Harvick to face disciplinary action

Elwood · March 25, 2002

By JENNA FRYER

AP Sports Writer

March 24, 2002

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Kevin Harvick will be penalized this week for his pit road confrontation with Greg Biffle during the Busch series race, NASCAR president Mike Helton said Sunday.

Helton had a lengthy discussion with both Harvick and car owner Richard Childress before the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway about the incident. Childress is confident his 26-year-old driver will not be suspended, but Helton would not indicate what the penalty will be.

``I think the issue we have to deal with is how disruptive Harvick's actions were and how detrimental his actions were to the overall scheme of things,'' Helton said.

The confrontation began after Greg Biffle hit Harvick's car late in Saturday's Busch race. The contact knocked Harvick out of the race and during a subsequent interview, he made it clear he would be waiting for Biffle when he got out of his car.

So Harvick waited on top of a pit box for the race to end and watched Biffle pull his car onto pit road. He then jumped down, sprinted over to him and leaped over a barrier and the car to get to Biffle.

Harvick grabbed Biffle's firesuit and was yelling at him, but no punches were thrown as dozens of crew members tried to separate the two.

Childress agreed that NASCAR must take action against his driver.

``They can't just let it become a free-for-all, they have to have some kind of control,'' he said. ``How they control it, it has to be up to them.''

Helton said it was undecided how the sanctioning body would penalize Harvick, who is only running in a handful of Busch series events this season.

Taking away points would mean nothing since he's not trying to defend last year's Busch title, and suspending him from an event would hurt the car owner more than the driver.

A hefty fine and probation are the more likely penalties Harvick will face, although Helton indicated the probation could affect his Winston Cup schedule.

Helton also defended NASCAR over criticism the sanctioning body knew Harvick planned to attack Biffle after the race.

``He told one of our officials he was OK before the race was over,'' Helton said. ``He changed his mind somewhere along the way.''

Harvick, meanwhile, maintained that he won't allow other drivers to take advantage of him on the track, especially in the Busch series.

``You can't tolerate people shoving you around or putting you in the fence -- especially when we do these one-race deals, and especially when people (like him) are running for the championship,'' Harvick said.

Elwood · March 25, 2002

Helton had a lengthy discussion with both Harvick and car owner Richard Childress before the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway about the incident. Childress is confident his 26-year-old driver will not be suspended, but Helton would not indicate what the penalty will be.

So Harvick waited on top of a pit box for the race to end and watched Biffle pull his car onto pit road. He then jumped down, sprinted over to him and leaped over a barrier and the car to get to Biffle.

I bet Childress is going to get tired of talking with NASCAR about his drivers. I figure he had to have a talk with them about Gordon on Sunday.

My cousin said he could see the Childress No. 2 pit pretty good from his seat and he was watching Saturday before the race was over and Harvick was standing on the No. 2 pit box with his arms folded across his chest just waiting.