Kevin Harvick feels that the No. 24 team at Hendrick Motorsports is facing a crisis. With William Byron currently sitting 12th in points and the Chase approaching fast, the team’s frustrations are beginning to show on the track, as evidenced last weekend. 

Discussing this on the Happy Hour podcast, Harvick also referenced the infamous milk-and-cookies intervention from the Jimmie Johnson-Chad Knaus feud. 

“I'm worried because this is not normal, Rudy Fugle and William Byron on the radio, and I would assume that we might have some ‘milk-and-cookies’ conversations coming at Hendrick Motorsports because you can tell they're out of character. 

When you're not running good and things are not going well, and the communication is not good, with drivers complaining and the crew chief snapping, that's when things are not right in the shop or at the hauler on the racetrack.”

According to Harvick on the Happy Hour podcast, this level of public conflict is highly uncharacteristic for this specific duo, who have historically been a very tight-knit duo.

He also feels that this is a symptom of the team's lack of consistency and recent performance issues, as they have not consistently run at the front this season compared to their usual championship-contending pace. 

During the race weekend at EchoPark Speedway, shortly before the rain delay, Byron expressed frustration with the car’s balance on Lap 90. This then turned into a heated exchange, with crew chief Fugle also snapping back at the driver. 

“I [expletive] heard you, OK!? I heard you! I got it! You're five numbers loose. I put a round in the left rear; we're too tight right now! It's the tight offset! We can park it, or we can keep trying until I get to work on it again! Just drive the [expletive] thing!"

Byron eventually finished 16th in the race, finishing with 21 points, but it is evident he is frustrated with his current position in the rankings and with the year he has had so far. 

After things cooled down, Fugle gave a detailed explanation of the matter. 

Rudy Fugle feels these things are part of racing

Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the race, Fugle downplayed the confrontation and said both he and Byron were simply frustrated with the car rather than each other. He did also express regret over his choice of words at the moment. 

"It's passion coming out, and from his end and my end, I'm trying to deal with a frustrating aspect of not getting the car where we want it. In general, we're mad at the car for not acting the way we think it should, not each other," he said.

Fugle also explained it's healthier to let that out rather than let it grow inside, and mentioned how their relationship's mature enough to not let these things affect it.

"I do wish I had chosen some better words so we're not talking about it today, and everybody thinks that something's wrong. But he and I are the only things that matter for this relationship, and we're good, and we always will be good. We've got way too many years and way too strong of a relationship to let one little bad race, or, honestly, a frustrating year so far, change that,” he concluded.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason