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NASCAR is investigating a spate of automotive fires that left one championship contender fuming after his Ford erupted into an inferno in the course of the opening playoff race.
Kevin Harvick lashed out at NASCAR and the brand new Subsequent Gen automotive after his inexplicably caught fire at Darlington Raceway. The Subsequent Gen debuted this season and is a spec automobile with single-source components that’s supposed to each degree the enjoying subject and minimize prices.
The Subsequent Gen has achieved a few of its targets however has additionally raised security considerations unrelated to the fires involving the power of affect drivers are taking in crashes. Kurt Busch has been out with a concussion since late July.
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Now comes a fireplace problem that may’t be ignored any longer after Harvick’s automotive burned Sunday evening on nationwide tv. Though the Chevrolet of Alex Bowman caught fireplace at Darlington in Might, the fireplace points have predominantly plagued Fords. Chris Buescher and Joey Logano each had automotive fires on the Indianapolis highway course, and Chase Briscoe‘s automotive caught on fireplace at Richmond.
“I am certain it is simply crappy components on the race automotive like we have seen so many occasions. They have not mounted something. It is form of like the protection stuff. We simply let it preserve going and preserve going,” mentioned Harvick, who completed thirty third due to the fireplace.
“The automotive began burning and because it burned the flames began coming by the sprint. I ran a pair laps after which because the flame obtained greater it began burning stuff up. The fireplace was coming by the sprint. What a catastrophe for no purpose. We did not contact the wall. We did not contact a automotive and right here we’re within the pits with a burned-up automotive and we won’t end the race in the course of the playoffs due to crappy-ass components.”
Harvick added that he stopped the place he did on the monitor — bringing out a warning that some have mentioned took NASCAR too lengthy to name — “as a result of the flames had been coming by the sprint and I could not make myself sit in there and expend.”
The fireplace dropped Harvick, winner of two races this season, to final within the 16-driver playoff subject headed into Sunday’s Cup Collection race at Kansas Speedway. 4 drivers might be eradicated from rivalry after subsequent week’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
NASCAR, which already has been trying into the rigidness of the Subsequent Gen based mostly on driver suggestions, has acknowledged “it is unacceptable for the vehicles to catch on fireplace,” and senior vp of competitors Scott Miller mentioned collection officers are investigating.
Within the meantime, NASCAR ordered groups to switch part of the polymer panel used within the passenger aspect door space with stainless-steel. The design is meant to maintain particles from the drivers. NASCAR can also be allowing modifications to the coating materials used on the vehicles, and mandated a lateral seal throughout the engine panel.
Miller rebuked Harvick’s notion that NASCAR has not addressed Subsequent Gen points.
“To say that NASCAR does not care is about as removed from the reality as you possibly can get. I believe he really does know we do care,” Miller mentioned on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“We have been engaged on completely different options for various issues alongside the way in which that appear to possibly be the set off. Clearly, we nonetheless have work to do,” Miller added.
Miller additionally mentioned that NASCAR is taking a detailed have a look at Ford’s exhaust clearances “as a result of they appear to be having extra bother with this than the others.
“There’s a variety of work occurring, a variety of collaboration inside the trade to unravel it. We have now to unravel it fast, clearly,” he mentioned.
One idea is that rubber buildup on the monitor is getting trapped contained in the vehicles after which igniting, which is why NASCAR has mandated the splitter seal to “scale back the migration of tire particles to the splitter space.”