Kevin Harvick sends warning to NASCAR playoff teams in Round of 8: 'Better have a backup plan'

Kevin Harvick is sending a warning to the eight remaining teams in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs — nothing will be perfect from here on out. As the Round of 8 begins, the former Cup Series champion believes that even the most prepared contenders need to brace for the unexpected to reach the Championship 4.

On the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, the FOX Sports analyst cautioned that mistakes and setbacks are inevitable over the next couple of races. The difference between advancing and elimination, Harvick believes, will come down to which teams can recover fastest when things go wrong.

“There are going to be errors — yeah. And, you know, I think when you look at some of these scenarios that we’ve seen in the other divisions and in the Cup cars as well, the errors start on Saturday,” Harvick explained. “Where do you qualify? Are you in a position to score stage points? You’re going to have to score stage points, but you’re also going to have to be spot on in qualifying. You’re going to have to qualify well at Vegas. You’re going to have to qualify well at Martinsville. Because if you’re going to be one of the guys who points your way in, you better have it — especially with Talladega in there.

“You better have a backup plan, because you’re going to be in that position. And if it’s not Talladega, you better have a backup plan for your bad scenario. Because most likely, most of them are going to have a situation to deal with. You know going into the playoffs that you’re going to have something go wrong. You’re going to have a bad restart. You’re going to have a bad qualifying day. You’re going to have a bad pit stop. You’re going to have something go wrong. Sure, somebody might nail them all — but that’s highly unlikely.”

According to Harvick, teams that locked their spots in the Round of 8 earlier will have a distinct edge heading into Las Vegas. Drivers like Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott, who secured berths with wins at New Hampshire and Kansas, have had extra time to prepare and fine-tune their setups for this critical stretch.

“When you look at the guys that won early in the round, that’s the thing that could surprise you with the 9 car, right? They’ve had a couple of weeks to work on their car,” Harvick added. “That’s the thing when you go to Vegas — I mean, those guys on Blaney’s car, they’ve had a few weeks to keep working on it. The rest of them have been grinding away.

“The Loganos and Chastains and all those guys were grinding away just to get in at the last race. Blaney’s group — they’ve been focused on Vegas for two weeks, and now three weeks. And now you’ve got Elliott in that same category, able to focus for two weeks. That preparation, all those details stacking up, and really analyzing what you’re doing for Vegas — that’s been looked at for more time than everybody else with those two cars.”

All told, the Round of 8 will test every driver’s ability to stay composed and execute under pressure across Las Vegas, Talladega, and Martinsville. As Harvick sees it, the winner at Vegas will earn a massive advantage — and for everyone else still chasing, a backup plan might be the only thing that keeps their title hopes alive.