Kevin Harvick blames "abnormal" amount of playoff drivers "qualifying bad" at Watkins Glen for being trapped in Kyle Busch and Corey LaJoie's mess

Kevin Harvick has pointed out that the poor qualifying run of the playoff drivers contributed majorly to their shattered Watkins Glen race. The Go Bowling! at the Glen was marred by an opening lap chaos after Corey LaJoie wrecked Kyle Busch's left rear.

Ross Chastain was the polesitter for the 92-lap run and placed second, Martin Truex Jr. was the top qualifying playoff driver. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney had a poor showing and failed to qualify while Brad Keselowski started in 28th.

The pack steered through the first three turns without trouble after the race went green. However, while maneuvering through the Bus Stop chicane between Turns 4 and 5, LaJoie wrecked Busch and spun him on the track. The latter's #8 Chevy slid through the exit and stopped on the asphalt, blocking the way.

Ryan Blaney's #12 Ford got collected in the wreck, its steering column broke, and he was towed to the garage. Denny Hamlin suffered some damage but made a pitstop under caution for repairs. Christopher Bell spun but regained control and resumed his run. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Blaney succumbed to DNF after getting collected in the opening lap.

Had the drivers out-qualified Busch (P13) and LaJoie (P18), or would've kept themselves ahead of the two during Lap 1, the misery wouldn't have knocked on their doors.

Kevin Harvick highlighted the "abnormal" number of playoff drivers having poor qualifying and emphasized the need to qualify well to avoid result-destroying pileups. He said (via Fox on NASCAR on YouTube).

"I think a lot of those guys can credit qualifying bad or in the middle of the pack to their accident. That's why you want to qualify good and you want to do all the things that you can. But we saw an abnormal amount of guys in the playoffs qualify bad," Kevin Harvick said (6:48).

Ryan Blaney was the biggest victim of the opening lap crash, as his 45-point buffer while entering Watkins Glen has been reduced to 29.

Kevin Harvick scrutinizes Denny Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing's "dismal" playoff performance

Kevin Harvick criticized Hamlin and JGR's strategies at the playoff opener run hosted by the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The #11 Toyota driver has bagged three wins, nine top-5s, and 12 top-10s this season, but has failed to reign supreme on the superspeedways.

He finished 19th at the Daytona 500, 23rd at the next race in Atlanta, 37th at Talladega, and 38th at Daytona's second race. As a result, the 54-time Cup Series race winner was on a defensive strategy and looked to keep himself in the safe zone by racing for 20 points at Atlanta.

The Watkins Glen disappointment has put him below the elimination line, in 13th, with a 6-point deficit. Though Kevin Harvick believes in Hamlin's capability to outperform rivals at Bristol, considering that the JGR driver won the last two Bristol races, he felt it'd be easier if the #11 Toyota "won their way in."

"Going to Bristol, obviously, Denny Hamlin is very good there. Bristol is going to be interesting. If you're Hamlin, you can point your way in, but I think it'd be a lot easier if you won your way in," Kevin Harvick said (at 0:23) on the Harvick Happy Hour podcast.

"When you look back at just the driver strategy to go out and at Atlanta and just try to race for 20 points, and then everything that's happened, all the drama, it just derailed the 11 car off the tracks. I think they can go to Bristol and put it back on the track, and they can go there and win. But man, what a dismal way to start," he added.

The Bass Pro Shops Night Race in Bristol will mark the Round of 16's elimination race and four drivers will be eliminated from the championship fight.