Kevin Harvick outlines expectations for Watkins Glen playoff race
Kevin Harvick has raced at Watkins Glen a myriad of times during his NASCAR Cup Series career, but he’s never had to deal with the New York-based road course in the playoffs.
That’s what the best wheelmen in America will have to deal with on Sunday, as the Round of 16 continues this weekend. Ahead of this season’s iteration of Watkins Glen, Harvick took some time to outline his expectations for Sunday’s second race of the playoffs.
“I think that the teams will have their arms wrapped around the changes with the curbs and everything that goes with The Glen, before they get there,” Harvick said, via Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. They won’t have a lot of time to figure it out. But I think that, you know, you’re going to have your same guys that are good at the road courses, and it’s going to be interesting, because of all the scenarios that we had at Atlanta, as to who is that guy that steps up and is the outlier of speed at Watkins Glen. So, you know, I think it’ll be interesting.
“Obviously, we expect [Kyle] Larson to be fast. We expect William Byron to be fast. You know, the Gibbs cars have been good on the road courses. Tyler Reddick’s been great on the on the road courses. So, it’ll be another interesting twist to the next weekend of racing and playoffs.”
Of the drivers Harvick mentioned, it’s easy to see why Kyle Larson is someone who will have the veteran’s attention on Sunday. The Hendrick wheelman dug himself into a hole with his performance over the weekend in Atlanta, as Larson was caught up in an accident, and it’s a testament to his tremendous regular season that he’s not facing elimination after his P37 finish.
Moreover, Larson finishes P26 last season at Watkins Glen, but he’s a good bet to get back on track in New York, as 2023 isn’t indicative of his performance there. He’s won this race two of the last three seasons, and he has five top tens over his last 9 trips to the road course.
Elsewhere, William Byron and Tyler Reddick will certainly be popular choices to win in Sunday’s race, as Kevin Harvick singled them out, as well. Time will tell, but perhaps we’ll see more chaos at Watkins Glen this weekend than we saw in Atlanta to begin the Round of 16.