Harvick faces severe penalties from Bristol inspection failures

Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford failed pre-race inspection three times Sunday before finally passing on the fourth attempt.

Because of the three failures, Harvick – who qualified 13th and had the best long-run car in Saturday’s final practice – will have to start the Food City 500 from the rear of the field and his team engineer has been ejected.

He will also have to serve a “pass-thru” penalty after taking the green flag, which means traversing pit road at pit road speed while the race is under green-flag conditions. That will leave him at least two laps down by the time he rejoins the field.

Harvick will also lose 30 minutes of practice time next weekend at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.

Harvick – who led the NASCAR Cup Series with eight wins last season – is currently third in the series standings but has yet to score a victory this year.