Kevin Harvick was hit hard in the Playoff opener race at Darlington. But there was another thing that raised a lot of eyebrows about the incident. And that was NASCAR’s sluggish response to wave out the caution.

Clearly, plenty of people were furious at the sport for not showing the Caution flags sooner.

Of course, the #4 car bursting into flames is a pretty alarming issue for the car and driver. Naturally, the conscious response is to wave the yellow flags so the driver can step out safely. However, NASCAR was quite sluggish in taking precautions, as they took their sweet time to throw out a caution.

Jeff Gluck isn’t the only one who noticed it though. Spotter, Brett Griffin, was quite furious at the slow response, and apparently bruised Bubba Wallace’s spotter’s arm in the process.

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A member of the traveling fire safety team even brought up the extent of the issue their late response created.

Kudos to Harvick and his spotter for making their way to the grass right before things went south. The late yellow flag is surely going to cause a lot of trouble had the duo not been at their best, as usual.

But what really happened to Harvick?

What happened to Kevin Harvick during the race at Darlington Raceway?

Harvick was on his way to an incredible playoff opener race, running top in the top-5 with less than 100 laps to go. However, around lap 275, all hopes were lost for the #4 team in a matter of seconds. A car fast enough to compete with the fastest car on track, with a driver capable enough to take it to the Victory Lane, was nothing more than debris.

Right around lap 275, everyone saw smoke coming out of Harvick’s Mustang. Soon, that smoke turned into flames bursting out of the side exhausts and front tires. Fortunately, the driver was smart enough to drag the burning car to the grass, away from danger, knowing well that the flames could consume him. The car reached a halt as the driver struggled to escape it.

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In the end, the most important thing is the driver walked out of the burning car safe and sound, with nothing more than a bitter taste in his mouth after the unfortunate race result. Although there is not a scratch to speak of, this was quite alarming and needs attention. What do you think NASCAR should do to make sure this never happens again?