Kevin Harvick explains why Kyle Busch torching NASCAR over ending his Daytona 500 was wrong

After having to take his car behind the wall during the Daytona 500, Kyle Busch torched NASCAR and their new Damaged Vehicle Policy, but Kevin Harvick is pushing back on his narrative in the time following.

After being involved in a wreck towards the end of this past Sunday’s race, Busch’s team tried to use the new DVP rule, which gives teams a chance to make repairs and keep racing. The No. 8 Chevrolet returned to the track under caution, but then they went to pit road to make more repairs, all while the yellow was still out. 

That’s when NASCAR claimed that Busch did not make minimum speed under green after making repairs in the garage. So, by going back to the pits under yellow, he broke the DVP rule and was parked, and given a DNF.

Busch was hot about the entire ordeal, but Harvick took some time to explain how his team could’ve handled the situation better on the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. It’s evident the former champion doesn’t believe NASCAR is to blame.

“When you look at Kyle Busch’s situation, this is the exact same thing that got him in trouble last year,” Harvick stated. “They had a penalty on pit road, put him in the back of the pack, got themselves back up there. Then, it came down to an accident there at the end. They got towed back to the pits. … They get back, and there are some technicalities in that rule. You know, they sent the car back out on the racetrack, and then they brought the car back into the garage.

“Technically what has to happen when they tow that car back to the designated area, you can fix it, but when it leaves the garage, it has to meet minimum speed, and it can’t come back. If it does come back, then you’re done. So, they never went to green flag, but they came back in to work on it, and you can’t — technically, you can’t do that. It’ll be interesting to see if that sticks around, or if the team misinterpreted what was happening.

” … I think it’s a pretty black and white rule, but Kyle wasn’t happy with that after the race. It’s going to be interesting to watch this No. 8 car develop through the first part of the year, because they had —weren’t great at Bowman Gray. Then, they had an alright car this week. Kind of fumbled the bag there a little bit on pit road and wound up pulling some strategy at the end. But still, not all the way back to the front, and got wrecked. It’s just — they fumbled the bag.”

While Harvick can see why Busch is frustrated, it’s evident he believes his anger at NASCAR is misdirected. Moving forward, the FOX Sports analyst is hoping to see more consistency out of one of the best wheelman to ever grace the sport, and less complaining after the race.

Emotions were running high for Kyle Busch, especially considering how badly he wants to win the Daytona 500. It didn’t come to fruition in 2025, but he’ll have plenty of more chances to get to Victory Lane this season, beginning this coming weekend in Atlanta.