Crew chief Rodney Childers doesn’t understand the inspection failures; After they thought they fixed it, it was worse
The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Kevin Harvick failed inspection three times ahead of Thursday evening’s Busch Pole Award qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway. As a result, he did not make a qualifying lap and will start Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) from the 39th position.
Per the rule book, car chief Robert “Cheddar” Smith will be ejected for the remainder of the weekend, including Sunday night’s 600-mile event. Crew chief Rodney Childers stayed in the garage following qualifying, working with the rest of the No. 4 team as the sun dipped in the sky and the grandstands cleared for approaching severe weather.
“The loss of Cheddar just means I have to work a hell of a lot harder,” Rodney Childers said lightheartedly. “But I was a car chief for many years and I can do it as good as anybody can. So, we’ll get through it. We’ll miss him on Sunday though.”
The issue with the No. 4 car involved the right-rear section of the car in the Optical Scanning Station (OSS) machine. Smith, prior to his ejection, and Childers sanded down the section multiple times, and Childers eventually rewrapped the car with Busch Beer branding.