Kevin Harvick predicts winner at Darlington

Another exciting NASCAR Cup Series weekend is on the docket at Darlington Raceway. Kevin Harvick and the crew at Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour are locking in their predictions for the Goodyear 400.

Last Sunday, Harvick nailed it by picking Denny Hamlin to win at Martinsville Speedway. He’s not straying from that strategy, thinking the veteran can go back-to-back and capture his second win in as many weeks.

“I think I am going to pick a Toyota. I’m going to pick Denny Hamlin. Two weeks in a row,” Harvick proclaimed. “Martinsville and Darlington, you can go back and forth as to which one is his best track.”

Nobody will blame Harvick for riding with the Joe Gibbs Racing star once again. This will be Hamlin’s 26th time racing at Darlington, and he has four wins at the track. His most recent one came in 2021.

Elsewhere, Mamba Smith decided to go with a star rocking one of the best paint schemes of the year so far: “I’m going with Kyle Larson. … He has one of the best throwbacks for the second year in a row,” Smith stated. “The Frosted Flakes one — Terry Labonte from ’03.

“Terry’s going to be there. Kyle really wanted to win in the Corn Flakes car for him. This one is the last one [Labonte] won in. Means a little bit more. The racing gods are going to sprinkle some — he’s the best driver in the world, and he can [win].”

Larson has found immense success at Darlington during his Cup Series career, so Smith might be on the money. He has three runner-up finishes, but those all came before his first win at the track in September of 2023. We’ll see if Smith is right about win No. 2 being on the docket.

Finally, Kaitlyn Vincie agrees that a Hendrick Motorsports wheelman will get to Victory Lane, just not Larson: “I’m also taking someone from the Hendrick Motorsports camp — William Byron,” Vincie predicted. “I feel like after this weekend they’ll have additional motivation, after the tough pit stops.”

It’s not a bad pick by any means. The reigning back-to-back Daytona 500 winner has one win at Darlington, and that came in 2023. He’s usually more than solid in South Carolina, so expect Byron to get back on track with the Cup Series heading to The Lady in Black, making Vincie proud.

We’ll see if any of the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour crew are right with their picks for Darlington. The Goodyear 400 should provide some awesome actions nonetheless, and whoever gets the dub will have certainly earned it when the checkered flag waves.