Kevin Harvick points out major hurdle to Ryan Blaney winning the NASCAR Cup Championship in 2024

Oct 15, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) is introduced before the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Harvick realizes it’s been an uneven season for Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 team in 2024, following their NASCAR Cup Series title in 2023.

Even though there’s been some hardship for Blaney and company, they’re locked into the playoffs after a win earlier in June at Iowa Speedway. Now, can the No. 12 elevate and capture back-to-back championships when the time comes for the playoffs? Harvick believes there’s one major hurdle in their way.

“Here’s the deal with those guys,” Harvick started, via Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. “I think that their short-track stuff, I think is okay. I think that St. Louis was good. I think Loudon was good. Both places that you’re shifting. Iowa, you know, that was kind of one of those scenarios, but they were good at all three races. The problem that they have are the mile-and-a-halves. That’s the problem.

“It’s just going to be, can they get the mile-and-a-half program fixed, to the point where they can be competitive enough to run in the Top 5. I like the speed, I like the speed in the No. 12 car. I think that they’re back better than they were at the beginning of the year, and being in the conversation, but I’ve got to see them do more on the mile-and-a-half race tracks.”

Evidently, Harvick believes Blaney’s going to have to improve at a myriad of tracks before he locks him in as the championship favorite, even though he won it last season. Still, it’s not like Blaney dominated all 2023, as he truly turned it on over the last month and change to capture his title.

Sometimes, that’s all you need as it pertains to NASCAR’s playoff system. Ryan Blaney will certainly be a popular pick to win another title in 2024, but Kevin Harvick wants to see some more speed at the mile-and-a-halves before he can wholeheartedly believe in the No. 12.

Kevin Harvick has some hard words following Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell beef

Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick didn’t like what Michael McDowell did to Ryan Blaney in the final stage of the Cup Series race in New Hampshire last weekend. On the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Harvick went after McDowell for wrecking Blaney and costing them both a second-place finish.

“I didn’t like it. I understand Michael’s thought process of saying hey, I need to go for it, but man we weren’t even racing for the lead, we were racing for second,” Harvick said. “He just wiped Ryan Blaney out. You could probably argue the point that you want to argue as far as taking a chance, I got to try to win a race, but wiping the second-place car out for no reason is not right. I didn’t like the move at all.”

Despite Harvick not liking the move, he understood why McDowell did it. “I agree with Michael, it was a low percentage move,” Harvick said. “But it wasn’t smart. I think for me, if you’re going to make a low percentage move, you better have a car that’s fast enough to win the race. And if you’re gonna wipe him out, at least wipe out the leader.”

On3’s Brian Jones contributed to this article.

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