Kevin Harvick reacts to Hendrick Motorsports deciding against appealing Alex Bowman Roval disqualification

Kevin Harvick was surprised Alex Bowman and Hendrick Motorsports didn’t appeal their disqualification at the Charlotte Roval, which knocked the No. 48 team out of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Joey Logano was the benefactor, and now he’s headed to the Championship 4. Still, Harvick stated on the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour that if Hendrick didn’t want to appeal the disqualification, they must’ve realized they were guilty, and there was no turning back.

“I was surprised, but it also told me that they were guilty,” Harvick stated. “I think, at that point, when you know that you don’t have a leg to stand on, you just have to go and kind of say, ‘We messed up,’ and I love the fact that Jeff Gordon said, ‘Hey, we cut it too close. We put ourselves out there, and that’s it,’ and that’s the end of the story. I think that, as you go through and you listen to everything that happened, it sounds like they rolled through right on the number, and you get a tolerance right after the race, and that number was lower than what NASCAR was giving the teams and gives the teams every week.

“They go back and they give you the opportunity to fill your car up with oil, and put your water back in there, but I think it’s — it’s a tough calculation, but when you put yourself in that position of cutting it that close, you have to know the consequences, and this consequence was pretty big.”

Even though it was a tough situation for Bowman and the No. 48 team, they still showed up and got a top-five at Las Vegas this past weekend. Harvick believes it’s simply another example of how the team has overcome adversity in 2024, and why they’re set up for future success.

“Think about it from Alex’s standpoint. When you think about it from Alex’s standpoint, what a year, with talking about losing his job, getting thrown out of the playoffs after you make the playoffs, and the the things that he’s had to mentally go through, the guy is obviously pretty mentally tough, because he went to Vegas this week and you know, ran well. Showed up to perform and did what he was supposed to do, from his standpoint,” Harvick added.

“What a tough position to be in, from a driver’s standpoint, to have to deal with everything he’s dealt with this year, and still go out on the race track and perform.”

Alex Bowman may not be in the playoffs, but his team will still be looking to rack up solid finishes over the next three weeks, as the Cup Series looks to crown their 2024 champion, and that’s earned him some respect from Kevin Harvick.