Kevin Harvick is locking in his prediction for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. His fellow crew members at Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour in Mamba Smith and Kaitlyn Vincie made their picks for this weekend’s race in Tennessee, as well.
Harvick usually starts it off, but after hitting on Denny Hamlin the past two weeks, Smith tried to get the former Cup Series champion off his game: “I’m picking Denny Hamlin in the No. 11,” Smith said, before Harvick could make his selection. “I’m telling you right now, if the No. 11 car doesn’t make the full race, I’m changing how — I’m going to change. I don’t know what I’m going to do, [but] I’m going to change the complete setup. I might only write it down on a sticky note and not even say it, I don’t know. I’m literally jinxing these guys. I feel terrible.
“[Denny’s] the guy. I thinks he’s the right one. This is one of his favorite race tracks. Chris Gayle runs good here. They should run well. I have to pick them, and I’ve got to get there before you, so then maybe you won’t pick them.”
Unfortunately for Smith, that didn’t impede Harvick from picking the veteran for the third straight week: “I think that I’m going to have to agree with you,” he responded. “I’m going to go with Denny Hamlin, that way your ass can’t make up ground.”
Regardless of their reasoning, Hamlin is a tremendous choice for The Last Great Colosseum. Bristol is another tremendous track for the No. 11 team. Hamlin has won there four times, and twice in his last three trips. We’ll see if he can get it done again in 2025.
As for Vincie, she kept it in-house at Joe Gibbs Racing. However, she’s riding with Hamlin’s teammate: “I’m going with Christopher Bell for this one,” she predicted.
It’s a solid pick, as Bell has three wins on the season already. He’s been consistent as anyone over the past few weeks, even if he hasn’t been back to Victory Lane, notching another podium finish at Darlington, finishing third.
As the Cup Series moves to Bristol this weekend, Bell has never won at The Last Great Coliseum. However, he’s done well over his past couple of trips to Tennessee, notching four top ten finishes in a row over the past two seasons.
Time will tell if Denny Hamlin or Christopher Bell get the job done, or if someone not mentioned on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour is able to get to Victory Lane. It should be a doozy of a race on Sunday though, as NASCAR returns to one of their more exciting tracks in Bristol Motor Speedway.
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