NASCAR drivers blast Kevin Harvick after suspicious end to race at Talladega – For The Win

Joey Logano won his third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Talladega, as the Chase field was narrowed from 12 to eight drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished in second, was eliminated from the Chase, along with Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth — but a controversial end to the race in Alabama has some drivers fuming.

At restrictor-plate tracks like Talladega, NASCAR will only attempt one green-white-checkered finish to to race. An accident involving Jimmie Johnson occurred before the green flag was waved by the flagger with two laps to go, setting up a second chance to end the race under green.

The second green-white-checkered attempt ended much like the first, with cars spinning along the front stretch. NASCAR determined the race was over, with Logano edging Earnhardt.

Kevin Harvick, who had said earlier over the radio that he was having engine problems, was unable to accelerate tried to move up the track to get out of the way of the field. Harvick was moving so slowly, however, that Trevor Bayne was already passing him on the outside. When Harvick veered up the track, he caused a massive accident (that just so happened to lock him into the next round of the Chase).

A number of drivers, including those who were eliminated as soon as the final order was locked in, said after the race they believe Harvick intentionally caused an accident to advance in the Chase.

Bayne said after the race that he believes Harvick caused the contact intentionally.

NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton said that Harvick “did nothing wrong.”

“Obviously there are some teams that questioned what the 4 car did on a restart. But procedurally we haven’t seen anything — so far — on the restart that is suspect. We believe that we have done everything procedurally correct so far and the 4 did nothing wrong.”

Two years ago at Richmond, Clint Bowyer was accused of intentionally creating a caution flag to help teammate Martin Truex Jr. qualify for the Chase. Two days later, NASCAR penalized Bowyer’s team, Michael Waltrip Racing, which removed Truex Jr. from the Chase.