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Kevin Harvick critiqued Denny Hamlin for admitting he was ‘not mentally into it’ following a poor performance from the No. 11 pit crew at Kansas Speedway. Harvick told the driver to choose his words carefully to avoid frustrating his team.
Harvick, who is worth $110 million according to Celebrity Net Worth, is a former NASCAR Cup driver turned sports broadcaster for FOX. His greatest achievement in the premier series was winning the championship title when the elimination era was introduced in 2014.
In a recent episode of his Happy Hour podcast, Kevin Harvick slammed Hamlin for his post-race remarks, saying:
“Why in the world would you get out of the car and say that? Part of what you do as a racecar driver is you have to be a poker player. At that, when you have that driver suit on, you have to play the game. And you can’t open your mouth to put yourself in positions, to be in a worse spot than you already are. Even if you think it, don’t say that.” [20:56]
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The 60-time Cup Series winner added:
“You’ve got the fastest car and your team had trouble but you’re going to go to the next week and you’re probably gonna have a fast car again but you can’t piss the whole team off.” [21:37]
Denny Hamlin was frustrated over the No. 11 team’s performance as he kept losing positions after pit stops. The driver also had a fast car to compete for the win at the Round of 12 opener but instead walked out of Kansas with a P8 finish and 36 points.
During a post-race interview with NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck, Hamlin said (via Newsweek):
"I'm not in it mentally. I can tell you that. There's a lot of wires crossed, bolts loose at the moment, so. But what can you do. I'll just do my best to drive the car and do my part."
The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver is 5th in the playoff standings between Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman. He is also +11 above the playoff cutline, with 23XI driver Tyler Reddick sitting in 9th and only -4 below the cutline.
The second race of the Round of 12 will be held at Talladega Superspeedway on October 6.
Kevin Harvick shared his favorite to win at Talladega Superspeedway
For the upcoming playoff race at Talladega, Kevin Harvick picked Ryan Blaney to bring home the win. Harvick confessed having a hard time choosing his favorite but he’s going with the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion.
In the same podcast episode, the 48-year-old driver-turned-broadcaster said:
“It's so hard at this point because it's just so wide open. And I think this week was a great example of what I thought was a dead William Byron to a revived William Byron. We had it in one week. So, I'm going to go with Blaney [Ryan].” [50:15]
Ryan Blaney is coming off with a P4 finish at Kansas Speedway. While the No. 12 Team Penske driver had a DNF at Watkins Glen, he is having a strong playoff performance so far with two top-5s. He is 2nd in the playoff standings behind William Byron and +28 to the cutline.
Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour co-hosts Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith picked Joey Logano and Todd Gilliland respectively.
