NASCAR Cup Series playoff driver Kevin Harvick will be without his regular crew chief, Rodney Childers, for Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, the second race of the second race of the playoffs. Childers was suspended for one race and fined $20,000 because Harvick’s # Stewart-Haas Racing Ford had two improperly secured lug nuts at the end of the Sept. 26 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
SHR Competition Director Greg Zipadelli will be Harvick’s crew chief Sunday at Talladega.
Zipadelli is a 34-race winner as a Cup Series crew chief, all but one of the wins coming with SHR co-owner Tony Stewart as driver when both were with Joe Gibbs Racing’s #20 team. Together, Zipadelli and Stewart also won Cup Series championships in 2002 and 2005.
Stewart-Haas employee Tony Gibson, also a former Cup Series crew chief, will serve as Competition Director at Talladega.
Four other Cup Series crew chiefs each were fined $10,00 for one loose or missing lug nut at Las Vegas. They include Cliff Daniels, crew chief on the #5 Hendrick Motorsports team of Kyle Larson; Ben Beshore, crew chief on the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing team of Kyle Busch; Phil Surgen, crew chief on the #42 Chip Ganassi Racing team of Ross Chastain; and Travis Mack, crew chief for Daniel Suarez on the #99 Trackhouse Racing team.
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