Kevin Harvick sides with Kyle Larson in Kyle Busch wreck

Kevin Harvick decided to take Kyle Larson’s side in the No. 5 wheelman’s beef with Kyle Busch, stemming from their wreck during Sunday’s race in Illinois.

On the latest episode of Harvick’s Happy Hour, Harvick tried to make sense of the wreck that dampened both drivers afternoons, where Busch and Larson collided, costing both veterans a chance at the win over the weekend.

“Well, it all started off of Turn 4. You see the two of them wrecking right there, but really the story started off of Turn 4,” Harvick started. “Kyle Larson went to pass Kyle Busch, and he went up to side-draft him. He touched the left-rear quarter-panel of Kyle Busch. I don’t think Kyle appreciated that — Kyle Busch appreciated that. He got to the start-finish-line, and started to come down the race track, and actually started squeezing Larson down the race track. Well, Larson finally just stopped and then they banged fenders, and they got to the entry to the corner and were basically door to door, and the car of Larson got loose underneath Busch and they both wrecked.

“So I don’t know, it’s kind of like the Truex situation. You talk on the radio with his radio chatter and all the frustration that he has on the radio. Kyle Busch is at that point, where he’s on the radio frustrated and doing all the things that he’s doing. He’s had a couple of those moments. You saw at North Wilkesboro, getting in the back of Stenhouse when he got frustrated with him. You know, I viewed that as a little bit of frustration from Kyle Busch with Kyle Larson, pretty quickly over what didn’t look like a lot of contact. I don’t know what you think, but it didn’t look like a lot of contact to me.”

Much like the Ricky Stenhouse Jr. incident, Harvick believes the pressure is mounting for Busch, and it’s leading to the continuous outbursts we’re seeing from the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion.

“That pressure is ramping up on Kyle Busch too,” Harvick explained. “I’ve been there. You know, those scenarios where it’s — now it’s a year. Haven’t won in a year. He’s won 19 years in a row, and now he’s looking to extend that win streak. He’s had a lot of terrible things happen. With the pit crew, the pit crew hasn’t done a great job at all.

“Kyle’s had a couple of these moments now, a few of these moments, with a few guys on the race track. So his fuse is short, but it’s short for a reason, and that’s because the cars aren’t running good, and they’re not getting the finishes.”

Alas, Kevin Harvick believes Kyle Larson was a victim of Kyle Busch’s wrath, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’ll be interesting to see how many more of these instances Busch can get away with, before someone responds to him on the track, racing him the way he’s been treating the rest of the field.