{"id":460861,"date":"2026-02-08T02:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T02:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/460861\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T02:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T02:11:13","slug":"kevin-harvick-levels-criticism-at-nascar-officiating-at-the-clash-it-turned-into-a-shitshow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/460861\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Harvick levels criticism at NASCAR officiating at The Clash: ‘It turned into a shitshow’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former NASCAR<\/a> Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick<\/a> didn\u2019t mince words when assessing the officiating decisions during the rain-impacted Clash at Bowman Gray on Wednesday. He called the handling of the event overly cautious and ultimately counterproductive.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Kevin Harvick\u2019s Happy Hour<\/a>, Harvick stated that the unique nature of the exhibition race only amplified what he viewed as hesitation from race control once weather became a factor. It was a disappointing development for him. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think there were definitely some moments that could have been officiated smoother,\u201d Harvick said. \u201cWhen the event started to become a wet-weather event, I just wish we weren\u2019t so tentative. Especially at the Clash.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harvick has firsthand experience racing on wet-weather tires, so he made sure to question why NASCAR failed to act decisively once rain began falling: \u201cIf you\u2019ve got the wet weather tires in the pits, give them five minutes, put the tires on, send them out on the racetrack and let\u2019s go,\u201d he said. \u201cWe heard it from several of them. Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott. Guys saying, \u2018Let\u2019s go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, Harvick argued, NASCAR\u2019s delay created unnecessary downtime that rippled into the broadcast and fan experience. The stoppages ultimately pushed the event off FOX\u2019s main broadcast window and onto FS2.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took 15, 20, 30 minutes. Whatever it was,\u201d Harvick added. \u201cIt pushed us off the air, out of our broadcast window. That\u2019s not good for anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a safety standpoint, Harvick believes concerns were overblown. He dismissed arguments about spray and visibility, noting how slow the cars were traveling and emphasizing that standing water was never an issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s really not that much to be nervous about,\u201d he explained. \u201cIf we\u2019re going to be in the rain business, we\u2019ve got to be committed to it. We can\u2019t be one foot in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, Harvick also highlighted a competitive problem that emerged once the race finally resumed. With drivers lacking experience on wet-weather tires in traffic, restarts quickly devolved into chaos.<\/p>\n

He pointed to Ty Gibbs sliding up the track immediately on a restart as a clear example of the learning curve drivers were forced to navigate in real time: \u201cThey don\u2019t know how far to drive it in the corner. They don\u2019t know where to run,\u201d Harvick said. \u201cThe middle lane was like ice with the rubber.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Harvick said the situation boiled over into what he described bluntly: \u201cThis particular situation turned into a shitshow,\u201d he claimed. \u201cThe drivers lost their minds and started bulldozing people because you\u2019re just constantly getting run into.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alas, Harvick compared the scene to Bowman Gray Stadium-style racing, but without the finesse that usually defines wet-weather competition: \u201cThere was nothing wrong with the tires. Nothing wrong with the track,\u201d he said. \u201cGuys were just tired of getting run over.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Harvick, the takeaway is simple. If NASCAR is going to embrace wet-weather racing, especially in marquee events like The Clash, it must do so decisively, with clearer protocols and better preparation. We\u2019ll see if that\u2019s the case the next time a situation like this arises.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick didn\u2019t mince words when assessing the officiating decisions during the rain-impacted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-460861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}