Kevin Harvick Eliminated from Final NASCAR Playoffs After Dismal Bristol Run

One final shot at securing a second championship in the NASCAR Cup Series has been ruled out for Kevin Harvick, after an uncharacteristically dismal performance in Saturday's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Despite having no major on-track incidents, the Bakersfield, California native finished the 500-lap gauntlet around the 0.533-mile facility scored in 29th place, five laps behind the eventual race-winner, Denny Hamlin.

As a result, the only representative for Stewart-Haas Racing in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs was drop-kicked from the post-season after the 'Round of 16', finishing just four points shy of Bubba Wallace, the 12th and final driver to advance to the next round.

Harvick, currently making his final trip around the sun as a full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, seemed to be relatively unphased about what had just transpired at Bristol, though, but overall remained fairly disappointed.

"We've been like that all year. We've been hit or miss," said Harvick post-race. "Tonight we missed by a mile. I've had some good days and bad days [at Bristol], but that's definitely the worst one I've had with fenders on it."

The 47-year-old's final campaign has been a solid one, despite the major struggles by Stewart-Haas Racing, with six top-five and 12 top-10 finishes to date, but a goose egg in the wins column.

"I didn't really have many expectations [for the playoffs] with as up and down as the year has been," Harvick continued. "It is what it is. It's probably about what we deserve."

While a second NASCAR Cup Series title is now out of the question for Harvick, the focus for the next seven weeks turns to getting the future NASCAR Hall of Famer back into victory lane in his final season.

Of course, the 60-time NASCAR Cup Series winner has his eyes on one of his best tracks on the circuit, Phoenix Raceway, where he believes that he can disrupt the title fight, and go out on top with a win in his final start.

“I’m probably looking forward to Phoenix," Harvick added. "I think that’s definitely been our best racetrack. We haven’t been great on the mile-and-a-halves and tonight we were just way off."

Why not him at Phoenix, though? Even though he can't win the title, how many NASCAR Cup Series drivers can say they've won a race in their final-ever start at the top echelon of American stock car racing?

Image Courtesy of Jonathan McCoy, Racing America