Kevin Harvick shouts out Chase Elliott No. 9 team as most consistent car after Kansas win

Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team notched their second win of the 2025 season at Kansas this past weekend. While they may not lead the NASCAR Cup Series in checkered flags, Kevin Harvick believes Elliott and his crew have proven to be the most reliable team in the garage.

On the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, the former Cup Series champion praised Elliott’s consistency. He credited both the driver and his pit crew for their ability to stay out of trouble and maximize opportunities throughout the season.

“I told Chase this: I truly feel like they are the most consistent car,” Harvick stated. “They have less trouble than everybody else. Their pit crew, when they’re in those positions, shines. He has a really good pit crew. And when you look at the stats, the stats back that pit crew up. I think solving that qualifying issue they’ve had shows you what they can do.”

As mentioned, Harvick pointed to Elliott’s qualifying improvements as a turning point, explaining that starting near the front gives the No. 9 team more chances to earn stage points and race with the leaders: “He had great short-run speed. He fell off a little bit more at the end, so I feel like they still have some work to do as far as that piece of the puzzle. But they had the speed to contend in those first 25 laps of a run. When you qualify good, it just makes your day go so much better,” Harvick added.

“You get stage points, you put yourself in position to run with the leaders and know what you need to work on with your car, see their lines, see all the things you need to see racing up front. So you know what your deficiencies are as far as speed, handling, or driving. A lot of times, in my opinion, when you look at the mechanical side, they have fewer problems than others — like the 11, or even the 20 or 45. Those cars seem to have more little detail issues than the 9.”

Beyond speed, Harvick emphasized Elliott’s ability to avoid costly mistakes and finish races. That’s a trait he compared to his own approach during his career, along with many of his peers.

“And Chase, I kind of view him as my generation type of driver,” Harvick said. “He’s going to figure out how to finish races to capitalize on those days when other people have trouble. He’s not going to tear up a lot of cars, and he’ll keep himself in position to finish strong — just like William Byron did this weekend. That 9 group does that as well as anybody.

“He, Alan [Gustafson], and Hendrick Motorsports — everything they’ve done through the years, that part carries over. He mentioned this in the interview: ten weeks is a long time. You can get hot, you can get cold. You can hit on something, or you can miss on something. And if you get hot at the right time, that’s when it counts.”

With the Kansas win, Elliott is locked into the Round of 8 and carrying momentum into the final stretch of the season. For Harvick, it’s no surprise. After some uneven years, the sport’s most popular driver looks ready to chase championship No. 2 — and his ability to stay consistent may be the key to pulling it off.