Kevin Harvick reacts to Ryan Blaney pit road incident at Kansas, believes he’s ‘overachieving’ for Penske
Kevin Harvick is not sugarcoating it. Reacting to Ryan Blaney’s newest pit road mishap at Kansas Speedway, the previous Cup Series champion supplied a blunt evaluation on his Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, one which went past only a single mistake and into the broader state of Team Penske.
“Even before the incident, Blaney was 10th or 12th, whatever he was. He wasn’t in contention at the front of the pack like we typically expect him to be,” Harvick said. “I look at that pit road incident right there. I mean, that’s an error from two of them, the driver and the top of the pit box. Just a little lackadaisical on both of their parts for whoever’s calling him out of the pit box that didn’t do a very good job.”
The incident in query got here early within the race, when Blaney made contact with AJ Allmendinger on Lap 39. As Allmendinger entered his stall, Blaney was exiting his, a miscommunication that ended with the No. 16 spinning on pit road and falling to the rear of the sector, ultimately going two laps down.
Blaney initially reported no harm, however that shortly modified. The No. 12 Ford suffered splitter harm, a crucial aerodynamic piece, forcing his crew right into a scramble to make repairs. That effort solely compounded the problem, because the crew was later penalized for having too many crew members over the wall. For Harvick, although, the larger takeaway wasn’t simply the error, however the context round it.
“I think that Ryan Blaney overachieves in his cars currently,” Harvick added. “I think that team and Ryan do a great job with a car that is not very good from a Ford standpoint, compared to the Toyotas and the top Chevrolets.”
That remark cuts to the guts of a rising narrative within the storage. While Blaney has remained aggressive within the standings, the general tempo of Ford groups, together with Team Penske, has lagged behind the top-tier Chevrolets and Toyotas at numerous factors this season.
Harvick pointed to Joey Logano’s struggles as additional proof, noting the previous champion spent a lot of the race watched within the low 20s. Austin Cindric confirmed early pace however pale, reinforcing the inconsistency throughout the group.
Meanwhile, RFK Racing appeared to carry the Ford banner over the weekend. Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski They have been among the many strongest vehicles within the subject.
“I think Blaney’s team and the whole Penske bunch was a little bit off this weekend,” Harvick added.
At a observe the place execution is the whole lot, even small errors can snowball. For Blaney, Kansas was one other instance. Meanwhile, it served as a reminder that generally the outcomes could be masking a much bigger image in Harvick’s view.
