In an explosive discussion on his Happy Hour podcast, NASCAR veteran Kevin Harvick called out the sport’s ‘inconsistent’ officiating. Harvick outlined the number of times NASCAR has been involved in controversial caution decisions since the start of the 2025 season and stressed the need for consistency.
Since the start of the 2025 NASCAR season, the racing body has been embroiled in eyebrow-raising caution-related issues. In more than one instance, NASCAR has come under fire from drivers and fans for throwing cautions or the lack of cautions.
Kevin Harvick Slams NASCAR’s Inconsistent Decisions
Harvick expressed frustration at NASCAR’s decision to throw the caution at The Duel 2, followed by their decision not to throw it at the Daytona 500.
During the final lap of overtime, officials did not throw the caution flag despite a multi-car wreck, which led to Byron grabbing the win at the Daytona 500. However, what annoyed Harvick was that three days prior, during Duel 2 at Daytona, officials did throw a yellow flag just before Erik Jones and Austin Cindric reached the finish line. Jones crossed first, but Cindric was handed the win as he was ahead when the flag was thrown.
The former NASCAR champion said, “That’s the kind of crap I’m tired of, like I’m tired of the inconsistencies that go with the officiating. It has been absolute crap.”
He added, “The reason that you’re (NASCAR) getting trash is because of the fact that you’re not consistent. You’re not doing it the same. Don’t give me this garbage that every scenario isn’t the same, and we got to talk through this. No, that’s not right.
Harvick was also disappointed in NASCAR’s decision not to suspend Cindric and called it an absolute joke. Cindric hooked the right rear of Ty Dillon’s car at COTA and only received a fine and points docked.
Harvick said, “Right hook, left hook, road course, short track, intermediate, I don’t give a s*** what it is. It is as simple as that. Joey Logano is over the line before the start-finish line call. It’s that simple.”
“That’s how that rule needs to be, and they’re not officiating that way. And now they just made themselves look like fools because they didn’t call something that is so simple to call because they justified it through the PR guy going 35 mph on a road course. That’s garbage.”