Kevin Harvick raises massive question about Kyle Larson after clash with NASCAR teammate Chase Elliott

Kyle Larson turned some heads this weekend at Iowa when he exploded on his team’s radio. The sudden outburst came after Larson was knocked around a bit on the racetrack, losing valuable track positioning.

He had been involved in some contact throughout the day, including an earlier incident with teammate Chase Elliott. He hadn’t really come off too worse for the wear.

Then, a little while later, Larson got stacked up to the outside of the track. He had the outside track and was bumped heavily by another driver, costing him a lot of valuable track position as he was pushed way outside the groove into a turn. Kyle Larson went from about fifth to 12th before another caution flag slowed things down.

And once the caution flag came out, Larson let it fly on the team’s radio. He let loose.

“How much f****** room do I have to leave people?” Kyle Larson said, per Dustin Albino of NASCAR.com. “…. I’ve been trying to be a good teammate, a good competitor and it hasn’t gotten me anywhere for the last hour.”

That rant caught the attention of Kevin Harvick, who saw it as a bit out of character for the driver of the No. 5 car. Harvick felt like somebody else has perhaps been putting too much pressure on Larson in that regard.

“I just wonder where those comments, those are obviously conversations that somebody’s had with Kyle Larson or he’s thought about, and why those conversations started,” Harvick said on the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast. “It was with Chase Elliott this weekend and that’s what led to the blowup on the radio.

“But there’s obviously been a conversation that’s happened either within the organization or Kyle with himself, or Kyle and Cliff (Daniels). However this whole conversation about being a good competitor and being a good teammate and all those things that came to that rant on the radio.”

Kyle Larson finished in 28th place at Iowa, a forgettable finish on a frustrating day. To Harvick, it’s simple.

Let Larson be Larson. He doesn’t need to be worrying about being a great teammate or a perfectly cordial driver on the track.

“I don’t like that for Kyle Larson,” Harvick said. “I want Kyle Larson to be doing slide jobs and not worrying about what kind of competitor he is. I think you always have to worry about what kind of teammate you are, but I think it’s better to worry about it after it’s already done and you worry about the consequences later. Because that is not productive in my mind for Kyle Larson to be thinking about stuff like that.”

Regardless, the entire blowup caught Harvick by surprise. It was just so out of the ordinary.

“It’s definitely interesting to hear those comments out of Kyle Larson, because it’s just, to me that shows that there has definitely been a conversation about it at some point,” Harvick said.