Kevin Harvick singles out team with issues to fix during NASCAR off-week

Kevin Harvick believes a few teams have some work to do during NASCAR’s only off-week of the season. On Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Harvick singled out the one team that needs to correct some issues this week.

“This off week presents a scenario to where I think a lot of teams need to make some adjustments,” Harvick said. “I think this pit road thing with [Joe Gibbs Racing] and [Hendrick Motorsports] being above the rest in the pit road speed. RFK [Racing] is right in there, too.”

“When you look at [Team Penske] and their pit road stuff and some of the other teams and their pit road issues, you got to make an adjustment. You can’t just keep getting beat like a drum on pit road because pit road is just such a factor. We saw the five (Kyle Larson) execute a race from start to finish, leading the race, no issues.”

Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports have drivers who are on top of their game. Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell (Gibbs) have won five of the nine races this year, while Kyle Larson and William Byron (Hendrick) have won three races. By the way things are going, it’s likely one of the drivers will win the title and the end of the year, but there is a lot of racing left to set that in stone.

Kevin Harvick talks rivalry between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin

Along with determining which teams need to fix things during the off-week, Kevin Harvick talked about Larson winning the Bristol race on Sunday and sparing his rivalry with Hamlin. “I love it. I love to see somebody playing the other side of the fence,” Harvick said. “Let the villain be the villain and let’s antagonize — let’s poke the villain.”

“Let’s not take away from the fact that Kyle Larson is paying attention. Kyle Larson is paying attention, and he also knows how to put on a show. He also knows how to play to the crowd,” Harvick added. “He’s underrated in a lot of categories. He’s not underrated as a driver, but he’s underrated in a lot of categories off the racetrack.

“Now, you’re starting to see this personality from Kyle Larson, playing into the things that are said around him. When he got the first opportunity — obviously, he and Denny are friends, but he definitely — those fans love him. Right now, Kyle Larson is the most popular driver on the circuit.”

On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this story.