Kevin Harvick rips NASCAR for controversial overtime Xfinity finish at ROVAL

Kevin Harvick ripped NASCAR for the controversial overtime finish during the Xfinity Series race at the Charlotte Roval on Saturday afternoon.

Parker Kilgerman was leading at the Roval with two laps to go. But when Leland Honeyman ran into a tire barrier, a caution was not called immediately, and Kligerman’s team thought they won the race. Instead, the race went to overtime, as the caution lights came on just before Kligerman took the checkered flag, and Sam Mayer earned the win.

It was a tough loss for Kligerman, as the victory would have put him in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs, and he was instead eliminated. After the weekend that was, Harvick explained why something like that can’t happen anymore in NASCAR, believing it was a borderline embarrassment for the sport.

“I was distraught. I didn’t even know what — I was mad,” Harvick said regarding the finish, via Harvick’s Happy Hour. “Look, the car was parked under the barrier. They could’ve thrown the caution 20 seconds earlier. The fact that they said, NASCAR said that they have a tough time seeing that area from up top in Race Control just blew me away. If TV is showing it, and they’re not seeing it up there, then they need to get some more screens, some more spotters, they need to get something, because this was an absolute heartbreaker for Kligerman, to be that close to winning the race and see when they threw the caution. I mean, the light came on like, two car-lengths before the start-finish-line, but it should’ve came out way, way, way, way before that.

“So you know, unfortunately we’ve seen a lot of errors, and a lot of questionable calls from Race Control, not only in this Xfinity race, but just in general, and you hate to see it for a guy who’s buried so far into the barrier that you can hardly see his car. Was there not a spotter in that corner from NASCAR? Surely there was. If he didn’t see the car go into the barriers, and go all the way up underneath the barrier, I think you have to question that person that’s standing there.

“What a horrendous situation for everybody to be in, and a heartbreak for Kligerman. You wound up with a good finish, but it definitely didn’t take all of the headlines.”

As you can tell, Kevin Harvick didn’t pull his punches regarding the finish during this past Saturday’s Xfinity Series race. The former NASCAR Cup Series champion didn’t like what he saw, and neither did many fans of the sport. Hopefully the decision-makers make a better choice if a similar situation ever arises again.