Kevin Harvick was impressed by the strategy employed by Toyota at Dega before it took a turn for the worse. Harvick and John Hunter Nemechek were involved in a wreck during a calculated drafting maneuver by Toyota. Unfortunately, Harvick was the most unfortunate driver from last weekend’s race at Talladega. He was hospitalized after the crash and will not be able to participate in this weekend’s race at Dover.
Former NASCAR Cup champion Kevin Harvick discussed the “violent crash” of Erik Jones on his podcast. During the discussion, Harvick pointed out that Jones’ teammate John Hunter Namecheck played a significant role in the crash. He emphasized that Namecheck failed to lift in the bumpy corner-3, ultimately causing the incident. Harvick noted that JHM should not have been pushing too hard at that moment, as it caused them to become misaligned with the bumps.
Harvick acknowledged that Toyota’s strategy of pitting together and drafting was a tactical masterclass that deceived everyone. However, the unfortunate crash ruined the race for half of the Toyota drivers on that day. Although Toyota’s day was saved by Tyler Reddick’s win, the crash could have potentially ruined the race for TRD if not for that victory. Moving forward, Toyota needs to improve their execution of such strategies in the upcoming races at Dega and Daytona if they want to secure wins.