“People make up all this crap!” Kevin Harvick ends race-manipulation allegations against Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace after Darlington
Ex-NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick shared his thoughts on the Darlington race manipulation controversy.
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Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick and Bubba Wallace (Via IMAGO)
The NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway last week witnessed some controversial moment, while Denny Hamlin stole the win taking advantage of the late race restart. The Kyle Larson spin that changed the direction of the race, involving Bubba Wallace, was the reason behind the restart and the most controversial moment of the day.
With four laps left in the race, Ryan Blaney was comfortably leading the race with Tyler Reddick behind him. The latter made contact with the wall, that made Kyle Larson who was behind him to check up resulting in Bubba Wallace hitting him from the back. This resulted in conspiracy theory on social media, where fans alleged race manipulation.
2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick shared his thoughts on the allegations via his podcast Happy Hours. He pointed out that the comments came from people who thinks they are smarter than the NASCAR insiders and make such wild claims, as he went onto describe how the incident played out.
I think a lot of times, people make up all this crap thinking we’re smarter than we are. We’re not that smart. In that moment right there, you just want to get to the end of the race and it be over with.
Kevin Harvick said via Happy Hour podcast.
He highlighted that everyone understands it was a mistake from Kyle Larson and urges to be big enough to admit the HMS veteran messed up. Harvick pointed out that the No:5 Chevy driver instincts kicked in when he saw the No:45 of Reddick hitting the wall, but it was the wrong move at the wrong time.
Bubba’s a lap down, and Kyle’s 160 down. Look, Kyle Larson made a mistake. I think we can all be big enough to admit that. He had a damaged car and was looking for just one extra point, though he would never get that point. When he saw one of the leaders hit the wall, he had the right instinct but at the wrong time.
Kevin Harvick added.
Kevin Harvick explains why Kyle Larson got back into the race despite being 160 laps down
In the same podcast earlier, Harvick explained why Kyle Larson got back on the track despite going over 100 laps down. He recalled how he got back into the race despite going multiple laps down in 2023 following a massive crash and pointed out that racers will come back in if the cars are fixed fast enough.
So, it’s a lot of people are going to say, why would you do that? Well, guess what, if you can make those repairs faster, and, I think back to 23 when we had that massive crash there on one of the restarts and wiped out half the field it seemed like.
Kevin Harvick said.
He highlighted how Kyle Larson lost the 2024 regular season championship to Tyler Reddick for just one point and how for an elite driver like him, even losing one point is acceptable. The only way to tackle the challenges of the Next-Gen era uncertainties is to maximise points finishes every week.
Something like that happens in the race and you don’t get back out on the race track; this guy lost the regular season championship by one point last year. We’re talking one point. And that’s why the emphasis is put on getting that car back out on the race track. Because you do not know how these races are going to work out.
Kevin Harvick added.
The comments from Kevin Harvick perfectly explains why Kyle Larson was racing desperately on the track and why his determination to avoid another incident might have made him to check up early when Reddick hit the wall. It will be interesting to see what Larson would have to say ahead of the Bristol race weekend about the incident.
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