Kevin Harvick delivers a blunt take on Hendrick Motorsports’ “big flop” playoff driver

On the latest episode of the Happy Hour podcast on Fox, Kevin Harvick called out Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron for underperforming in the postseason. During the podcast, Harvick also compared Byron to his teammate Kyle Larson and delivered his verdict on the same.

The 2025 playoffs began with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, and since then, the #24 team has been struggling to keep up with playoff-qualified drivers. Despite having a decent start for the main event, Byron finished the 367-lap race in P21. A similar incident happened at the World Wide Technology Raceway. After qualifying sixth for the race, the HMS driver ended the race in P11.

William Byron secured yet another outside top ten finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. Fast forwarding to Kansas Speedway, Kevin Harvick pointed out that the #24 team didn't have much speed and almost missed their chance to advance to the next round. However, they managed to land a ninth-place finish.

Reflecting on the same, the former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick stated [28:24 onwards]:

"I think the 24 definitely underperformed. Their speed has been off. We went to St. Louis and thought, "Maybe they found something," but now it's kind of flip-flopped. Now the 5 car seems to be the one with more speed than the 24. They had a big miss at Kansas but managed to grind out a decent finish despite having no speed there. It was a big flop at Kansas. They're another team you just don't know about—maybe they’ll show up at Vegas, maybe not. They were awful at Kansas."

William Byron wrapped the Charlotte ROVAL race in P11. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson crossed the finish line in P2. Additionally, Byron ranks fourth in the Cup Series playoff standings with a four-point buffer above the cutoff line. Meanwhile, his teammate Larson sits one spot above him in third place.

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"I hate that inconsistency": Kevin Harvick got candid about Hendrick Motorsports' performance at Dover Motor Speedway

NASCAR veteran and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin clinched his fourth win of the season at Dover Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports drivers struggled during the race. However, Chase Elliott was the only HMS driver to shine in the race. Following that, Kevin Harvick praised him for his performance in the 400-mile race.

The #9 Chevy Camaro ZL1 driver secured the pole position for the main event and secured a stage win, earning ten additional points. However, during stage two, Elliott had a mishap during his pit stop, adding 15 seconds to his stop while Christopher Bell took the lead. However, he recovered quickly and finished the race in P6.

Elliott's teammates, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman, wrapped the Dover race in P3 and P4, respectively. Meanwhile, William Byron was at the back of the pack in P31. Reflecting on the same, Kevin Harvick praised the #9 team's performance but criticized the pattern: [26:35 onwards]:

"At the end, I thought, man, he might have a shot to win this thing, with the tire situation. But they (No. 5) definitely needed to get back on track and be able to try to get themselves in a position to get the ship righted, and you've got five more races to do that before the playoffs start. But man, I hate that inconsistency.

Chase Elliott currently ranks sixth in the Cup Series points table with 4018 points to his account. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson ranks third with 4032 points and three wins this season.

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Edited by Karan Yadav