NASCAR: Harvick 'over being a cheerleader' for pit crew

Kevin Harvick finished second to Martin Truex Jr. on Sunday night in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, and once again blamed his pit crew for the lost track position that derailed his efforts.

The 2014 Sprint Cup champion led the most laps (214) but lost a combined 18 spots on pit road during the course of the event. He believes that was the difference at the end and has started to run out of patience with his with his current over-the-wall crew.

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"Yeah, we had a great car," Harvick said after the race. "The guys in the garage and at the shop continue to do a great job, and we continue to give it away on pit road. That pretty much summed up the night. We had the dominant car and three bad pit stops on pit road."

This has been a recurring theme for the No. 4 Stewart Haas Racing team this season, resulting in crew changes and extra practice. Despite winning two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway, Harvick says his team needs to step up approaching the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

"We have championship cars and we're just mediocre on pit road," Harvick said. "It's kind of been this way for a few years and they've moved some things around, but it just seems like it's just week after week after week." You have a couple good weeks here and there and every once in a while you just put together a day, but they just can't put together a whole day on pit road right now."

It's worth noting that the team had an air gun failure during one of those stops. But it was little consolation to the current championship leader. Harvick says he's been understanding, patient and supportive but is not seeing the results he needs to contend for a second championship in three seasons.

"I'm over being a cheerleader," Harvick said. "Those guys get paid a lot of money to perform on pit road and cheerleading hasn't really been working. You've got to get after it on pit road and do your job."

During his post-race news conference, Harvick was asked if the team could explore swapping crews with another Stewart-Haas team. The only crew from the four-car organization not slated to make the playoffs is the one that works with Danica Patrick. Harvick simply walked away from the stage rather than answering.

His silence spoke volumes.