A post-race penalty discovered after the event at Texas Motor Speedway cost Kevin Harvick the at-track services of crew chief Rodney Childers for the final two races of the season.
It’s unclear whether that made a difference for the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but Harvick has no regrets about the circumstances that led him team to that point.
In fact, he hopes it happens again.
"It better not be the last time that he gets suspended because I just don’t think you are pushing it hard enough if you’re not," Harvick said Tuesday night during his 'Happy Hours' show on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "That’s part of racing. Not something I’m going to apologize for at any point in my career just because of the fact I want my crew chief doing what he has to do to make my car go as fast as he can. Try to work within the rules and find the gray area you can and win some and lose some."
Childers was suspended for modifying the spoiler on the No. 4 Ford during the weekend of their final victory at Texas. The violation was discovered during the R&D Center teardown days after the win and Harvick was stripped of all the benefits of his victory.
Harvick has four championship race appearances and has the second-most wins since NASCAR moved to its current format in 2014. He trails only Kyle Busch in that distinction. Harvick says that success is a result of Childers’ aggressiveness when it comes to preparing a car that may not always be legal.
"It’s not going to be the last time my crew chief gets suspended," Harvick said. "That’s just part of what we do, and if you’re going to be one of the good teams, you’re going to have to push the limits. You’re going to have to be on the verge of getting in trouble all the time.
"You have to push the envelope."
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