Kevin Harvick airs out gripe with NASCAR points system, cites stressful Alex Bowman situation

Alex Bowman had to sweat it out for much of this past Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Entering the race occupying the 16th and final playoff spot, Bowman’s run came to an end after he was involved in the Lap 27 “big one.”

Just like that, Bowman had no control over his situation — all the way to the very end of the race. Yes, Ryan Blaney won the race, meaning Bowman ultimately ended up being safe. But the four drivers whom Blaney beat to the line — Daniel Suárez, Justin Haley, Cole Custer, Erik Jones — all drivers who needed a win to make the playoffs, all drivers who could have knocked out Bowman.

It should have never come down to that, Kevin Harvick said on Tuesday’s “Happy Hour” podcast. Harvick called out a flaw in the points system, saying that Bowman’s overall body of work over the course of 26 weeks should have mattered more.

“All the way to the end. There was so many of those guys up in the front there at the end [who needed to win]. … I think Alex Bowman deserves to be in there,” Harvick said. “That’s the part that I don’t like about the current points system. There’s nothing that guarantees rewarding all 26 weeks in there currently.

“Cole Custer was in the mix, he’s 33rd in the points and to me, that’s tough to knock a guy out by winning one superspeedway race over a guy like Alex Bowman who’s put together 26 weeks.”

Alex Bowman has Ryan Blaney to thank

Bowman came oh so close to being knocked out of postseason contention despite accumulating the ninth-most points this season. Blaney saved him, and he owes him a lot — like a lot, a lot.

“7,000,000 beers… I’m certainly thankful for him,” Bowman said, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “Yeah, Ryan’s a good dude and happy to see him win. He’s had a ton of huge hits here. I don’t know what to say other than that, just thankful that he won.”

Bowman wouldn’t have been the first driver to fall victim to a surprise winner at Daytona. Last year it was Harrison Burton, 34th in the points standings, who raced his way to Victory Lane. If Harvick had it his way, points would mean more.

“I think that there’s probably something to if you want to just leave it like it is, OK. That’s not the way I would do it, but I think there needs to be two or three guaranteed spots for the points and if you have too many winners, then just start the first round with too many cars. You can still earn your way in with wins but start the first round with too many cars. And just eliminate more cars in the first round,” Harvick said.

“A guy like Alex Bowman has put together a decent 26 weeks — a guy like Cole Custer hasn’t. They’re almost dead last of the cars that have run full-time. Having a car knock out a guy like Alex Bowman who’s had the season he’s had just because he hasn’t won a race but put together a decent body of work over 26 weeks, doesn’t make sense to me.”