Sept. 9 - Kevin Harvick lost his cool after last Saturday night’s Winston Cup race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. NASCAR responded by fining Harvick $35,000 and placing him on probation until Dec. 31. I think the penalties are fair because what Harvick did was over the line — and I wouldn’t have been shocked if Harvick had been parked for a race.

UNDERSTANDABLE BUT UNACCEPTABLE

Harvick was running second with nine laps to go in last Saturday night’s race when Rudd bumped him from behind, forcing him into the wall.

So instead of a win or perhaps a sixth straight top-five finish, Harvick placed 16th while Rudd wound up third.

I can understand how frustrated Harvick was after in his mind he got run into for no apparent reason.

A driver’s adrenaline is flowing during a race, so it doesn’t take much for him to explode and lose control of his emotions.

That’s what happened to Harvick when right after the race he drove his car to pit road and deliberately slammed into the side of Rudd’s car.

Also, some of Harvick’s crew members came onto pit road and intentionally mangled the hood of Rudd’s car.

As a former Winston Cup driver I can understand Harvick’s anger and frustration, but he just took things too far and that’s why these penalties are fair.

HARVICK’S HISTORY WORKS AGAINST HIM

Harvick now has two strikes against him.

Last year rough racing in a truck series race prompted NASCAR to park him from a Winston Cup race at Martinsville, Va., in April.

At that time he was also fined $35,000 and placed on probation until the end of the year.

He needs to realize he is now under the microscope.

One more step over the line and I would vote that NASCAR park him for two or three races, so he gets the message.

RUDD WAS NOT AT FAULT

Some are upset that NASCAR’s penalties, which were handed out to Harvick, five members of his crew and Rudd’s crew chief, Pat Tryson, did not include any action against Rudd.

But why should they have penalized Rudd?

The veteran driver says what he did was an accident and I believe him.

Rudd was racing and he hit and spun out Harvick.

I’m sure that Rudd hated that because no driver that I know wants to put a competitor out of a race unfairly.

NASCAR cannot begin penalizing drivers for trying to get along side other cars and race them.

What Ricky Rudd did was not an intentional move to hit Harvick’s car and take that position away.

It should not be likened to what happened in the Busch race last Friday night when Johnny Sauter responded to a shove from Matt Kenseth during the final caution by coming back on the final turn to bump Kenseth out of the way and win the race.

Sauter’s actions were deliberate, Rudd’s were not.

A CREW OUT OF CONTROL

When Harvick’s crew members ran down to pit row after the race, I said on the telecast that they were there to protect Harvick from Harvick.

I think though that was their original intent, they carried it way too far.

Jumping on the hood of Rudd’s car was flat-out wrong.

I understand Harvick’s car got torn up when Rudd hit him, but there is a difference between an accident on the race track and jumping on a car in a deliberate attempt to damage it.

I agree with NASCAR’s punishment of Harvick’s crew members.

Jackman Mike Scearce and tire specialist Gene Pasquale were suspended for one race while catch can man Kirk Almquist and rear tire carrier Ken Barber were fined $2,500 and placed on probation until Dec. 31.

A THEORY TO THROW OUT

With the Harvick-Rudd clash coming on the heels of veteran Jimmy Spencer’s punch to the face of Kurt Busch earlier this summer, some are saying these incidents stem from the younger drivers not respecting the veterans because they are outracing them on pretty much a week-to-week basis.

I don’t agree.

I just think it’s the individuals involved.

I don’t think Harvick’s actions — as unfortunate as they were — would have been one bit different if it was a younger driver and not Rudd who banged into him.

And the bad blood between Spencer and Busch goes back a ways and I don’t think has anything to do with their respective ages or tenure in Winston Cup racing.

I watched Busch and Spencer compete during the Richmond race and it seems to me that they both have gotten the message from NASCAR about keeping their behavior in line.

Now, it’s Harvick who needs to get that same message.