RELATED: Harvick reacts to Talladega criticism
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Two days later and with all the smoke from two botched Talladega restarts finally dissipated, NASCAR declared that no action would be taken against Kevin Harvick for the late-race contact that stunted last Sunday's overtime finish and halted a two-lap shootout for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field.
Case closed? As it pertains to the home office in Daytona Beach, it would seem so. For the other seven drivers still alive in the Chase's final three-race stage, inquiring minds were still wondering -- and wandering -- about Harvick's involvement, his intent and the net result of the race-ending crash.
With the engine in the No. 4 Chevy apparently on its last legs, Harvick lined up in 10th place for the final restart in Sunday's CampingWorld.com 500. With his car failing to run at full song, Harvick said he was trying to take evasive action with the pack bearing down on him, but clipped Trevor Bayne's No. 6 Ford, collecting nine other cars behind them in the melee. The ensuing yellow flag ended both Sunday's event and the three-race Contender Round, trimming the Chase field to eight -- Harvick included.
"It appears that Kevin and the 4 team, they had to have a caution in order to preserve their position. They were aware of that and it appears that they caused that caution," said Carl Edwards, one of the two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers fortunate to advance. "It's just … that's tough. To be completely frank, that makes me uncomfortable that -- if that's the case -- that a team could do something like that that's calculated to alter the entire outcome of the most important race of the year.
"Things happen in the heat of battle. We've all done things in the heat of battle, but if that's the case, if that's what happened, then that's just too bad. I guess NASCAR looked at it closely and if they think that there was nothing wrong there, then that's just the way we move forward. No one really knows."
While there was plenty of smoke in the lone attempt at a green-white-checkered overtime ending, there was no smoking gun that implicated Harvick of wrongdoing. In the Tuesday morning statement, NASCAR officials said that an investigation of "video, team radio transmissions and downloadable data" turned up no damning evidence against the defending Sprint Cup champion.
That didn't stop questions and speculation about possible motive, especially with the stakes sky-high in an elimination race in NASCAR's playoffs.
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"I think it was inconclusive. I don't think that it's a clear-cut thing," said Jeff Gordon, who remains in the thick of the title hunt in his final Sprint Cup season. "Do I like the fact that there's somebody with an engine that is underpowered starting right in the middle of the pack? No. If this Chase format wasn't the way that it is, I don't think somebody would do that.
"There's no doubt that the way that Kevin started that last restart was to cause chaos. I don't think that he intentionally tried to do it. I can't see anything from what I saw that he was intentionally trying to take somebody out. I think the restart before that he moved up and got out of the way and let people go by. This one he didn't. I think that's pretty clear that he wanted there to be chaos. That was his shot. He did what he had to do. You can't blame somebody for that."
Former premier-series champion Brad Keselowski said Tuesday that he felt NASCAR was correct in not penalizing Harvick for Sunday's actions, saying the burden of proof was a steep one to make an indisputable ruling. On the flip side, Keselowski said that the penalty he received for jumping a crucial late-race restart last month at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was the wrong call, that the decision wasn't conclusive beyond a shadow of a doubt.
It's a case-by-case basis, Keselowski said, but the principles of the judicial system still apply.
"At this point, there's a level of doubt in my mind that what happened at Talladega with Kevin was intentional," Keselowski said. "That means the burden of proof hasn't been met, at least for me, so that makes me feel like they got it right. Innocent people shouldn't go to jail, whether that be in NASCAR or otherwise. Maybe NASCAR jail is less harsh, but it's still a form of jail. I guess I'm more on the forgiving side."
NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France, appearing Tuesday on NBCSN's "NASCAR America," said that Harvick causing an intentional wreck without hurting his own chances "would've been a tricky thing to do." France tried to quell any speculation, but said he appreciated the passion of drivers in the heat of a championship battle.
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"I understand that that's a reaction that if I were a driver, I would be looking for anything that would support how I felt," France told NBCSN. "And I can understand making that claim, but it's just not accurate -- or at least it's not accurate that we can see, and that's all we can go off of."