Kevin Harvick says if Corey Heim and Connor Zilisch don’t win it all this season, NASCAR’s championship format will have a big credibility problem.
On his Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, the 2014 Cup Series champion said it would be “a nuclear meltdown” if Heim or Zilisch don’t win their titles.
“When you look at Corey Heim’s stats compared to everybody else, if he doesn’t win this championship, it’s going to be a nuclear meltdown,” Harvick said. “It shouldn’t even be a question of who the champion is in the Truck Series. It shouldn’t be a question of who the champion is in the Xfinity Series.”
Heim has had one of the most dominant seasons in Truck Series history with 11 wins in 24 starts and an average finish of 5.5. Zilisch, an 18-year-old rookie in the Xfinity Series, has 10 wins in 31 starts and an 8.2 average finish. Both drivers lead their respective standings by a big margin entering the playoffs.
Harvick says dominance should matter more than drama
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Harvick said the playoff format—which resets points and allows one bad finish to wipe out a season’s worth of work—undermines performances like those.
“If Connor Zilisch and Corey Heim don’t win these championships, it’s exactly why we don’t need the system we have,” he said. “It’s embarrassing.”
Harvick went on to say NASCAR should reward consistency over drama.
“The right change is to make as many points matter as possible for as long as possible,” he said. “If we’re going to have a playoff, you better make the points matter as much as possible, or these people are going to eat you up.”
He pointed to Heim’s 100-point lead over his closest competitor as proof the current system can distort results.
“I can tell you, if Tyler Ankrum wins the championship and Corey Heim doesn’t, it’s embarrassing to the Truck Series,” Harvick added.
Harvick’s comments touch on a familiar debate in NASCAR. Playoff supporters say it creates drama and unpredictability. Critics, including Harvick, say it punishes season-long dominance and turns the title fight into a one-race lottery. If they don’t win, it will be chaos.
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