Kevin Harvick praises Ty Gibbs’ road racing, sends warning to NASCAR drivers on playoff bubble

Ty Gibbs gave chase to Shane van Gisbergen down the stretch in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicago. He just didn’t have enough to catch the street racing phenom from Australia.

But his racing has caught the attention of commentator Kevin Harvick. Harvick believes it’s just a matter of time until Gibbs breaks through on a road course.

“I think that they’ve got the speed and now it’s just those one or two moments on a weekly basis that you’ve got to manage, whether it’s the driver, the pit call, whatever those moments are that the guys that are going to win make right,” Harvick said on the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast. “And that’s where they are. I feel like the speed, he’s an unbelievable road racer, and we saw that really from his first Xfinity race at the Daytona road course when he went down there and won that race.

“But I mean he’s shown up week after week after week now with the speed, qualifying well, in position. Drove a smart race [Sunday] to put himself in contention at the end. Because it’s just like last year. SVG, restart, got pushed out of the way. You just have to be in that mix and eventually you knock that barrier over.”

Ty Gibbs has been in position to win in recent years. Last year at the Chicago street race he finished P3. This year he slid up to P2. He also had a strong showing at Mexico City this season, finishing 11th.

Harvick pointed out a potentially scarier reality for other drivers in light of Gibbs driving so well. They could be in trouble if they haven’t already secured a playoff spot via a win. The bubble is shrinking rapidly, and Gibbs could cause it to shrink further.

“I think when you look at a Ty Gibbs, he’s the danger for a guy like Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace, right?” Harvick said. “It’s those guys like Ty Gibbs that have figured things out and now in position to win. Ryan Preece, same type of scenario. Those two guys are in position to knock that barrier over at any moment on any type of race track — oval, road course, whatever track it is.”

For now, Bowman remains 39 points above the playoff cut line, while Wallace is riding the edge with just two points to spare. Things are getting dicey, especially with Ty Gibbs and Preece running so well.

“Those two guys are in position to win, and that’s what the Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace scenario, that’s the worry in their scenario,” Harvick said. “Because those are just a couple guys. Look at (Carson) Hocevar, right? If he doesn’t hit something or something doesn’t happen on pit road, he’s got the speed week in and week out.

“And most of the time eventually those guys that are that good figure it out and have teams that are good enough to figure it out like Preece and Gibbs have. Those are the types of guys that knock people out like Bowman and Wallace, because they’re in position of being able to win.”