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Kevin Harvick wins NASCAR for OT Xfinity finish at ROVAL


Kevin Harvick wins NASCAR for OT Xfinity finish at ROVAL

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

Parker Kilgerman was in the lead at the Roval with two laps to go. But when Leland Honeyman ran into a flat tire, a caution was not immediately issued and Kligerman's team believed they had won the race. Instead, the race went into overtime because the warning lights flashed just before Kligerman crossed the checkered flag Sam Mayer deserved the win.

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

“I was distraught. I didn’t even know what – I was angry,” Harvick said of the goal Harvick's Happy Hour. “You see, the car was parked under the barrier. They could have given the warning 20 seconds earlier. The fact that NASCAR said they had a hard time seeing this area from higher up in race control just blew me away. If the TV shows it and they don't see it up there, then they need more screens, more spotters, they need to get something because that was an absolute heartbreaker for Kligerman to be so close to winning and take part in the race and see when the warning was issued. I mean, the light came on about two car lengths before the start-finish line, but it should have gone off much, much, much, much earlier.

“So you know, unfortunately we've seen a lot of mistakes and a lot of questionable calls from race control, not just in this Xfinity race but in general, and you hate to see that for a guy who's been buried in the closet so far, that you can hardly see your car. Wasn't there a spotter from NASCAR in that corner? Certainly there was. If he didn't see the car drive into the barrier and go all the way under the barrier, I think you need to question the person standing there.

“What a terrible situation for everyone and heartbreak for Kligerman. In the end you got a good result, but it definitely didn’t grab all the headlines.”

As you can see, Kevin Harvick fell short when it came to the finish in last 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 policymakers will make better choices if a similar situation ever arises again.

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