Kevin Harvick points out mistake NASCAR drivers made following Christopher Bell to slick tires at Chicago

NASCAR has embraced the use of wet weather tires of late and Sunday’s race at Chicago was a little different in that the organization allowed teams to make the call on when to switch from wet weather tires to slick tires.

It was a decision that had some serious implications in the race, perhaps even becoming the deciding factor.

“I think that the end of the race was pretty interesting,” Kevin Harvick said on the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast. “I think the slick tires strategy was obviously the losing strategy. And that was the end of it. I think Christopher Bell probably had a faster car on slick tires at the end, but ultimately there was one line. And the way that all those guys just followed Bell in putting those slick tires on ultimately got themselves buried.”

Bell did, in fact, lead the charge into pit road just before the end of Stage 2. As he switched to slick tires, so did many other drivers.

Drivers like Alex Bowman did not. And ultimately it was Bowman that lasted longest toward the front of the field while those on slick tires tried to make a push.

It didn’t work out so well for most.

“Bell wrecked with trying to make a pass with whoever wrecked with, there was two or three of them that wrecked all at the same time,” Harvick said. “Somebody got loose and he wound up tore up. And really Ty Gibbs got knocked back there in the same type of situation and ultimately cost him a chance to win the race.”

One driver who didn’t fall victim to the slick tires until the very end was Tyler Reddick. For a brief minute it looked like Reddick was going to have the speed to close down Bowman and make it extremely interesting in the final lap.

But Reddick clipped a wall on a turn and that was that. The slick tires strategy was ultimately a bust.

Harvick explained why it played out that way.

“So you had all those rain tires that stayed out, stayed up front,” Harvick said. “There was enough of them to block the slick tires, and it’s just harder to pass when you only have one dry line and you have slick tires on. So you really have to tip-toe around there.

“And after we saw all the mistakes that we saw all day from some of the best, right? We saw Chase Briscoe wipe out SVG. We saw Kyle Larson all but wipe out Ty Gibbs sliding in the brake zone. And that brake zone is tough in (Turn) 6. For whatever reason it is super slick and it just takes stepping over the line, and once you lock those tires up you can’t get it back. It’s like you’re on ice and it looks like you pick up speed.”

All told, though, NASCAR will have to be pleased with the results. The drivers and their teams made the decision and the race played out with a result impacted by the strategy of having done so. That’s how you draw it up in an ideal world.