NASCAR: 5 playoff drivers who could be in trouble
By Asher Fair
Playoff drivers who could be in trouble: No. 3 – Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick has been in the playoffs in each of the last 12 NASCAR Cup Series seasons, the longest active streak among all drivers. However, that streak could be in jeopardy.
Following a career-best nine-win season in 2020, Harvick endured his first winless season since 2009 last year, and despite a ninth place finish in the regular season point standings, he was the second-to-last driver to qualify for the 16-driver postseason and was seeded last to start the opening round.
The driver of the #4 Ford has experienced a similar struggle in 2022, and if the playoffs started now, he would be battling for 17th place in the championship standings as opposed to a second title.
The 2014 champion hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2009, but he may need to end his current win drought, his longest in over a decade, to keep that streak alive.
He sits in 12th place in the point standings, but as mentioned on the previous two slides, the number of winners from below the cut line have pushed up the points cutoff.
Harvick has still shown speed capable of winning at multiple tracks this year, so it’s not out of the question that he is still capable of getting the job done. But after winning nine times in a 25-race span in 2020, he has just six top three finishes in 59 races. Is it possible that he is simply washed up, or close to it?