Kevin Harvick predicts winner of this week's NASCAR race at Pocono
Kevin Harvick and the Harvick’s Happy Hour crew predicted who will end up in Victory Lane during the NASCAR Cup Series’ trip to Pocono Raceway this weekend.
After a couple of odd weeks due to an interesting swing in the schedule, Harvick believes we return to the status-quo a bit in Pennsylvania, with Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin battling it out, and the No. 11 winning in the end.
“I think we’re getting back to the race tracks where we’re going to see our guys, the No. 5 and the No. 11,” Harvick theorized. “I think that the No. 5 and the No. 11 are going to continue their battle, but Denny’s been so good there, so I’m going to go with Denny on that one.”
Over the course of his career, Pocono has been one of, if not Hamlin’s best track on the schedule. He won his first two races at the Tricky Triangle, and he also returned to Victory Lane in 2023. There’s plenty of merit for the No. 11 to win next weekend, as Harvick recognized.
However, while Pocono is a track where Larson has never won, he’s come close on multiple occasions. Last season, the Hendrick Motorsports wheelman finished P20 in the mountains, so he’ll be hoping for a much better run in 2024.
Elsewhere, Kaitlyn Vincie is riding with a different wheelman without a win to match Alex Bowman and get a victory on Sunday, predicting Martin Truex Jr. to find Victory Lane on Sunday.
“I’m going MTJ,” Vincie stated. “I know I’ve picked him a lot lately. I don’t know if this is just like an emotional pick, because he’s retiring, but he has been very good at Pocono over the years, as well. So I’m going Martin Truex Jr.”
Of course, Truex Jr. is from the North East, and while Pocono isn’t exactly his home track, it’s close enough. He’s won there twice, and he came home P3 last season. A win at the Tricky Triangle would lock him into the playoffs.
On the other hand, Mamba Smith is riding with someone in a similar boat as Truex Jr. at the moment, but at a completely different stage of his career, in his teammate Ty Gibbs.
“I’m going with, I think I’m going to go with Ty Gibbs. I think I’m going to go with Ty Gibbs, because the Toyotas here specifically, I think are really fast, over the last couple of years, and Ty is just like, right there, and somewhere, he’s got to break through,” Smith explained. “If he gets into the playoffs, which he’s sitting really good right now, I think he’ll be a dog, when he gets in there, so I’m going Ty Gibbs in the No. 54.”
Gibbs made his Cup Series debut at the track in 2022, under the 23XI Racing banner. He finished P16 then, and followed that up with a P5 with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2023. It seems to be a track he fancies, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he’ll capture a win on Sunday.
Alas, there’s a ton of fascinating options who could be victorious at Pocono Raceway. It’ll all come to a head on Sunday, and we’ll have a clearer picture of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs when it’s all said and done.