Kevin Harvick sends warning on Denny Hamlin as NASCAR Playoffs near

As the NASCAR season quickly comes to a close, Denny Hamlin is aiming to do something he has yet to accomplish in his career: win a championship. And Kevin Harvick issued a warning to other drivers along those lines.

Hamlin has never been in a better position to come through on that goal. Speaking on the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, Harvick opened up.

“We’re on a roll of positives here for Denny and we’ve got Iowa, the Glen, Richmond, Daytona left headed into the playoffs,” Harvick said. “If he can just keep the wheels on it for four weeks without any crazy news that he has to deal with outside of what he’s already dealing with, he’s already pretty good at dealing with it. He’s going to have a chance when we get to the end of the year.”

As things stand, Denny Hamlin is sitting fourth in the points standings. He has 706, trailing leader Chase Elliott by just 20 points. Elliott (726), William Byron (722) and Kyle Larson (711) are out in front currently.

But one thing working in Hamlin’s favor this time around is that there’s much more clarity in where things off the track stand. That’s not to say the backdrop is clean, but it’s more manageable, Harvick said.

“Last year when we started the playoffs this whole thing unleashed. It was a visible bad deal,” Harvick said. “It was a bad situation for Denny right at the start of the playoffs, Race No. 1 at Atlanta last year. I don’t believe we’re going to go through that this year.

“That consistency that they have, and if the bottom doesn’t fall out in the middle of the playoffs, his experience level and the chemistry with the team right now, they’re going to be tough to beat week in and week out in the playoffs.”

Harvick also pointed to Denny Hamlin re-signing with Joe Gibbs Racing as another thing that’s now out of the way. One fewer thing to worry about.

All that adds up to Denny Hamlin making a serious championship run, according to Harvick. Other drivers be warned.

“You can say what you want, but the primary focus is winning that championship,” Harvick said. “I mean his legacy is going to be great regardless of whether he wins it, but you know the determination to win that championship is the primary focus, whether he says it or not.

“Whether he wins 60 or 80 races, whatever that number is doesn’t matter. That championship adds a whole ‘nother layer to his legacy. And they’re in as good a position as they’ve ever been to go out and do that right now.”