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NASCAR Cup Series veteran Kevin Harvick was one of the many disgruntled playoff contenders after last weekend's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The third race of the playoffs in the 2022 season was deemed tough by several drivers after racing for 500-laps on the steeply banked short track.
Harvick, driving the #4 Busch Light Ford Mustang, finished just inside the top-10 after what seemed like a day when Ford-manufactured cars struggled with tire degradation and blowouts. 'Happy Harvick', as he is often referred to, could not manage to advance into the next round despite his top-10 finish. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver partly blamed his lucky stars that have not aligned for the 46-year-old to take advantage of, along with the Next Gen car's on-track raceability.
The post-race interview saw Kevin Harvick elaborate on his elimination and his thoughts on the overtaking ability, or the lack there-of with the new cars this year and said:
“It just kind of goes with the whole year. Nothing has gone right, really. The wheels literally fell off tonight.”
Harvick also touched upon his performance in the latter stages of the race and said:
“It was pretty tough. We pitted in front of the 17, but that’s just the way the year has gone. We went from having a chance to lead the parade to being a part of the parade, just difficult to pass. The cars are way too fast in the corners. You can’t race.”
The #4 crew at Stewart-Haas racing also suffered from a less than adequate pit stop that also affected Kevin Harvick's finishing position last Sunday. The 46-year-old spoke in favor of his mechanics despite the hiccups on pit road, saying:
“Yeah, they’ve done a good job, just bad timing.”
Kevin Harvick speaks his mind on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season calendar
Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick's opinion is one of the most respected in stock car racing circles as the 46-year-old has had a long and storied career in the highest echelon of the sport. As a two-time Xfinity Series champion and 2014 Cup Series champion, Harvick recently took to Twitter to react to the recently announced 2023 season calendar, writing:
“👍👍N Wilkesboro 👎👎One Off Weekend 👍👍LA Colosiem again 👎👎same races in playoffs 👍👍Street Race 👎👎👎👎Indy RC”
See the tweet below:
The #4 Busch Light Ford Mustang driver's cryptic message sent out clear signals as to which races he will be onboard with next year and which races he isn't looking forward to in 2023.
