As we all know Kevin Harvick won the race this past weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Normally this would lock him into the championship four but not after the penalty that his team got slapped with.

After the race all of the cars go through post-race inspection. Pretty much they're just making sure that the teams didn't alter their cars too much according to the rule book. That's where Kevin's team got caught and was issued an L1-level penalty.

The team violated section 20.4.12 in the NASCAR rulebook. Basically what happened was they modified the spoiler on the car when the rule book clearly stated that spoilers must be used exactly as they come from the manufacturer and cannot be modified. From my research I can't tell exactly how they modified the spoiler but it must have been something to improve the car and help them win the race. Don't know what a spoiler is? Look here.

This penalty took away 40 points and dropped Kevin down to 4th place in point standings, only 3 points above the cutline. Had they not been penalized Kevin would've been locked into the final four. Now he needs to finish really well or win the next race to make it to the final four. He still gets to keep his win but it will not count towards the playoffs in any way.

This penalty comes with a lot of repercussions other than just losing points. The fine for this penalty will cost Rodney Childers $75,000. That's a pretty hard pill to swallow, but that's not all. Rodney Childers (crew chief) and Robert Smith (car chief) have both been suspended for the next two races. That means that these guys are done for this season since there are only two races left.

If we learned anything from this it's that if you don't follow the rules in nascar it will cost you. This team might have just screwed up all hopes of winning the championship just because they modified the spoiler. Kevin has a great car and he's proven that he knows how to drive it, but if this penalty is what keeps him from wining the championship he will be kicking himself for a long time.

Do you think that Kevin Harvisk will redeem himself at Phoenix? Comment below.

XOXO @hellsbelle 🖤