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Nationwide
NNS: Correction Call Ruins Harvick’s Night
Kevin Harvick's shot at victory was spoiled when NASCAR threw a caution to let Brian Scott get a lap back at CMS...
Kevin Harvick was forced to pit late in the Dollar General 300, taking him out of contention for the win. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
NASCAR admitted a mistake and corrected it during the NASCAR Nationwide Series Dollar General 300 Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
NATIONWIDE: Charlotte 1010
And not everyone was happy.
NASCAR officials brought RAB Racing’s Brian Scott down pit road under green on lap 146 for a missing lugnut – only to realize that there was no missing lugnut. Ten laps later, NASCAR threw the caution to give Scott his lap back – and ruined Kevin Harvick’s strategy in the process.
Harvick and eventual race winner Brad Keselowski were the two top drivers that didn’t need to pit, and if the final 44 laps had gone green without that NASCAR caution, Harvick likely would have battled for the win.
“I’ve never seen such a thing in my whole life,” said Harvick, who pitted later in the race and wound up 10th. “That’s like stopping the game in the middle of a play and saying, ‘We’re going to start over.’ It’s hard to play strategy anymore.
“Us and the 22 [of Keselowski] were on the same cycle. We would have at least been close [to winning], but we had the ghost caution.”
At a race two years ago, Harvick said he was missed on a scoring loop when the caution came out and was not scored correctly.
“They patted us on the shoulders and said, ‘Man, gee, we’re sorry guys. Thanks for playing,’” Harvick said.
But what’s the right move for NASCAR? Don’t fix it or fix it?
“They shouldn’t make mistakes,” Harvick said.
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said it’s the nature of officiating a sport.
“We’ve tried to correct those calls in the past,” he said. “We’re lucky that a lot of times that doesn’t happen. It’s not the first time we’ve fixed a call like that and even though I hope it’s the last time, it probably won’t be. It’s a human error.
“It’s a tough thing to balance out, and it’s not something that makes everyone happy. But for sure there was a mistake made. The way to correct that mistake was to throw the caution and to give that team the opportunity to get the lap back that we took from them.”
Pemberton said the decision to throw the caution instead of possibly waiting for one to come out in the natural course of the race was to ensure there would be as many laps of racing left after NASCAR fixed its mistake.
“At that time of the race, we felt like we needed to fix it sooner rather than later,” Pemberton said. “It was in the fuel window for the end of the race, and we deserve to correct the call for that team.”
While Harvick fell back after the caution to correct Scott’s scoring, Keselowski remained strong and never pitted.
“The officials are calling the flags, and what we’ve got to do is take that strategy and work around it with good restarts,” Keselowski owner Roger Penske said.
Obviously Scott’s team owner was pleased NASCAR fixed its mistake but understood Harvick’s frustration.
“I’ve been in this sport for going on 17 years and I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen something like that happen,” RAB Racing owner Robby Benton said. “We knew were right. … I knew all five nuts were on the car. We had four tight, but I knew we had all five on there.
“You get in a position on pit road, everyone wants to argue in their own favor. I don’t blame the NASCAR official there; he’s human. He thought he saw four nuts and made the call. It’s unfortunate for the guys [impacted] – you don’t ever want to play in on somebody’s strategy.”
Benton said he wouldn’t want the job of trying to figure out what to do in that situation.
NATIONWIDE: Charlotte 1010
“If the shoe had been on other foot, I would be just as upset [as Harvick],” Benton said. “But I didn’t make the call. I didn’t make the call for the penalty and I didn’t make the call for the correction. … In the grand scheme of things, it’s good to see that NASCAR admitted there was an error and they did what they did to correct it.”
SceneDaily.com • NASCAR makes gear change for Nationwide teams; 2011 title eligibility for Cup drivers still up in air
NATIONWIDE: Charlotte 1010
And not everyone was happy.
NASCAR officials brought RAB Racing’s Brian Scott down pit road under green on lap 146 for a missing lugnut – only to realize that there was no missing lugnut. Ten laps later, NASCAR threw the caution to give Scott his lap back – and ruined Kevin Harvick’s strategy in the process.
Harvick and eventual race winner Brad Keselowski were the two top drivers that didn’t need to pit, and if the final 44 laps had gone green without that NASCAR caution, Harvick likely would have battled for the win.
“I’ve never seen such a thing in my whole life,” said Harvick, who pitted later in the race and wound up 10th. “That’s like stopping the game in the middle of a play and saying, ‘We’re going to start over.’ It’s hard to play strategy anymore.
“Us and the 22 [of Keselowski] were on the same cycle. We would have at least been close [to winning], but we had the ghost caution.”
At a race two years ago, Harvick said he was missed on a scoring loop when the caution came out and was not scored correctly.
“They patted us on the shoulders and said, ‘Man, gee, we’re sorry guys. Thanks for playing,’” Harvick said.
But what’s the right move for NASCAR? Don’t fix it or fix it?
“They shouldn’t make mistakes,” Harvick said.
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said it’s the nature of officiating a sport.
“We’ve tried to correct those calls in the past,” he said. “We’re lucky that a lot of times that doesn’t happen. It’s not the first time we’ve fixed a call like that and even though I hope it’s the last time, it probably won’t be. It’s a human error.
“It’s a tough thing to balance out, and it’s not something that makes everyone happy. But for sure there was a mistake made. The way to correct that mistake was to throw the caution and to give that team the opportunity to get the lap back that we took from them.”
Pemberton said the decision to throw the caution instead of possibly waiting for one to come out in the natural course of the race was to ensure there would be as many laps of racing left after NASCAR fixed its mistake.
“At that time of the race, we felt like we needed to fix it sooner rather than later,” Pemberton said. “It was in the fuel window for the end of the race, and we deserve to correct the call for that team.”
While Harvick fell back after the caution to correct Scott’s scoring, Keselowski remained strong and never pitted.
“The officials are calling the flags, and what we’ve got to do is take that strategy and work around it with good restarts,” Keselowski owner Roger Penske said.
Obviously Scott’s team owner was pleased NASCAR fixed its mistake but understood Harvick’s frustration.
“I’ve been in this sport for going on 17 years and I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen something like that happen,” RAB Racing owner Robby Benton said. “We knew were right. … I knew all five nuts were on the car. We had four tight, but I knew we had all five on there.
“You get in a position on pit road, everyone wants to argue in their own favor. I don’t blame the NASCAR official there; he’s human. He thought he saw four nuts and made the call. It’s unfortunate for the guys [impacted] – you don’t ever want to play in on somebody’s strategy.”
Benton said he wouldn’t want the job of trying to figure out what to do in that situation.
NATIONWIDE: Charlotte 1010
“If the shoe had been on other foot, I would be just as upset [as Harvick],” Benton said. “But I didn’t make the call. I didn’t make the call for the penalty and I didn’t make the call for the correction. … In the grand scheme of things, it’s good to see that NASCAR admitted there was an error and they did what they did to correct it.”
SceneDaily.com • NASCAR makes gear change for Nationwide teams; 2011 title eligibility for Cup drivers still up in air
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