Clearly, DeLana Harvick's heart is on the right place. The wife of Kevin, driver of the Stewart-Haas No. 19 Ford Fusion, offered some advice to Daniel Suarez and other young drivers following the Subway sponsorship controversy.
Interesting and unfortunate turn of events in the sponsor snafu with Suarez. Hopefully it's a learning lesson for him & younger drivers.
— DeLana Harvick (@DeLanaHarvick) September 5, 2017
Know your sponsor & the contract, period. Nobody watches your back more than u, not your PR/manager. Steer your own ship on & off the track.
— DeLana Harvick (@DeLanaHarvick) September 5, 2017
She's referring to the mess created when Suarez, who drives the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, participated in a harmless skit in which he drove around in a golf cart and handed out Dunkin' Donuts. Subway was incensed since it sponsored Suarez, and dropped him as a result.
Harvick is absolutely right -- in the end, it's up to the driver to understand what he can and can't do, contractually -- even though JGR has said there was no prohibition for Suarez's participation. Here supporters applauded her stance .......
I couldn't agree more - there should have been more thought put into what they were doing - tough lesson.
— Melissa (@melb2173) September 5, 2017
I totally agree deLana#6
— James Langdale (@langdale_james) September 5, 2017
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— Melissa Gooch (@MelissaGooch2) September 5, 2017
But her words could also be construed as implicit criticism of Suarez, and some fans are very unhappy:
Yeah seems like DeLana is sucking up hard to subway with the way she's defending them. She's lost a fan.
— Richie (@RichieStClair) September 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/rattlncages/status/905135532962971649
Well NBC should also know better than to put drivers in that situation..it's unfortunate for sure but they have to take some of the blame
— Pat G (@ajsdad1953) September 5, 2017
Can't believe your defending Subway!
— Richie (@RichieStClair) September 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/rattlncages/status/905132284218675201