Kevin Harvick agrees NASCAR’s Denny Hamlin penalty: “I think they have to right now”

Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick is no stranger to the ongoing rivalry between Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain. The two Florida natives have repeatedly found themselves running into each other on the track, with the earliest instance of their feuds on the track ranging back to last season's race at World Wide Technology Raceway.

There have been major developments with regard to Hamlin and Chastain since last weekend, when the former was seen running the latter into the wall at Phoenix Raceway. However, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's admission of the same on his podcast meant NASCAR had to step in and hand the #11 Toyota Camry TRD driver a penalty of a sizeable nature.

With many former drivers and experts divided on whether Hamlin should receive a penalty several days after the actual race, Kevin Harvick seems confident of where he lies on the subject.

Having been caught up in another one of the Chastain-Hamlin feuds at Pocono Raceway last year, the 47-year-old veteran of the sport elaborated on how he thinks the penalty is justified on an episode of NASCAR Race Hub, and said:

“I think they have to right now. I think this situation, in particular, has just gone way overboard. And right now, it’s affecting the teams. At Pocono, I got affected by Denny wiping out Ross Chastain and ran into Ross. And so, really, it’s affecting every competitor on the race track."

Last year's race at Pocono saw Denny Hamlin run in to the side of Ross Chastain's #1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on a restart while the duo led the pack. This sent the Trackhouse Racing driver spinning on the track, making eventual contact with Kevin Harvick who was following close behind. Hamlin went on to win the race, although was later disqualified on technical infringement grounds.

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Kevin Harvick believes there is a 'fine line' that drivers need to walk in situations such as Hamlin's and Chastain's

Kevin Harvick further spoke his mind on how NASCAR Cup Series drivers need to tread a fine line when handling situations such as the one between Hamlin and Chastain and said:

“I think it’s a fine line between letting everybody have their personalities and do the things that they need to do. But in this current situation, we still have the possibilities of drivers getting hurt and I don’t like the wrecking under caution. I don’t like the fact that we’re intentionally wrecking drivers."

Watch Kevin Harvick get caught up in the Hamlin-Chastain feud at Pocono Raceway last season:

The feud between the two drivers seems to have ended for now, as Hamlin admitted on his podcast. However, it remains to be seen if that, indeed, is the case.