Kevin Harvick makes prediction for winner at Darlington, immediately catches flack

Kevin Harvick and his Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour crew are locking in their picks for Darlington this weekend, and the former NASCAR champion caught some flak for his prediction.

First, Harvick’s co-host Kaitlyn Vincie started the discussion with her prediction, believing the No. 1 of Ross Chastain will capture his first win of the season on Mother’s Day.

“Time now though guys for our last call, our predictions for the weekend. I’ll start us out I guess. I’m going with Ross Chastain this weekend,” Vincie stated. “We saw him show some speed, led laps at Kansas. He was fifth there, and he’s got a really cool paint scheme too, if you guys like the Busch Light, baby blue.”

Afterwards, Harvick gave his prediction, but it wasn’t without controversy. Harvick selected four different drivers, before narrowing his pick down to Martin Truex Jr. for Darlington.

“I think it’s going to be, No. 19 (Martin Truex Jr.), No. 11 (Denny Hamlin), No. 5 (Kyle Larson) or No. 24 (William Byron),” Harvick said, his crew giving him some grief. “I’ll take the No. 19. I mean, all you guys had to do was study the stats. It’s pretty simple to see who’s going to win.”

Truex Jr. certainly is a solid pick. Without the late restart that bunched up the field, he looked like he was going to catch and pass Denny Hamlin for the win at Kansas. Instead, the No. 19 decided to take four tires on his final stop, starting him further back in the field, but Truex Jr. still salvaged a P4 finish.

As Truex Jr. is still looking for his first win of 2024, he’s has won at Darlington twice, in 2016 and 2021. Some would say he’s more than due, and what better track to get back to victory lane at than this one.

Moreover, Harvick’s other co-host, Mamba Smith, decided to keep it chalk, but he had a fascinating reason for making his pick for Darlington.

“I’m really struggling this week, because I just don’t want to jinx anybody, but I’ve got to pick somebody,” Smith stated. “I’m going to go with whose paint scheme I like the most going into this weekend, and that is Kyle Larson.

“I’m not going on a limb obviously, because Kyle Larson and Cliff Daniels and that group are who they are, but he has the Terry Labonte, Kellogg’s throwback, and it is so sweet. … Took him three years to get that together.”

Of course, Larson has been close to numerous wins throughout 2024, but he’s still managed to accumulate his fair share of trophies. By virtue of the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history, Larson won at Kansas, a highlight that’ll live on for generations.

Now, Larson will have a chance to continue his winning ways this weekend. He won the last time the Cup Series traveled to Darlington, which was in the playoffs last fall. Smith is hoping for back-to-back wins.

Time will tell who gets the dub at Darlington, but Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour crew has locked their picks in for the weekend. We’ll see if they’re right with their predictions.