Kevin Harvick Names Ryan Blaney as NASCAR Driver with Most Momentum Heading into Olympic Break
As NASCAR takes a two-week hiatus for the Summer Olympics, Kevin Harvick has weighed in on which driver is carrying the most momentum into the break. On his show, *Happy Hour*, Harvick highlighted Ryan Blaney and Team Penske as the top contenders, citing their recent strong performances as indicative of their readiness for the upcoming playoff push.
“The 12 car is in the hunt,” Harvick said, referring to Blaney’s No. 12 Ford. “We didn’t say that at the beginning of the year. The 12 car is in the hunt. They’ve got the ship headed in the right direction. They’ve been performing well, in contention. Jonathan (Hassler) calls a great race week after week. He does a great job on the pit box, and they’re firing on all eight cylinders.”
Blaney, the defending Cup Series champion, has indeed made a significant impact in recent weeks. He secured his first win of the year at Iowa and followed up with a solid performance, finishing third at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His victory at Pocono the previous week further solidified his position as a driver to watch when the playoffs commence in September.
Harvick also shared his observations on Blaney’s teammates, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric. While acknowledging their contributions, he noted that Logano hasn’t been quite as strong as Blaney and expressed doubts about Cindric’s competitiveness in comparison. “Logano is not quite like the 12,” Harvick said. “I don’t think Cindric has anything for those two cars.”
On the flip side, Harvick expressed concerns about Ty Gibbs and the engine issues plaguing Joe Gibbs Racing. “I just feel like that, and we’ve seen this before with the engine group at Toyota, when you have these moments, you have to be on edge,” Harvick explained. “We’ve seen it happen in the playoffs, and now we’ve had four of these moments, that we know of, that have happened in a pretty short amount of time. So, there’s obviously an issue there.”
Harvick emphasized that engine reliability is crucial, especially with high RPM racetracks on the horizon. “You’re going to have to shift pretty much everywhere that you go, except for the speedways, and so these engine issues are a huge concern for me as you go into the playoffs, because it seems like they could pop up at any moment. With whatever’s happening to the engines,” he added.
As the NASCAR regular season heads into its final stretch, drivers will have four more races before the playoffs begin. The postseason kicks off on September 8 at the Quaker State 400 in Atlanta, where the top contenders like Blaney will aim to leverage their momentum for a strong start to the playoffs. With the break providing a brief respite, the focus will shift to preparation and strategy as the championship battle intensifies.
