected, while Vickers had landed 21st after a surprising lack of speed across the board from the SHR cars. Only Kurt Busch (11th) was able to advance to the final round of knockout qualifying for the four-car organization.
Following his first-round run, Harvick admitted that the speed he had was about what the team had expected.
“I think realistically [16th] is where we thought we would qualify,” Harvick admitted. “I think we thought around 15th is where we would be. Everybody has worked hard and done everything that they can do, but I think that is about where we thought we would settle in. … This is just a progression of the week. You go through qualifying and you just try to better yourself through the qualifying races, react to what you have for handling conditions and then go from there.”
“Obviously you always want more speed [in the car],” Vickers added. “I would love to [have been] on the pole, but the pole doesn’t matter that much here. … These guys worked hard and we will find some more speed this week. We still have the duels to practice [in] and hopefully put this thing in Daytona Victory Lane.”
Thursday night’s Can-Am Duels at Daytona will air live on FOX, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM Channel 90 beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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