Kevin Harvick points finger for Hendrick’s poor – Sports News
Kevin Harvick was important of Chevrolet’s new Camaro ZL1 (Image: Getty)
Kevin Harvick believes Hendrick Motorsports’ disappointing 2026 season stems from a elementary design flaw in Chevrolet’s new Camaro ZL1.
As NASCAR‘s benchmark group, Hendrick Motorsports‘ struggles this season have drawn consideration throughout the board, together with from 2014 Cup Series champion and present FOX commentator Harvick.
It comes as one of HMS’ star drivers, reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, lately opened up a can of worms with a controversial opinion that angered some followers.
Speaking on his Happy Hour podcast, Harvick addressed how the physique design of Chevrolet’s new car — the 2026 Camaro ZL1 — has restricted what Hendrick Motorsports has been in a position to accomplish to this point this season.
The up to date car options a bigger hood energy dome, expanded hood louvers, and redesigned facet rocker panels. Chevrolet designed these modifications to maximise entrance downforce and clean up straight-line drag.
2025 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson has not received a race but this season (Image: Getty)
“Listening to (Hendrick Motorsports president and general manager) Jeff Andrews talking about, ‘Hey, when we designed this car, it had more downforce, less drag, which is what we were shooting for,’” Harvick mentioned.
“Ultimately, that tells you there’s a problem with your tools and what you’re doing with your tools to apply it in the real world and what’s actually happening.
“Hearing him talk about, we need to go to the wind tunnel, because a lot of that stuff is designed in on CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and then you go to the wind tunnel and it looks good on paper. Then you get on the racetrack, and the drivers and the teams are like, ‘Hey, we can’t get the balance, right?’
“It’s always, whatever the characteristics are of the car, we can’t fix. And so in the end, it’s a design problem.”
According to Harvick, the Camaro ZL1’s aerodynamic traits depart Hendrick Motorsports with issues that can’t be solved by way of the standard week-to-week setup adjustments, making the crew’s struggles a lot more durable to beat.
This concern was compounded when NASCAR launched a new low-downforce guidelines bundle, which utterly threw off the aerodynamic stability of a physique that had been engineered strictly across the earlier rules. Harvick believes NASCAR’s up to date guidelines bundle solely uncovered these shortcomings additional.
“Ultimately, the design of the car doesn’t meet real-life standards of what they need to make this car go around. And the rules got changed,” Harvick added.
“Everything that you designed to put in the car to make it have more downforce in the front of the car, obviously to make it turn better, just doesn’t work with the balance that you need for the new package.”
Through 21 races this season, HMS has simply two wins and ranks sixth in proprietor points standings, 226 points off the tempo of leaders Joe Gibbs Racing.
Those outcomes are a far cry from the dominance HMS loved all through the 2000s with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, and more lately within the Next-Gen period with Larson and William Byron.
Stay forward of the sport with the most recent developments within the sports activities world! Our web site is your final vacation spot for sports activities information, delivering complete updates, in-depth analyses, and knowledgeable insights into the fast-evolving realm of athletics. We convey you every day protection on all the things from breakthrough coaching techniques and rising crew methods to main bulletins which can be setting the tempo within the sports activities industry.
Discover how these trends are redefining the aggressive panorama! Visit us repeatedly for participating and informative content material by clicking right here. Our meticulously curated articles cowl game-changing ways, investment alternatives in sports activities, and key milestones in immediately’s dynamic athletic area.
