Last week, while Hendrick Motorsports sensation Kyle Larson had the last laugh at the opening race of the 2023 playoffs, Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick suffered from a controversial penalty for committing to the pit road after the red lights were out. Despite showing winning speed, Tony Stewart’s most valuable asset dropped back to P19 finish in the Southern 500.

Currently, he sits at the 12th spot in the standings. Beneath him is Joe Gibbs Racing speedster and the regular season champion Martin Truex Jr. The latter entered the playoff contention with a bag full of bonus points, but right after two races into the round of 16s, he is yet to seal a berth in the round of 12. Martin Truex Jr. has to win 7 points over Kevin Harvick and then some more, in order to proceed into the next round. However, that might be a humongous task for the 43-year-old.

HMS legend reveals how Tony Stewart’s driver could benefit from the uphill battle for Martin Truex Jr

The Smoke has just one of his cars in the playoff rumble, which is Kevin Harvick’s #4 Ford Mustang. Earlier, his driver, Ryan Preece, flipped dangerously at Daytona. Now, it is safe to say that the entire season has not been quite fruitful for Tony Stewart in the Cup Series. It all comes down to the soon-to-retire Cup Series driver.

Thanks to Kevin Harvick‘s track record in Bristol, frog-jumping him might not be easy for Martin Truex Jr. Kevin Harvick flaunts 3 Cup Series wins in Bristol. Besides that, he also won 5 Xfinity Series races and one Craftsman Truck Series title on the high-banked short track.

On that note, Steve Letarte spoke about his thoughts on where Truex Jr stands with just one race to go till the round of 12s begins. According to Letarte, Martin Truex Jr’s track record at Bristol has not been the best. On the contrary, the drivers that he has to beat in order to enter the next round have done wonders. Letarte said,

“He has to fight 7 points on Kevin Harvick. It would be way better if they were going to a high-speed track where Toyota’s dominate. They are going to Bristol, Kevin Harvick has great history there.”

“Twelve points on Joey Logano… Joey Logano in Bristol, runs wonderful. Thirteen points on Christopher Bell,” he added. On top of that, Christopher Bell has won his fifth NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol earlier this year.

He named another Ford team in strong contention: Brad Keselowski and RFK Racing. Back in 2022, a non-playoff driver Chris Buescher broke a 222-long winless streak, scoring his second career victory at the 500-lap race. Steve exclaimed, “Wait, where did RFK get their first win? Oh yeah, Chris Buescher. At Bristol!”

Watch this story: NASCAR Insider Clears the Air After Fans Left Puzzled by Tony Stewart?s NASCAR Driver?s Anomaly

Letarte continued, “It is a daunting task. Now let me add in. Last year we saw chaos, we saw steering failures, we saw a lot of things with the new car and I’m not convinced that they’re gone.”

Kevin Harvick reaveals his most embarrassing moment from 8 years ago that involved a fellow Ford driver

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Kevin Harvick loves his fair share of controversies. Interestingly, he does not like getting into them and prefers to relish them as a silent bystander. And that is exactly what the NASCAR community got to witness when Harvick pushed Brad Keselowski into a fight with Jeff Gordon at Texas Motor Speedway in 2014.

Gordon was shouting at Keselowski, who was trying to avoid the fight. However, two hands emerged out of nowhere and pushed the RFK owner into the chaos, starting an uncontrolled brawl. This left both Gordon and Brad bloody and four Hendrick Motorsports crewmen suspended. According to ESPN, NASCAR fined six HMS crew members a total of $185,000.

Years later, in an episode of Stacking Pennies, Harvick told Corey LaJoie that it was the most embarrassing moment of his career. He was sure about his intention but looked back at it as something that his kids should not pick up as an example.

Harvick explained, “For me, my mind was man, we didn’t win tonight, we need chaos. In the end, we made it to Homestead. We didn’t win the championship. Kyle came and won the championship, but, we needed the story to go elsewhere other than us being out of contention.”

“It did exactly what I wanted it to do, but it’s not the best thing for your kids to find on YouTube to start a fight, right?” he added.

Read more: As Tony Stewart?s Trouble Doubles, Kyle Busch Takes a Savage 4-Word Dig at Win-Less Kevin Harvick