No. 9, No. 29 teams puzzled by penalties

antig24 · November 13, 2004

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Teams, crew chiefs and drivers involved remain perplexed over NASCAR's decision this week to penalize both Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne with $10,000 fines and probation for a run-in after last Sunday's race at Phoenix.

The two drivers raced hard on the final lap and appeared to make contact. As the cool-down lap was completed, Harvick pulled up alongside Kahne at the entrance to pit road, got out of his car and engaged in a heated conversation with him. The incident was broken up by crew members and NASCAR officials.

Kahne's crew chief, Tommy Baldwin, approached Harvick after the race and asked for an explanation. After a brief conversation with Harvick, the two smiled and shook hands.

"We went to Homestead on Wednesday and Kevin told me John (Darby, Nextel Cup director) called him and they fined them $10,000 or something," said Todd Berrier, Harvick's crew chief. "I guess the point fund is low, or something.

"At Homestead on Wednesday, we're signing in and Kevin and I are in a car and Kasey and Tommy pull up behind us and run into us about 20 mph. Everybody is joking and I assumed everybody was good with everything. They're still friends.

"I was kind of shocked really. Like I said, I guess (NASCAR) just needed some money."

Asked if Harvick had a "bad mark" on him from NASCAR, Berrier said, "They're always going to look at you when you've been in the positions he's be in.

"At least they're looking at him for something, you know what I mean? Good or bad, it's better than to be like some of them (other drivers) and they don't even know you're out here."

In a statement, Kahne said: "There was some exciting racing at Phoenix with a lot of contact on the closing laps. But we were racing clean and we didn't do anything that should have made anyone angry or inspire them to retaliate against us.

"NASCAR has its own perspective on the incident, and they've made their judgment based on that."

Kahne's car owner, Ray Evernham, said Kahne had told him after the incident it was "no big deal."

"Kasey was fooling around, I guess, and Kevin thought he was serious and when Kevin found out Kasey wasn't serious, it was funny. So, I don't know why they got fined," Evernham said.

NASCAR's release announcing the penalty this week cited "deliberate contact" on the track between by each driver toward the other.