“I left the booth mad”: Kevin Harvick rips into NASCAR’s ‘BS’ with a blunt take on the Daytona 500

Kevin Harvick didn’t hold back his frustration over NASCAR’s inconsistency in officiating during the Daytona 500. Harvick criticized the decision-making process, particularly regarding the caution flag on the final lap.

Harvick expressed his frustration over the inconsistency in throwing caution flags, pointing out differences between Thursday’s races and Sunday’s main event. He questioned why NASCAR allowed the race to continue despite a major wreck and emphasized that the lack of consistency is a significant problem.

The discussion was uploaded to the “Happy Hour” podcast’s official X account with the caption:

“Whatever it is, it needs to be consistent. @KevinHarvick’s thoughts on #NASCAR not throwing a caution flag on the final lap of the Daytona 500.”

The former driver stressed the need for a clear direction. He also noted that if NASCAR could throw a caution 100 feet from the start-finish line, they should be able to do it in Turn 3. Harvick said:

“I left the booth mad and was like I just don’t understand what I’ve watched.”

Kevin Harvick criticized the reasoning behind not throwing a caution, arguing that safety vehicles were already being dispatched on the backstretch.

“I’m not buying all this BS,” he said, firmly criticizing NASCAR’s decision-making.

“Are we going to throw the caution when there’s cars wrecking hard? Because these cars all wreck hard. There’s not a soft wreck,” he added.

One of Harvick’s major concerns was how NASCAR handled Riley Herbst’s incident. During the final lap, Herbst lost control of his car but recovered before fully spinning out or hitting the wall. No caution was thrown, which Harvick agreed was the right call.

However, moments later, a massive wreck occurred on the backstretch involving Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, and several other drivers. Despite the severity of the crash, NASCAR hesitated to throw the caution, which led to William Byron taking the lead and eventually winning the race.

Harvick argued that NASCAR should have been quicker with the yellow flag, as the wreck was severe enough to warrant an immediate stoppage.

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Kevin Harvick picks a favorite for the upcoming Atlanta race

After the Daytona controversy, Kevin Harvick shifted focus to the upcoming Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. On the latest episode of “Happy Hour”, he picked Austin Cindric as his favorite to win the race, citing Ford’s strong superspeedway performance.

“We’ve talked about Ford’s... just things that they do better than the other makes right now, and I'm going with Austin Cindric. I'm going to pick the #2 this weekend. He’s been up front at all the superspeedway races,” Harvick said [1:06:23].

Kevin Harvick's co-host, Kaitlyn Vincie, backed Joey Logano to win, while Mamba Smith chose Bubba Wallace as his pick. Logano is currently favored with +800 odds to win in Atlanta.