$110M-worth Kevin Harvick voices concern for Kyle Larson’s ‘catastrophic’ pit stop failures: “We’ve seen a pattern here” 

NASCAR driver Kyle Larson faced an unfortunate situation at the 2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas as the No.5 Hendrick Motorsports car’s tire came off the car and rolled away into the distance. Kevin Harvick recently came out and detailed his concern for the No.5 driver and pit crew.

Semi-retired NASCAR driver and motorsports reporter Kevin Harvick uploaded the latest episode of his podcast titled Happy Hour. Harvick, along with broadcasters Kaitlyn Vincie and analyst Mamba Smith, discussed last weekend's Cup Series race.

A clip from the same was uploaded to the podcast's social media account on X, where the trio discussed the incident involving Kyle Larson. The $110 million worth Kevin Harvick highlighted how this hasn't been the first time that the No.5 pit crew’s mistake led to a catastrophic failure. He said,

“We have seen this weakness out of the 5 car as they've gone through, you know, the last couple years, for sure, they've had some catastrophic pit stop moments that have taken them out of races.”

“There's a lot of pressure on these pit crew guys. The pit stops are super fast, and you have to be right on the edge of making a mistake. These guys have definitely made a few more mistakes than most of the teams on pit road,” he added.

Mamba Smith then explained how the Achilles heel for the No.5 entry isn't outside but the team itself. He explained how Kyle Larson had a great car and an amazing crew, but mistakes were made in an attempt to save the split second during the pitstop. Smith asked the crew to tone down the aggression by a small percentage to make sure the car was serviced properly. Harvick then added,

“I'd rather be a little bit slow than make the catastrophic mistakes, but it seems like we've definitely seen a little bit of a pattern with these guys of having some of those catastrophic failures on pit road.”

Kyle Larson faced a similar issue to the 2025 COTA race during the 2024 race at the Texas Motor Speedway when the No.5 car lost the right rear tire during a caution, and the Hendrick Motorsports driver was then held in the pits for a couple of laps.

Kyle Larson’s pit crew faces suspension following the COTA wheel incident

The wheel incident happened during the second stage of the race at COTA, where, after coming out of the pits, Kyle Larson went wide on the corner exit and dipped his front right tire into the gravel. This caused the wheel to come loose and roll off onto the track.

NASCAR is strict about such incidents and already penalized the entry by handing a two-lap stop in the pits. However, the repercussions are serious and can lead to suspensions. It was only a matter of time, and NASCAR recently came out to reveal the suspensions put in place for the No.5 HMS entry.

As per Section 8.8.10.4.A&C: Tires and Wheels of the NASCAR Rule Book, the incident was considered a safety violation and as a result jackman Brandon Johnson and front tire changer Blaine Anderson were banned for two races. Erik Ludwig and Jafar Hall are set to replace them for the upcoming races.