Kevin Harvick predicts NASCAR Cup winner at Michigan

The Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway brought plenty of storylines for the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour to debate. With that race in the rearview, they’re now turning their attention to this weekend’s Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

The trio of the namesake in Kevin Harvick, Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith locked in their predictions for the highly-anticipated event. First, the former Cup Series champion went with someone who can recognize his level of success, choosing Joey Logano.

“I’m going to take Logano,” Harvick proclaimed. “I don’t think you’re going to beat the Fords this weekend. I think you’re going to have to have a Ford. So, I just — I like his experience.”

Logano certainly makes some sense. He’s coming off a top five at Nashville. His last win at Michigan came in 2019 though. Last season, the three-time champion finished P33 at the track. Logano will be looking for a better result in 2025 than that to prove Harvick right.

Next, Vincie chose to ride with Hendrick Motorsports. She picked the No. 24 Chevrolet to rise to the top: “I’m going with William Byron,” she stated. “He had a decent showing here last race.”

Byron’s showing was more than decent, as he finished as the runner-up at Michigan last season, as well as in 2021. He’s never won at the track, so perhaps he can elevate and get the dub this time around.

Finally, Smith went a little against the grain, per usual. He thinks Carson Hocevar will be a threat, but he’s riding with Ryan Preece to get the win at Michigan.

“I really want to go with Carson, because it’s a home track for him, but I’m going to go RFK, I’m going with Ryan Preece,” Smith said. “They seem to have some real like, big smoke speed at these mile-and-a-halves. They’ve been kind of knocking on the door for some better finishes than they’ve gotten. So, I’m going to go with Preece.”

As Smith alluded to, Preece has been impressive during his first season with RFK Racing. Whether or not he can elevate and win a race remains to be seen, but the analyst is hoping to be ahead of the curve if he does.

Michigan International Speedway is one of the tougher tracks to predict in the Cup Series. Last season, Tyler Reddick was victorious. Nobody believes he’ll go back-to-back though, at least not if you take the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour crew at their word.