Alvin Kamara, Kevin Harvick make their picks for driver to win 2024 NASCAR Cup Championship

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara joined Kevin Harvick for the latest edition of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, where the pair locked in their picks for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

First, Harvick decided to stick with his original pick from before the season: “I think this is the year for Denny [Hamlin],” he predicted, rocking with the No. 11 wheelman to capture his first title of his illustrious career in the Cup Series.

While Kamara relented the fact that Hamlin, one of his favorite drivers, was driving well in 2024, he couldn’t pick him to win the title, instead choosing one of Hamlin’s fierce competitors in Kyle Larson.

“I think Denny’s driving well. … I’ll say Kyle,” Kamara said, projecting the Hendrick Motorsports star to win his second NASCAR Cup Series title. “You can put it on the record.”

Alas, Hamlin or Larson is a popular pick at the moment, as the duo are at the top of the NASCAR Cup Series championship odds at the moment, no matter the sports-book you’re looking at. Other contenders at the moment include Hamlin’s teammate Christopher Bell, and Larson’s teammate William Byron.

Still, someone could come out of nowhere and shock the NASCAR world, as Ryan Blaney did in 2023. Time will tell if Alvin Kamara and Kevin Harvick are right in their predictions, but they’re certainly in the ballpark, it seems like.

Alvin Kamara explains origins of his interest in NASCAR

Meanwhile, Kamara was also asked when his love for racing began during his appearance on the show, and it’s evident it’s grown immensely over the last couple of seasons.

“I wouldn’t say I liked racing necessarily my whole life,” Kamara added. “I think every kid grows up kind of have a little bit of interest in cars. My NASCAR/racing interest/journey started during the pandemic. Nobody’s doing anything, everything’s closed, you can’t really go anywhere, everybody’s inside trying to find the next bright idea or catching up 10s of thousands of shows. 

“I’m sitting in my house one day and I’m flipping through the channels bored. Same old stuff on, then NASCAR’s on. You always see it but I never just sat there and stayed on it, I never dialed in. So I’m like ‘Alright let me dial in real quick’ I keep it on. I’m watching, and I’m like ‘Okay, this is a little bit more than just left turns.’ They talking about tires, pit strategy and fuel. They go to the windshield view and they go to the comms with the spotters talking and everybody. I’m like ‘Yo this is real. This is super intricate.’”

Kamara continued: “With me being in the field that I’m in football, everything is so detailed. I thought it was just driving. I get my car every day and drive too, but I’m thinking it’s just driving, and come to find out there’s so many working parts to it, so I’m like ‘Oh this is interesting.’ …I kind of reached out to NASCAR and I’m like ‘Yo this is cool. You got a fan in me.’”

On3’s Brian Jones contributed to this article.