Kevin Harvick compares William Byron and Christopher Bell's inconsistent Cup Championship runs

Kevin Harvick drew comparisons between William Byron and Christopher Bell's lack of consistency through the season. The former Cup Series champion explained how a title run depends on a driver pulling through even during an 'off day.'

After 20 starts, Byron remains the season leader in points but has gone through a rough patch recently. He finished outside the top 20 four times in the last six races, including a DNF at Chicago and Atlanta.

Bell recently had a similar stretch of results where he often finished outside the top 10, which dropped him behind the top 5 in the driver's standings. However, they both saw a return to their strengths at Sonoma and logged a top-10 each, with Bell placing a bit higher at fifth.

Reflecting upon their inconsistent form, Harvick said (via YouTube/Happy Hour),

"I believe that Christopher Bell and William Byron, they go through this same streak every year of starting off strong, off in the middle, and then you never know what's going to show up at the end of the year. It was a solid run, but they haven't been consistently solid. And you know, if you're going to win these championships, you got to be able to find that consistency of when you have an off day, not have it be a catastrophe" [16:50 onwards]

Up next, William Byron heads to Dover Motor Speedway, a track he hasn't found much success at. His highest result at the 'Monster Mile' comes at a fourth-place finish back in 2023, while his 2024 run ended in a DNF after leading 36 laps.

The AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 is scheduled to take place on Sunday, July 20, at 2 PM ET. Fans can watch the race on TNT Sports or listen to radio updates on SiriusXM, channel 90.

---

"I'm an idiot": William Byron laments a disappointing run at Chicago

William Byron expressed remorse after finding the barriers during practice at Chicago. The #24 Chevy driver lost control of his car and slammed into the outside walls, resulting in a broken left rear toe-link. The extent of damages was severe enough to forego qualifying and settle for a tail-end start.

Byron spoke to TruTV post-crash and admonished himself.

"I'm an idiot.....I just pitted. So my tires are probably just kind of coming up to tip again, and I took it easy the first half of the lap and I was starting to push in close to the alternate start finish. And, yeah, just lost traction," he said.

To make matters worse, William Byron experienced clutch issues right before the Grant Park 165 got underway, leading to a DNF after just one lap. He was marked dead last at 40th place, making it his worst result this season.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

Edited by Tushhita Barua