Stewart-Haas Racing will not appeal the disqualification of Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Ford Mustang from Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.
“At the completion of the race, not all of our windshield fasteners were secure, as we had bolts that hold the windshield in place back out over the course of the 500 miles,” Greg Zipadelli, Stewart-Haas Racing chief competition officer, said in a statement.
“We are in the process of diagnosing why this happened and how to prevent it moving forward. We are disappointed in NASCAR’s decision to disqualify our racecar and the hard-earned finish by our driver and team, but we will not appeal.
“Our complete focus is on the remaining races on this year’s schedule.”
Harvick crossed the finish line in second place to Ryan Blaney by .012 seconds in the YellaWood 500. He was leading the race going down the backstretch before Blaney made a crossover move to the inside. The two raced side-by-side through the tri-oval and to the finish line.
NASCAR found the infraction in post-race inspection. The first and second-place finishing cars are torn down during the process.
Stewart-Haas Racing violated sections 14.5.6.2.F (windshield) and 14.1.E& (overall assembled vehicle rules) of the NASCAR Rule Book. It requires all windshield fasteners to remain secure throughout the entire event.