Kevin Harvick points out underperforming NASCAR playoff teams heading into Round of 8

Only eight drivers remain in the NASCAR Playoffs. Kevin Harvick has a couple of drivers whom he believes have underachieved, despite advancing. The Round of 8 begins this weekend at Las Vegas, and some teams have more momentum than others.

Kevin Harvick has been through the NASCAR Playoffs. He knows what it takes to make the Championship 4. What he saw in the Round of 12 leads Harvick to believe a couple of title contenders have underperformed.

It’s hard to say that any driver has underperformed who has made the Round of 8. But the Championship 4 is where everyone wants to make it to. So, for a few teams, exiting in this round would amount to underperforming. Harvick thinks two teams have to step it up.

“I think the 24 [William Byron] definitely underperformed,” Kevin Harvick said on his Happy Hour podcast. “I think that, you know, their speed has been off. We went to St. Louis, and like, oh, well, you know. Maybe they found something. But now it’s kind of flip-flopped. Now the 9 seems to be the one that has more speed than the 24. They had the big miss at Kansas. They ground one out and were able to put themselves in a decent position to get a decent finish, but they had no speed at Kansas. It was a big flop at Kansas.

“So, they’re another one that you don’t, I mean, they might show up at Vegas, they might not. I don’t know. Because they were awful, they were awful at Kansas. So, I think Byron, I think that Briscoe was probably a little more, a little more off than what I thought they were going to be.”

I think that you can definitely point at William Byron as an underachiever. He is the regular-season champion and hasn’t won since Iowa. He only had two top-10s in these entire playoffs up to this point. His Round of 12 finishes of P3, P9, and P11 didn’t really amount to much. So, Kevin Harvick is right about this team.

As for Chase Briscoe, I’m not ready to say he is underachieving or has at this point. He won Darlington, was second at Gateway, Top 10s at Bristol and New Hampshire, and then a pole and a P4 finish at Kansas. The Roval, he was sick and finished P14.

The problem for Briscoe is that he doesn’t have the stage wins that other drivers have. He is -14 going into the weekend because he isn’t carrying as many playoff points from one round to the next. His work in the NASCAR Playoffs has been outstanding, though. The good thing is, Briscoe has been winning stages lately. He has three stage wins in the playoffs, tying Kyle Larson for the most in the postseason.

Kevin Harvick thinks the 24 and 19 teams need to step it up. He isn’t wrong. Byron can’t keep racing like he has been in the NASCAR Playoffs, and Briscoe has to keep racing at a high level. If not, either one of them could be wondering, “What if?” after Martinsville.