Kevin Harvick showed no mercy to his pit crew after their disastrous pit stop in Sonoma that compromised their result. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver didn’t mince his words when speaking about the incident, which attracted some criticism on him for being too harsh.

But in reality, those who know Harvick know that he wasn’t trying to be mean. Rather, he was just expecting “excellence.”

One of those people who know Harvick is Parker Kligerman, the part-time racer, and part-time NBC analyst, who recently described the competitiveness and drive ‘Happy Harvick’ has for himself, and for his team.

“You have to understand Kevin Harvick would’ve been successful if he chose to be an NFL Quarterback, an NBA player, or a racecar driver. Mentally, as a competitor, as an athlete, that guy is incredible at turning it on and being absolutely perfect and doing the work behind the scenes to be perfect,” he said.

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“I think people have known him for so long in the sport that they see the public side of his frustration when it doesn’t go right, the run-ins he’s had,” Kligerman continued. “But he’s a top-level driving talent that works as hard, if not harder than anyone else out there. He has been doing that consistent basis.”

“He demands excellence.”

Kevin Harvick didn’t mince his words for his pit crew

After the race at Sonoma, Kevin Harvick addressed the miserable pit stop that cost him at least a few points, if not a position from where he could’ve won his first race of the season.

“I swear to god we look like the biggest (expletive) bunch of wankers every week on pit road,” he said.

Kevin Harvick added that while their Ford Mustang was good, their “once-a-week catastrophic failure on pit road” got in the way. He believed that they didn’t finish where they should’ve.

“We should have been second at worst but we keep screwing up every week,” he added.