Kevin Harvick did not offer sympathy to Natalie Decker following a controversial exit out of last Friday’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Dover. Piloting the No. 22 truck, Decker pulled into the garage in Friday’s race after an emotional meltdown on the radio.
While some have defended Decker for her emotions, Harvick is on the critical side. Given all the up-and-coming female drivers trying to make their way to the top of NASCAR, the 2014 Cup champion was not pleased by Decker’s actions.
Kevin Harvick on Decker radio meltdown: ‘Zero sympathy’
On a recent episode of SPEED with Harvick & Buxton, the former driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing car made it clear he is not sympathizing with Decker after her emotional rant at Dover.
“I’m in the zero sympathy category. I think that racing is something that either you’re good at or you’re not. I don’t like to see a mockery made out of what our sport is,” Harvick said.
Harvick went on to list a number of female drivers, such as Danica Patrick and Katherine Legge, who made significant impacts in motorsports.
On top of that, Harvick mentioned up-and-coming female drivers, like Isabella Robusto, who are trying to make a name for themselves. For Decker to “throw a temper tantrum” and quit in the middle of the race in the manner she did, Harvick cannot sympathize with her actions.
“All the females that are trying to do it the right way by being good at their craft, and seeing the rage quit that she went through this weekend, I have zero sympathy for throwing a temper tantrum and blaming it on a series director and all the things that she said over the radio and all the things that happened before this. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for this one,” Harvick said.
What Natalie Decker said over the radio at Dover
During Friday’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Dover, Decker was called to pit road for a pass-through penalty.
When Decker received that information, that was when her emotions began to take over.
“You guys I’m trying my best to hold my [expletive] together but I don’t want to keep doing this,” Decker said.
Someone on Decker’s crew assured her she was OK and to make the pass-through penalty, then get back after it. Then, team owner Josh Reaume told Decker she could pull it into the garage if she could not get going.
Decker responded emotionally and attacked the series director of the Truck Series.
“There’s just so many [expletive] things that I could say right now, and I’m just trying to keep it together, about the [expletive] director of the series,” Decker said.
Decker went on to apologize to Reaume and say she was not going to return to the Truck Series. She also expressed fear in the online backlash of quitting mid-race.
“I’m sorry Josh, I’m not going to come back to the Truck Series. I’m staying in the O’Reilly Series, this series [expletive] sucks. The amount of hate I’m going to get online for this is just going to be insane. I’m not ready,” Decker said.
Despite fears of getting suspended by NASCAR, Decker was not punished for her actions.
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