The Last Great Colosseum at Bristol lived up to its fame, as it oscillated between the heartbreak of being eliminated and the gleeful smile of the champion and being able to enter the next stage. With the race entrenched in a contentious position, the drivers were ready to go the extra mile in order to secure a victory or stay above the cutline of the elimination round.

Amidst all the furor and the hopes of advancing to the next round that made rounds in the mouths of NASCAR fans, Bristol Motor Speedway bore witness to one of the saddest heartbreaks that has left Stewart-Haas Racing wounded and panting for breath.

Kevin Harvick’s Bristol weekend turned out to be an unfulfilled dream

The final race of the Round of 16 was nothing other than mayhem. While rain played the role of spoiling the sport for a major part of the time, on-track incidents marred the evening for the other drivers, especially Joey Logano. The driver was compelled to retire early from the race after Corey LaJoie made contact with the No. 22 Ford car and sustained heavy damage. This resulted in Logano being eliminated from the Round of 12.

Yet, it was not just Logano, the only Ford driver, who suffered a heartbreak, but also the retiring driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing team, Kevin Harvick. Although the driver was 7 points above the cutline, Harvick struggled with the handling of his No. 4 Ford car and ran a few laps slower than the leader of the race. With both Martin Truex Jr and Bubba Wallace able to collect the extra points, Harvick’s elimination from the race became apparent.

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Kevin Harvick has been the only playoff-qualified driver for Tony Stewart’s driver and also leading the pack on his team, witnessed his nightmares come true as he failed to prevail in Bristol. In the post-race interview, Harvick expressed, “I mean we have been just like that all year and we have been hit or miss. Tonight we just missed by a mile.”

“I mean I have had some good days and bad days but that’s definitely the the worst one I’ve had with Fenders on to. and coming out of here, missing out of here, missing the playoffs. I really didn’t have many expectations with this up and down that the year has been, so it is what it is, probably what we deserve.”

Trackhouse Racing steals the last drops of hope from the team Tony Stewart

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However, this was not the only shock that the team Tony Stewart suffered. The team also dealt with the blow of losing the young prodigy of Zane Smith to Trackhouse Racing. It was speculated that the Truck Series champion would be replacing Aric Almirola in the team, but after the recent announcement by the team and the driver, Smith joined forces with Justin Marks.

Zane Smith will be part of the team from the upcoming season onwards, however, will be loaned to Spire Motorsports, with whom the Trackhouse Racing team formed an allegiance. Justin Marks in an interview revealed, “We can’t rush it and we didn’t want to throw it together late. It just has to be a process that’s going to take course over some time. A third team takes time and it takes a lot of money. It makes sense for us to put Zane in an established team where he can focus on the driving and we can focus on everything we can to support him over there.”

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Nevertheless, with hopes shattering down for Tony Stewart, all eyes would be on the team and its future endeavors. It will be interesting to see if Josh Berry is able to fill in the big shoes of Harvick or will have a tough time adapting.