A heavy load: NASCAR fines Kevin Harvick's team

NASCAR has fined the No. 4 Stewart Haas Racing team for unapproved added weight and weight affixed improperly during Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at the Glen.

The infraction is a P3 level penalty and involves Section 12-4.3 in the 2014 rule book. SHR was also hit with Section 12-1 Actions detrimental to stock car racing.

Crew chief Rodney Childers has been fined $25,000.

Although Kevin Harvick qualified fourth for the Cheez-It 355 at the Glen, after the first lap he realized something was terribly wrong. Two of the weight bags – used to simulate the driver’s weight while taking the car through the inspection scales – were left in the No. 4 Chevy and dislodged from under Harvick’s seat when the race started.

While it would have been advantageous for Harvick to have additional weight in the center of his car, that wasn’t the case with 25-pounds of ballast sliding around under his feet.

Harvick was forced to pit on Lap 3 to remove the weight bags. Harvick dropped to 43^rd in the field but rebounded with a seventh-place finish.

NASCAR selected the No. 4 Chevy as the random following the race.

Harvick was eighth in the point standings after Watkins Glen. He has two wins this season in his first year with SHR, however, the rookie team has been plagued with a rash of miscues varying from pit road mistakes to mechanical failures. Still, his four poles and 899 laps led in the first 22 races of 2014 is a career best for Harvick.