NASCAR: Kevin Harvick drops back to last place in playoffs
By Asher Fair
Kevin Harvick is set to start the round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in 12th place, a far cry from where he was last year at this time.
A winless Kevin Harvick remained winless on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, as the Stewart-Haas Racing driver saw Kyle Larson drive past him to secure his sixth win of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season after multiple on-track tussles between Harvick and Chase Elliott aided Larson in terms of closing the gap to the #4 Ford.
The one positive for Harvick, aside from securing a season-best (take that with a grain of salt) finish, was that he locked up a spot in the round of 12 well before the race ended, despite starting the round of 16 below the cut line.
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However, he now finds himself again in a hole entering the second three-race round of the four-round, 10-race postseason.
Last season, Harvick entered the playoffs as the top seeded driver thanks to his regular season championship, his seven regular season race wins, and his seven regular season stage wins, which netted him a whopping 57 playoff points.
This past regular season, he earned just two playoff points.
He didn’t win a single race or stage; he simply finished in ninth place in the point standings to collect those two points.
As a result, he entered this year’s playoffs with just two bonus points, worst among the 16 playoff drivers, and he was the only driver without at least one race win or one stage win. Meanwhile, the other two non-winners who made the playoffs each had at least three stage wins.
He failed to win a race or a stage in the round of 16, so once again, he has dropped to last place in the playoff picture ahead of the round of 12.
Take a look at how the 12 remaining playoff eligible drivers are set to enter the round of 12 when it is scheduled to begin this Sunday evening at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Rank – Driver – Points (Behind)
1 – Kyle Larson – 3059 (+46)
2 – Martin Truex Jr. – 3029 (+16)
3 – Ryan Blaney – 3024 (+11)
3 – Denny Hamlin – 3024 (+11)
5 – Kyle Busch – 3022 (+9)
6 – Chase Elliott – 3021 (+8)
7 – Alex Bowman – 3015 (+2)
8 – William Byron – 3014 (+1)
—–ROUND OF 8 CUT LINE—–
9 – Joey Logano – 3013 (-1)
10 – Brad Keselowski – 3008 (-6)
11 – Christopher Bell – 3005 (-9)
12 – Kevin Harvick – 3002 (-12)
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The round of 12-opening South Point 400 is set to be broadcast live from Las Vegas Motor Speedway beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 26. Make sure to start your free trial of FuboTV today if you have not already done so!