2024 NASCAR Cup Series: Kevin Harvick Backs HMS Driver as Top Contender for Atlanta Playoff Win

The first race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoff will be held at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, 8th September and former driver turned commentator Kevin Harvick has predicted his winner. Harvick feels that Hendrick Motorsports star driver will win the Sunday's Quaker State 400 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

On his "Happy Hour" podcast, the former NASCAR Cup Series champion shared his detailed analysis of the driver he thinks is a strong contender to win the first race on Sunday, 8th September.

William Byron will win on Sunday claims Kevin Harvick

The famous commentator thinks that the No.24 HMS Chevrolet driver William Byron is going to win the upcoming Quaker State 400 on Sunday. Harvick also feels that the result of the race could be extreme on both levels for Byron as he is the defending winner of the event.

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Needs to go right for Byron feels Harvick

After picking Byron as the favourite to win Sunday's event, Harvick said, "I think it needs to go right for William Byron. I'm going to go with him two weeks in a row, and they ran well there before, but they're like, I think it's either going to go super good or it's going to go super bad for them, and it's going to be right here.”

Byron has had a great run at Atlanta as he has won two races in the past, and has two top-five and three top-10 finishes to his name. He is currently fourth with 2022 points in the Cup Series playoffs points table.

Kevin's co-host Kaitlyn Vincie has picked Joey Logano to win this week whereas Mamba Smith chose Chase Elliot as the winner for Sunday's event.

Why Chevrolet has an edge over Ford?

Kevin feels that Ford cars will be the fastest on this track but when it comes to handling, Chevrolet has an edge which is going to be crucial at the 1.54-mile-long track.

"I just think that those cars, those the Chevrolets, they handle. Yeah, they handle good. And I think that the handling is going to be of essence. The Fords are going to be the fastest. Yeah, they will be. They will be the fastest. But it's that balance of downforce versus speed. And I just think that the Chevrolet seems to have a better handling versus speed scenario," Kevin added. 

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