Kevin Harvick Slams NASCAR Teams over “Unorthodox” Daytona 500 Strategy

The 2026 Daytona 500 was an action-packed race that ended under a controversial situation. Despite the race seemingly being smooth sailing, the fuel-saving and pit-cycle decisions were far from normal. Now, former NASCAR star Kevin Harvick opens up on the ‘unorthodox’ strategy and how many of the race decisions were out of the ordinary.

The Daytona 500 ran far from normal and contained many accidents throughout the session. The big one caught over 20 drivers in the wreck and ruined the race for many. These accidents meant that many teams had to go through fuel-saving methods in order to achieve the best possible finish. The likes of Ryan Blaney and other drivers had far from ideal comments on this.

Now, Kevin Harvick recalled how many things unfolded differently throughout the Daytona 500 because of the accidents. Harvick reckoned that some of the accidents shouldn’t have taken place at all. However, it was customary for such accidents to occur at the iconic Daytona circuit. The 2014 Cup Series champion pointed out that these things happened early on in the race.

I think a lot unfolded differently because of the accidents, some of those accidents probably shouldn’t have happened, but they always do. It always seems like at the Daytona 500, you get those early things that happen.

Kevin Harvick said on the Happy Hour podcast.

Further, Kevin Harvick shared his opinion on how drivers pitted in small groups rather than many cars piling up in the pit lane altogether. The 50-year-old accepted that it was a bit unorthodox compared to what was seen before in the past. Harvick questioned why the teams went through the strategy that they did, because it was really confusing from a spectator’s point of view to witness such strategies.

The way everybody pitted in those small groups this time? … It was totally unorthodox from the things that we’ve seen in the past, I don’t know why they played the strategy that they played, because it was very odd.

Kevin Harvick added.

Kevin Harvick labels 2026 Daytona 500 as ‘disorganized’

Certainly, many situations could’ve been avoided at the Daytona to make the race more exciting and not end under a massive wreck. Many drivers were unable to achieve their desired race finish on track despite running at the front all day. Tyler Reddick made all the difference on track and steered clear of the wreck to ultimately bring home the race win.

However, Kevin Harvick was still not satisfied with the race and the racing action. The 2014 Cup Series champion reckoned that if NASCAR could go back in time, it would do things differently throughout the race. Harvick accepted that the strategies seemed scattered and the drivers were unable to keep up with the results. The 50-year-old noted that he did not seem to understand the reason behind the poor situation, but he was sure that the race was utterly disorganized.

I think they would probably go back and try to do it differently, The whole strategy thing seemed very scattered throughout the day.… I never really got a good reason as to why it went the way that it did. But it was very disorganized.

Kevin Harvick noted.

Despite the problems at the Daytona 500, it pulled in incredible viewership, much better than the previous runnings. Now, all eyes will be set upon the upcoming Atlanta race as Goodyear is also bringing in a special compound to make racing exciting. Only time will tell about how the new tires fare against the previous runnings and make racing better around the circuit.

Read More: Kyle Busch Expose How Atlanta Cup Races “Has Gotten Pretty Chaotic”

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