Kevin Harvick recently raised his hand to support NASCAR’s decision to throw a caution at Atlanta Motor Speedway, sharing the same sentiments as Denny Hamlin. However, Harvick highlighted that not all of NASCAR’s decisions regarding when to deploy the yellow flag seemed judicious.
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According to the veteran driver, the consistency in the decision-making would have made sense on NASCAR’s part. But the Atlanta caution was absolutely fair as per his comments.
On his Happy Hour podcast, discussing the topic, Harvick put his thoughts into words elaborating, “People want to see that the drivers race back to the checkered flag, but there’s just really no way around throwing the caution.”
“We can’t have the guys driving through wreck cars and debris fields like we have in some of those races… in the Xfinity race, they should have thrown the caution on Saturday,” he added.
He also opined that “The Daytona 500 should have had the caution thrown… Unfortunately, those are just things that are gonna have to happen to keep the drivers safe. I know it would have been better if we were consistent about it.”
"There's really no way around throwing the caution." @KevinHarvick on the final lap at Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/Pvuezf5evQ
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) February 25, 2025
Previously, on his podcast even Hamlin shared the same sentiments, arguing in support of the Atlanta decision by NASCAR, stating that driver safety was at stake in the final lap of the Cup Series race.
However, his comments did not particularly meet the fans’ expectations who said that the #11 driver supported NASCAR because it was his teammate, Christopher Bell, who won the race in the end.
Hamlin’s comments on NASCAR’s decision to throw yellow caution during the final lap
Inconsistency in NASCAR’s decision has been a topic of discussion for the past few years, given they don’t provide clear information about why the decision was taken during certain races and why not in others.
That’s why after the yellow caution was not thrown during the Xfinity race at Atlanta nor the Daytona 500 race, Hamlin’s support for NASCAR’s decision to show yellow, at the final lap of the Ambetter Health 400 race, attracted backlash from the fans.
Hamlin mentioned on his podcast that there would not have been a single driver in the field who would want that race to stay green, given the scenarios that were going on.
In fact, Hamlin applauded NASCAR officials for making the right call for safety, because according to him safety should always be number one and entertainment should be number two.
The Daytona 500 race the previous week concluded under green despite a crash in the final laps. Similarly, during the Xfinity race in Atlanta, officials allowed the race to conclude without a caution following a late crash, letting it finish under green conditions.
However, the scenario differed markedly during the Ambetter Health 400 race. A yellow caution was called, guaranteeing Bell’s victory as he was leading when the yellow flag was punched.
