Kevin Harvick sends warning to drivers on NASCAR Playoff bubble, including Carson Hocevar

As the summer rages on, the bubble for the NASCAR Playoffs is as tight as ever. 20 points separate five drivers for the final spot at the moment, as Ryan Preece, Kyle Busch, Carson Hocevar, AJ Allmendinger and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are battling at the moment.

On the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Kevin Harvick sent a warning to that contingent, pointing out that with an influx of road courses on the schedule, things could get shaken up in quick fashion. The bubble could move, and that’s not good news for these veteran wheelmen on the outside looking in.

“The points are getting ready to change,” Harvick stated. “You mark my words, three weeks from now, the points are getting ready to change, just because of the road course season coming up. Squiggly season. I just think that, if we get one or two of these wild card winners that we are throwing into the possibilities of being able to win, with an SVG (Shane Van Gisbergen) or AJ Allmendinger, [Daniel] Suarez.

“You just don’t know how these road courses — especially a new road course in Mexico City, and a street course. I mean, it might be laid out the same, but it’s not going to — it’s just treacherous. It could bite you at any moment. It could rain. There’s so many things that could possibly go wrong. So, I don’t know. I think that that bubble is great to look at, but I think that bubble could be two spots higher for the guys that have points, which is like 40 some points.”

Out of all the drivers outside the cut-line, Hocevar is the one catching Harvick’s attention. He recognizes the young man has incredible speed at the moment, and if he doesn’t get to Victory Lane, he could point his way in.

“You talk about pointing your way in. I think Hocevar is scoring stage points. I think he’s fast enough to win. I think he’s fast enough to score those stage points consistently. He’s just a new player,” Harvick added. “The way that he handled the Stenhouse thing this week, it seems like there wasn’t really any animosity there. They talked through it.

“I’m just saying it doesn’t seem like there’s any lingering effects from them, so the politics of the internal dealings with situations like that seem to be getting corrected a little better each time. So, I think he’s progressing, and he still has the speed.”

Time will tell which drivers make the playoffs, but it’s evident we have a close battle on our hands. Nobody without a win at the moment is safe, and that’ll add intrigue over the course of the summer for the NASCAR Cup Series.