"I'm still not sold": Kevin Harvick questions Kyle Busch's 2015 NASCAR triumph despite missing 11 races

Kevin Harvick recently spoke about Kyle Busch's 2015 Cup triumph. In 2015, Busch missed the first 11 races of the season because of a serious injury sustained in a wreck. Despite that, the former JGR driver went on to win the Cup championship that season, his first.

While the former #18 driver missed over 10 races in the beginning of the season, once back, he racked up four wins, three of which were in a row. Busch further went on a run of five top 5 finishes and a win at Homestead in the final eight races of the season.

But Busch's 2015 triumph was something Kevin Harvick spoke about during the latest episode of the Happy Hour podcast. As Harvick and his co-host Mamba Smith got into a discussion about the current playoff format which is a divisive subject in the sport right now, the former NASCAR driver shared his thoughts on the same.

Harvick said that to win a championship, one needs a combination of the best driver and the best team. But he wasn't sure that the best car has won the championship in the current format.

"You go back to 2020, where we won nine races. We had the best car. We just didn't have the best car at the last race. Go back to 2015. And I'm still not sold that you should be able to miss six, five, four, five, six races, whatever it was, and be eligible to win a championship. I think you're hurt and you shouldn't win the championship," Harvick described. [19:48]

Kevin Harvick claimed that the championship conversation is a really tough one. He mentioned how there are some flaws in the current system if one aims to reward the best car and the best team for an entire season's worth of work.

"I just think that first 26 weeks needs to have more, there needs to be more emphasis on the first 26 weeks and that reward and winning and and all that. I don't know how you tie it all together. I'm glad I don't have to do that because it's a no-win situation," he added. [21:07]

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Kevin Harvick suggests how NASCAR can put more value in regular-season performance

While Kevin Harvick claimed the format conversation is a tough one, he did suggest what he would do to ensure the regular-season performance matters more. Harvick addressed Alex Bowman almost failing to advance to the playoffs at the hands of a driver below 30th in points despite the #48 having a decent season.

Harvick claimed NASCAR could implement a two to three guranteed spots system for the points. He said on the Happy Hour podcast:

"If you have too many winners, then just start the first round with too many cars. If you could still earn your way in with wins, but start the first round with too many cars and, you know, just eliminate more cars in the first round."

With that said, it'll be interesting to see how NASCAR tweaks or introduces major changes to the playoff system in the future.