Kevin Harvick’s uneasy relationship with the Next Gen car goes back to its very first full season in 2022, when he became one of its most outspoken critics. The former Cup Series champion repeatedly raised concerns about safety after several drivers, including Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman, suffered concussion-like symptoms from relatively minor impacts.

Harvick famously called the car “crappy-ass parts” following his fiery Darlington crash that same year, pointing to durability and consistency issues that, in his view, put drivers at unnecessary risk. Even after improvements to the rear clip and crush zones, he maintained that the car’s design and NASCAR’s push for cost-cutting had come at the expense of quality and competitive integrity. And now, Hamlin’s loss at Phoenix was the final straw for him as he issued a stern warning to NASCAR.

Harvick calls out the real issues

Kevin Harvick has never shied away from speaking his mind, and this week, the retired NASCAR Cup Series champion delivered one of his most direct critiques yet of the sport’s direction. On his Happy Hour podcast, Harvick issued a blunt warning to NASCAR leadership, arguing that efforts to “make it fair for everybody” have come at the cost of true dominance and star power. “We’re in the ‘let’s try to make it fair for everybody’ evolution,” Harvick said. “And I think when you’re in the middle of that, we made less stars.”

Harvick’s comments were sparked by recent remarks from NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell, who admitted the sanctioning body intentionally sought greater parity with the Next Gen car, a shift that initially led to 19 different winners in 2022. Harvick acknowledged that while the concept sounded fair in theory, it ultimately diluted the sport’s natural hierarchy. “When fewer people win all the time, you don’t have that dominant star,” he explained. “But we’re headed back to that anyway.”

That trend, Harvick believes, is already visible in the numbers. “We had 14 drivers who won races this year, that’s the fewest since 2020,” he pointed out. “The good teams are starting to get the good people and the details, and all of a sudden, it’s migrating back to how it was.” ‘

The 2025 Cup Series season has indeed seen powerhouse organizations like Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing reclaim their stronghold. The two teams combined to win 19 of the season’s 36 races, echoing the pre–Next Gen era when dominant outfits routinely set the competitive bar.

For Harvick, that’s not a bad thing; it’s a sign of NASCAR rediscovering its identity. “You’ve got Gibbs versus Hendrick racing for the championship this weekend,” he said. “That’s exactly how it used to be before we had the Next Gen car. The good teams rise back to the top.”

Harvick believes that dominance drives storylines, fan loyalty, and rivalries, elements that helped define NASCAR’s golden years with stars like Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Tony Stewart regularly commanding headlines.

Harvick also argued that NASCAR should stop trying to artificially level the playing field between small teams and powerhouse organizations. “Let the stars be the stars,” he said pointedly. “You can’t make it fair for Rick Ware Racing compared to Rick Hendrick. It’s never going to be fair, and the more you try to water that down, the more you lose what makes this sport great.” His simple philosophy is that you cannot water down dominance.

Harvick’s comments reflect a wider sentiment shared by several current drivers. Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin have both voiced similar concerns this season, noting that parity doesn’t necessarily translate to better racing.

Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI Racing, has said multiple times that “greatness should still be rewarded.” Earlier this year, about parity, he said, “What we have to understand is that the parity is what is making it so hard to pass… It’s making it so hard to get near each other to crash, which is what some fans are there to see, which is more action.”

Larson also admitted he prefers seeing top teams set the standard. The competitive gap, Harvick argued, shouldn’t be viewed as a flaw but as a natural byproduct of excellence.

Ultimately, Harvick’s message is clear: NASCAR’s best years have always been built on stars who dominated and defined eras. Trying to engineer equality, he warned, only dulls that magic.“It’s never going to be even. The good teams are always going to be the good teams,” he concluded.

As the 2025 season ends with yet another Hendrick–Gibbs title fight, it’s hard to disagree with him. Dominance, it seems, is making its comeback. Harvick warns against watering down the big teams, and Phoenix showed why they rise anyway until tires cut it short.

Byron sorry for the caution

With just a few laps to go in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series title race, Denny Hamlin appeared set to win it all, with William Byron ending the season as the championship runner-up. But before Hamlin could reach the white flag, the caution flew for yet another tire failure.

This time, it was Byron who slammed the wall in Turns 3 and 4. His title hopes were over, and Hamlin was put in an impossible position. He pitted for four fresh tires, but between those, taking two right sides and staying out entirely, he restarted back in 11th for an overtime restart. It was too tall a mountain to climb, and Kyle Larson snatched the championship away from Hamlin without leading a single lap all day.

Hamlin was obviously heartbroken, and Byron himself was upset for being the driver to cause the race-altering yellow. He even apologized to Hamlin ahead of his post-race press conference. “It just doesn’t seem right,” lamented Byron.

“Yeah, I mean, I think just kind of seeing him, he had beat us, and we’re running second, four laps to go, you go into the wall and cause a caution. It sucks, right? I don’t want to be that guy, even if I’m in the Championship 4. Doesn’t really matter. Don’t want to change the outcome. So it sucks.

“Yeah, I felt something a little funny on that lap,” explained Byron. “Was trying to figure out if it was a tire. I guess we were coming to three laps to go. I was trying to figure out left rear, right rear. About the time I hit the brakes into three, it laid down on the right side of the car and went straight. Yeah, I was hoping it would be a left rear so I could kind of get back, but…”

But he couldn’t. As for what happened on track, it was just the latest of countless tire issues that plagued the championship race as teams went well below Goodyear’s recommended level for air pressures. All four title contenders encountered a cut tire at some point during the finale.

In the end, while Byron was sorry for Hamlin, he himself finished 33rd and ended his 2025 season fourth in the championship standings. Pressure builds up on him, too, as he has now made the Championship 4 in three consecutive years without yet securing the crown.