NASCAR: Kevin Harvick's take on Danica Patrick inconsistent with his take on Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kevin Harvick spoke out about his teammate Danica Patrick leaving Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of the NASCAR Cup Series season. But his take on Patrick differed from his take earlier this year on Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Just last month, 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick made headlines for making some controversial claims about how Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s lack of great performances as NASCAR’s most popular driver for 14 seasons and counting has stunted the growth of the sport.

Following Danica Patrick’s announcement that she will be departing Stewart-Haas Racing following the conclusion of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season, Harvick also spoke up. But he wasn’t nearly as critical of his teammate as he was Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Here is what Harvick had to say about Earnhardt Jr. last month.

"“(Earnhardt) hasn’t been anywhere close to being our most successful driver. When you look at other sports – you look at basketball and you look at football and you look at their most popular (athletes), they’re also right on the top of the list as their most successful (athletes).”“So for me I believe that Dale Jr. has had a big part in stunting the growth of NASCAR because he’s got these legions of fans and this huge outreach of being able to reach these places that none of us have the possibility to reach. But he’s won nine races in 10 years at Hendrick Motorsports and hasn’t been able to reach outside of that. So I know that those aren’t the most popular comments, but those are real life facts that you look up and see on the stat sheet.”"

And here is what Harvick had to say today about Patrick.

"“On the other side of that you have the performance side of things that at some point measures into everybody’s sponsorship. I hope that Danica gets a sponsor because she’s an important part of our sport…She’s had a lot of very good moments; look at Joey Logano, he went from Joe Gibbs Racing to (Team) Penske and became an immediate championship contender just by getting in a different situation.”“That’s what you hope for in this situation, that Danica can find a team and a sponsor that fits her situation better than the situation that has been in the past.”"

Seeing as how Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick are two of the most popular drivers in the sport, it is interesting how Harvick effectively threw Earnhardt Jr. under the bus for his lack of great performances despite the fact that he has won 26 races in his career, but he is all for Patrick getting a sponsor so she can continue her Cup Series career.

NASCAR: Kevin Harvick’s take on Danica Patrick inconsistent with his take on Dale Earnhardt Jr.

By Asher Fair | Sep 13, 2017

Kevin Harvick spoke out about his teammate Danica Patrick leaving Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of the NASCAR Cup Series season. But his take on Patrick differed from his take earlier this year on Dale Earnhardt Jr.