NSCS: Kevin Harvick Leads AAA 400 Drive for Autism Practice

Kevin Harvick is still fast as always as he would lead Friday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism practice at Dover International Speedway, topping the charts with a lap of 21.799 seconds. The session didn’t start out as he would’ve hoped, though, as he had to make a rear-gear change following issues for his teammates.

Danica Patrick would blow a rear-gear, spewing oil all over the track with flames coming from her No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet, before making contact with the wall.

“I got back to the throttle and it was a little muffle – like it blew an engine – then it got sideways and hit the wall,” she said. “Really feel bad because Jamie (McMurray)’s elbow is hurt pretty bad, and don’t really know how Tony is. You hate to see that happen, especially when rain is coming. We’ll figure it out and go from here.”

Her boss and teammate Tony Stewart would slide in the oil, hitting the outside wall with the right front, before slight inside wall contact. Jamie McMurray also got into the oil, making contact with the right side of the car with outside wall. Everybody was okay, with only minor soreness an issue all the way around. All three drivers unrolled their back-up cars, each making laps with their cars near the end of the session. 

Kurt Busch also had a rear-gear issue, but caught it before running into problems like his teammate.

“I got lucky, honestly,” he said. “I ran my second lap and I had the lap indicator and if I had gone quicker, I would’ve gone again. But I felt something the whole time so I came in.”

As a result, Stewart-Haas Racing made the decision to change the rear-gear for Harvick as a precautionary measure.

“Looks like it was a gear failure in the 10,” SHR Competition Director Greg Zippidelli said. “The 41 had one at the same time – but he caught it. Don’t know what’s caused it – they were all new gears. Could be a process issue, or a equipment issue. All four cars had the same gears from the same manufacture, same supplier – so we’re doing precautionary on the 4 so that way we’re safe.”