Kevin Harvick sounds off on Kyle Larson spinning Ryan Blaney out at Gateway: 'He'll freak you out'

Kevin Harvick watched as Kyle Larson spun Ryan Blaney this past weekend at Gateway, creating one of the most controversial moments of the Enjoy Illinois 300 between two of the NASCAR Cup Series’ best.

At the time, it wasn’t clear why Larson made contact with Blaney, so Harvick broke it down, pointing to Larson’s aggressive driving style as the root cause. The former champion explained that while the move was a miscalculation, it was also vintage Larson.

“There was a lot that had gone on. The No. 5 had been in position trying to pass the No. 12 car for a long time. But the one thing I will say is the way Kyle Larson races comes down to a lot of situations like this. He misjudged this one obviously by a fair amount, trying to slide up across the back bumper of Blaney. But that’s the way Kyle races,” Harvick explained, via Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. “There are a lot of times when he’ll dive into a corner and slide right up to your door. Not bang into your door or anything, but he’ll freak you out.

“Some of his strategy is trying to make you think he’s going to hit you, or whatever the case is. But I really think in this position, knowing how Kyle races, I’m not saying that it’s dirty, but he is a guy that’s going to try to make you think about being put into a bad position. He wants to spook you into making a mistake or a bad pass. And I think when we see this move, there were a lot of laps — I don’t even know how many — that he was side by side with the No. 12, trying to finish that pass on the high side. But Larson definitely misjudged and spun Blaney out.

“There are a lot of times you’ll see him drive in and do these types of moves to try to get you to react. This time, though, Blaney counter-steered and it ended in a spin out.”

The incident completely shifted the complexion of the race. Blaney may have had something for eventual winner Denny Hamlin, but the contact set him back and forced him to settle for fourth.

Looking ahead, the question remains whether Larson will face payback. Harvick will certainly be watching closely to see how Larson handles the fallout — especially with Bristol Motor Speedway, one of his best tracks, on deck.