Kevin Harvick’s pit crew will have a new rear tire changer for Sunday’s championship race in Miami (3 p.m. ET on NBC), NBC Sports has confirmed.
Chris McMullen, who has been Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola’s rear tire changer all season, will go to Harvick’s team in that role this weekend. The move was made since Almirola was eliminated from title contention last weekend at Phoenix.
Michael Johnson goes from being the rear tire changer on Harvick’s team to Almirola’s team. Johnson has been Harvick’s rear tire changer since the Southern 500, replacing Daniel Smith, who has been out because of health issues.
Harvick will race Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. for the championship. Harvick seeks his second Cup title, having won the crown in 2014 in his first year at SHR.
This will be the second consecutive weekend the No. 4 team will be without crew chief Rodney Childers on the pit box and car chief Robert Smith with the team. Both are serving two-race suspensions for an infraction NASCAR discovered after Harvick’s Texas win. Tony Gibson served as the crew chief at Phoenix and will do so again this weekend for the team.