Kevin Harvick backs Kyle Larson, rips spotter: 'I would've told him to shut the f*ck up too'

Kevin Harvick said on his “Happy Hour” podcast this week that he had no problem with Kyle Larson telling his spotter to “shut the f*ck up” during Sunday’s race at New Hampshire, saying he would’ve done the same thing as well.

After Larson and Denny Hamlin made contact during the race, Larson’s spotter, Tyler Monn, radioed to him, “He runs you like that every time, you know why, because you let it happen.” Larson didn’t appreciate those words from Monn, and promptly told him to “Shut the f*ck up.”

“If you look at the scorecard, Denny Hamlin has definitely gotten the best of Kyle Larson through the years,” Harvick said. “I mean, it’s very lopsided. And I can see where the spotter is coming from on that scenario, but I also think that the spotter should probably keep his mouth shut and not say that. I think he needs to stay in his lane. I think that is something the drivers need to worry about. And if you’re gonna talk about something like that, don’t talk about it on the radio. I think a lot of time these spotters take a little more leeway with the things that they say on the radio than they probably should.

“The radio was much quieter after the comment. It was much quieter. … I’m proud of him [Larson], I think a lot of those spotters talk too much and I think sometimes they think they’re driving the car and so, everybody’s out there wanting to be competitive, but as a driver you don’t wanna hear that. I would’ve told him to shut the f*ck up too.”

Denny Hamlin shoots down idea he has rivalry brewing with Kyle Larson

Larson has been on the losing end of his on-track battles with Hamlin over the years. Those battles have heated up in recent weeks with the two of them often competing for victories. During Stage 2 at Iowa, it was Hamlin, a lap down at the time, running into the back of Larson’s rear while the Hendrick Motorsports driver was leading the race. Then came this past Sunday’s race at New Hampshire, when the two were banging doors racing for position before the expected severe weather came through.

You might say that Hamlin and Larson are developing a rivalry of sorts on the racetrack, though the Joe Gibbs Racing driver disagrees. Speaking on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast Monday, Hamlin denied there’s a rivalry between he and Larson, chalking it up to two competitors not giving each other an inch.

“It’s not [a rivalry],” Hamlin said. “I like Kyle and listen, just watch the race and we all do this to each other all the time. I don’t know why there’s an emphasis, is it because we’re up front all the time? Maybe that’s it, but the 5 and 12 [Ryan Blaney] ran each other up the racetrack. It’s racing, it’s short-track racing — get over it.”