Turns Out What Put Kevin Harvick Out of Bristol Race Wasn’t a Clutch After All

Kevin Harvick had a fast car Saturday night in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol. It may not have been a winning car — or it very well could have been — but he looked much stronger than the last place finish he was credited for.

Harvick’s night came to an end right at the end of Stage 2, when it appeared that his clutch gave out and he was unable to get the car in gear to go anywhere.

Following the race, crew chief Rodney Childers tweeted that the clutch gave out and that Roush-Yates (who provide the clutches for SHR) would work on finding out what went wrong.

Yeah, it was the clutch.. The @roushyates guys will figure out what happened and address it.. Don’t think I’ve had a clutch issue in a race since Lanier Speedway in 1999.. ?? https://t.co/vTGYDH7rs2

— Rodney Childers (@RodneyChilders4) August 18, 2019

After a day to dissect what had happened to the car, Childers tweeted that it turns out it wasn’t the Roush-Yates clutch that gave out at all. Instead it was a locker inside the rear gear that doomed the No. 4 car.

Well.. Just figured out it was the locker inside the rear gear. ???? That’s a first for me. Never have had that happen before. Sucks.
It was nothing to do with the clutch or anything from the @roushyates side of things.

— Rodney Childers (@RodneyChilders4) August 19, 2019

Kind of an odd break, but any break is kind of odd for the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team. The gear lock failure is the first mechanical DNF for Harvick and Childers since a blown motor at Charlotte in October of 2016.