Clint Bowyer finds ‘greed’ in the shadows triggering Kevin Harvick’s frustration with Cup drivers
Kevin Harvick noticed drivers following a trend during Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway that frustrated him. When Harvick shared his confusion with fellow commentator Clint Bowyer, he told the 2014 Cup Series champion that the drivers were doing it because they were 'greedy; for chasing faster lap times.
When drivers first took to the track on Saturday for the practice session at the 'World's Fastest Half-Mile', the broadcasting team of Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, and Mike Joy noticed a major issue from last year show up again: high tire wear. Just like in 2024, cars were coming off the track after practice with tires that were badly worn.
In many cases, the rubber had worn down so much that the tires had started to “cord,” a sign that they wouldn’t last long during a race. With no sign of this trend stopping, tire conservation is expected to play a huge role in Sunday’s race. But as qualifying began, something else caught Harvick’s attention, which added to his frustration.
Drivers were posting their fastest qualifying laps on their first attempt around the track. However, they still pushed for a second lap, trying to shave off the last possible tenth off their lap time even though it meant reducing tire life. In a video clip shared on X, Harvick was heard saying:
"The part that I just don't understand is you know it's gonna be a tire conservation game. Why do you wanna put that extra lap on your tires? I'm a little frustrated, Clint."
"Greed. That's why,” Bowyer told Harvick after thinking for a few seconds. “Felt really good that first lap. If I had another crack at it, man, I think I can get you another, just a little bit more."
Alex Bowman bagged the pole position for Sunday’s Food City 500, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. joining him on the front row of the grid.
Kevin Harvick shares his prediction for the winner of the Sunday race
Kevin Harvick has been right on the money with his predictions in the last two weeks. Both times, he picked Denny Hamlin, and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver indeed won the last two rounds.
During the recent episode of his podcast, Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, co-host Mamba Smith took dibs on the predictions this time around and went with Hamlin. Smith went ahead of Harvick, who is usually the first one to pick his driver, thinking it would prevent Harvick from picking Hamlin one more time.
However, the former Cup Series champion wasn’t fazed by this and once again picked Hamlin for the win. He shared:
“I think that I’m going to have to agree with you. I’m going to go with Denny Hamlin; that way your as* can’t make up ground.” (51:00 onwards)
Hamlin has qualified on the second row of the grid in P4 and is a very solid pick for the race win, considering he has always had great speed at Bristol.