Kevin Harvick makes bold prediction about Cup Series playoff picture

No one is safe with 11 races remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, especially those around the bubble.

With nine winners so far, seven spots remain up for grabs. Chase Elliott (+142) and Tyler Reddick (+138) are in a comfortable position for the time being, especially if they can put a consistent summer stretch together.

Bubba Wallace is 61 points to the good, while Chase Briscoe (+41) is close behind, but neither is safe at this point. That's where things get really tight with Chris Buescher only 20 points to the good in 14th.

Of the 11 races that are left between now and the playoffs, four are on road or street courses. That leaves the door open for a lot of drivers outside the playoff picture to win their way in and shake up the standings, something 2014 Cup Series champion and NASCAR on Fox analyst, Kevin Harvick, touched on in the latest episode of his "Happy Hour" podcast.

"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."

Van Gisbergen won in his first Cup Series start at the inaugural Chicago Street Race in 2023 and has three straight top-10s on road courses. Allmendinger is a three-time road course winner, while Suarez won his first Cup Series race at Sonoma in 2022.

This Sunday's race at Mexico City's Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez will be the first points-paying international race for the Cup Series since 1952, while both races on the streets of Chicago so far have been impacted by rain.

You also cannot count out someone like Carson Hocevar getting in, either on points or a win, given the speed he has shown throughout the season. Former champions Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski currently find themselves outside the playoff picture and third-year driver Ty Gibbs is coming off a third-place finish at Michigan, but is still in search of his first win.

The playoff picture will begin to take shape over the summer months, but the points are so close that anything can happen between now and the regular-season finale at Daytona on Aug. 23, especially when road and street courses are thrown into the mix.