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Kevin Harvick has voiced concerns about Denny Hamlin’s chances in the NASCAR playoffs after a tough race at Atlanta.
Hamlin adopted a cautious strategy at the Quaker State 400 last Sunday. He started the race 38th and struggled to move up. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was also involved in a late-race crash. After the race, Hamlin said that his only goal was to earn 20 points and improve his chances of winning his first Cup Series title.
On a recent episode of Harvick's Happy Hour, Kevin Harvick, who is worth $110M (according to Celebrity Net Worth), discussed Hamlin's disappointing performance and expressed skepticism about his playoff prospects.
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"It's complete failure when you consider the stakes and how things unfolded for Denny at Atlanta. The performance was far from what was needed to secure a strong playoff position," the 48-year-old said.
Hamlin also faced multiple wrecks at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February this year. However, his recent disappointing performance at the track has jeopardized his playoff prospects. Hamlin was holding a solid sixth position in the playoffs prior to Atlanta, but the crash significantly impacted his chances, dropping him to 11th place.
"Obviously, I think they had some issues in qualifying that may have led to that strategy. They got no stage points, crashed at the end, and now they're two points above the cut line. So you cannot race this car scared. To me, that looked like a scared strategy. Everything about it just looked like a totally scared strategy to get up there and mix it up," Harvick added.
Harvick further explained that to succeed with the current car, drivers need to be aggressive and work hard to gain an advantage. He thought Hamlin was a championship contender just a week ago but believes that his recent performance was "a complete train wreck.
Kevin Harvick proposes merging All-Star Race and The Clash
Kevin Harvick recently suggested combining the All-Star Race and The Clash into one event to make the busy NASCAR schedule easier to manage. The Clash is an exhibition race held before the Daytona 500.
In the aforementioned podcast, Harvick discussed the demanding schedule for teams and their crew members, suggesting that merging these two races could provide teams with an extra week off.
"Because I look at the length of the schedule right now, and my goodness, it's not as hard for the drivers, as it is for the team guys, and sometimes I feel like, when you talk about the logistics of what they have to do to get from Michigan to Mexico City, you know, you think about all of those things," Harvick said.
Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s Executive VP, said that NASCAR has considered this idea. He pointed out that the race’s format has undergone significant changes in recent years and that there are ongoing discussions with Speedway Motorsports about potential future alterations.
"So, something we also talk about with Speedway Motorsports is what does the future evolution of the All-Star Race look like? I think there's a theory around the All-Star Race, every weekend is the All-Star Race...It's a different format, and it's a format similar to The Clash," he said.
