Kevin Harvick reacts to Kyle Larson's scary wreck at Atlanta

Kyle Larson saw his run in the playoff opener at Atlanta this past Sunday come to an end on Lap 55 after he got loose in Turn 2 and made violent contact with the outside wall.

It was a scary scene, as Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet suddenly went up the racetrack and into the wall at a high speed. Fortunately for Larson, he came out unscathed from the crash. Kevin Harvick has been there before, he said on his “Happy Hour” podcast this week. He called Atlanta the “edgiest racetrack” on the circuit and described the way the Next Gen car tends to get loose in certain situations.

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Kevin Harvick explains what went wrong for Kyle Larson at Atlanta

“I’ve been in that position before,” Harvick said. “This is the edgiest racetrack that we go to from a driver’s standpoint with how uneasy the cars are. You see a massive hit right there from Kyle Larson. But this race in that position that Kyle was in, in third, right there. It will lull you to sleep. I did the, not the exact same thing, but I spun out just riding along on my own at this racetrack with this package. But the car just got a little bit loose right there. And he corrected and wound up stuffing the thing right in the fence. And then Chase Briscoe comes along and runs into the into the back of the car, but, man, I’m just glad he’s okay.

“But I used to always tell myself, you know, you have to be ready for the unexpected. And that is just one of those moments when you think you’re in a position to where you’re in a good spot. But there’s something when those cars get staggered like that, especially for the third car, they try to stagger, and the way that it takes downforce off the back, or the way that it puts air onto the right front fender, something obviously made that car loose. And hadn’t done that before, lap after lap after lap, but it will lull you to sleep at Atlanta and bite you quick.”

Kyle Larson recaps disappointing day at Atlanta

As for what caused his No. 5 Chevrolet to get so loose in the corner, Larson himself is still trying to figure that out.

“I’m OK,” Larson said. “Thankfully everything held up well inside the car. That was a huge hit. Not really sure what caused it. I was actually sort of like tight loaded into the corner. And then I was pretty far around the corner, and it stepped out. It just all happened really fast.”

After entering the postseason as the No. 1 seed, Larson is now just 15 points clear of the cutline with two races remaining until the playoff field shrinks from 16 to 12.