Kevin Harvick was impressed with the strategy employed by Toyota at Dega before everything went wrong. Harvick and John Hunter Nemechek were involved in an accident during a calculated draft maneuver by Toyota. Unfortunately, Harvick was the unluckiest driver of the race last weekend in Talladega. He was hospitalized after the accident and will not be able to participate in this weekend’s race in Dover.
Former NASCAR Cup champion Kevin Harvick discussed Erik Jones’ “violent accident” on his podcast. During the discussion, Harvick highlighted that Jones’ teammate, John Hunter Namecheck, played a significant role in the accident. He emphasized that Namecheck failed to back off in the bumpy turn 3, which ultimately led to the incident. Harvick noted that JHM should not have been pushing so hard at that moment, as it caused them to be misaligned with the track’s irregularities.
Harvick acknowledged that Toyota’s strategy of pitting together and drafting was a true tactical lesson that fooled everyone. However, the unfortunate accident ruined the race for half of the Toyota drivers that day. Although Toyota’s day was saved by Tyler Reddick’s victory, the accident could have spoiled the race for TRD if it wasn’t for that win. Moving forward, Toyota needs to improve its execution of such strategies in the upcoming races at Dega and Daytona if they want to secure victories.
