"It’s a spinout, a wreck, or something on pit road": Kevin Harvick blames Next Gen car struggles for derailing Kyle Busch's playoff momentum

On the latest episode of his Happy Hour podcast on YouTube, Kevin Harvick talked about Kyle Busch's struggles in the Cup Series. Harvick blamed the seventh-generation cars for disrupting Busch's momentum in the playoffs.

The NextGen cars were introduced three years ago, during the 2022 season. Since then, the Las Vegas native's performance has been declining. He has secured only four wins driving the Gen7 cars in the Cup Series. Additionally, Busch has been on a winless streak since 2023 and missed a spot in the playoffs in 2024 and 2025.

Reflecting on the same, Kevin Harvick blamed the NextGen cars for Kyle Busch's struggles. He explained:

"I think his car has totally disrupted everything that's made Kyle Busch good. Everything that made Kyle Busch good up until this Gen 7 car was the fact that he could drive it over the limit, save the car, and he could tell you every single thing that you needed to put in the car to make it go fast. He knew the springs. He knew the shocks. He knew everything that was going on. Not going to happen in Gen 7 racing." [32:30 onwards]

Harvick further pointed out that NextGen cars are not built according to the driver's driving style and stated:

"Every time that this eight car is in position, it's a spin-out, a wreck, or something on pit road, or something happens that's going on and just can't finish the deal. And I think that for Kyle, he's in a position where he knows he wants to win, and he knows everybody wants to win. He knows he needs to win. He knows in those positions where he can win, and then he pushes it over the edge. And that's always what made Kyle Busch great—he could go a little too far and save the car. And now, he just can't find that feel of putting himself in that position."

After getting involved in an accident at the Daytona race, Kyle Busch missed his chance to enter the playoffs. However, he is ready to compete in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, August 31, 2025. USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90, and HBO Max will broadcast the 367-lap race live at 6:00 pm ET.

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"Gives you a little bit more diversity": Kyle Busch shared his take on the NASCAR schedule overhaul

Earlier this year, ahead of the EchoPark race in June, Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch was featured in an interview with FrontStretch Media. During the interview, Busch opened up about the governing body adding new tracks to the Cup Series schedule.

Following his years of experience in the series, the #8 Chevy Camaro ZL1 driver praised the sanctioning body's decision to add new venues in the Cup Series. He told the press (via FrontStretch Media on X) [01:30 onwards]:

"I think the schedule having variation is really cool. I think that's great. I think it gives you a little bit more diversity within your fan base in the areas of the country that you can go races, as long as you can kind of spread it around a little bit, like if you go run Charlotte, Rockingham, Darlington, and North Wilkesboro, all within a two-month span. You're recruiting the same people, right? So, but going to Mexico is obviously new people."

Kyle Busch currently ranks 20th in the Cup Series points table with 541 points to his credit. He has secured seven top-ten finishes and two top-five finishes in 26 starts this season. Additionally, Busch led 62 laps with an average start of 16.154.