Kevin Harvick Lets Slip 6-Word Secret Behind Kyle Larson “Butt Whipping” NASCAR Rivals in Bristol

Kyle Larson is on fire, destroying any rivals in his path. The Night Race at Bristol was enough to reassert dominance in the championship after going winless for a few races. At a race where teams thought tire preservation to be the best strategy, the #5 Chevy quickly found a different strategy, pumping in fast laps one after the other. But is it all there is to Larson? Is he simply just that good? Or is there something more to how he races? Kevin Harvick certainly seems to think so.

Kyle Larson is no stranger to analysts and fans singing his praises, but there’s one aspect that Harvick thinks is the ultimate advantage the Hendrick Motorsport has.

How did Kyle Larson dominate his rivals in Bristol?

The tense cutoff race fans expected at Bristol turned into a reminder of what a driver can do at their peak. For Kyle Larson, it was another win on the tally for the 2025 season, and in such a dominant fashion. Starting in 2nd place, Kyle Larson quickly took the lead in lap 38 and remained in first place for the remaining 462 laps! It’s most the laps anyone has led in over four decades of the sport!

Former Hendrick Motorsports driver Kevin Harvick believes he has an explanation behind this performance. Speaking with Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith in an episode of Kevin Harvick’s ‘Happy Hour’, the two-time champion has a clear idea of what he believes to be Larson’s secret, racing IQ. “I think that it really shows the strength of the team and the things that they do to just go there and put a butt whipping on everybody. And he takes to heart the things that Cliff Daniels says. But he’s also his racing IQ is very high. And I think he can look at a race and say, and he has no problem saying, oh man, that was stupid. I shouldn’t have done that or I shouldn’t have done this. Nothing fazes the guy when he hits something when he’s fast, it’s all the same.”

Looking at the margin of Kyle Larson’s win, it’s easy to mistake it as simply being fast on one day. Kevin Harvick’s theory shows just how prepared Larson was. Learning from his time in the race in March, Kyle Larson came to the track expecting a lot of tire wear, turning it into a key aspect of his strategy. However, once he realized the state of the track grip, there was no stopping him as he kept pushing every single lap.

Moreover, in a race where most drivers were just trying to get into the round of 12 to hold position, Larson kept taking it farther, maximizing the gap he held from the lead. Larson knew he had a fast car in the #5 Camaro. It was simply about keeping his car pointed in the right direction, holding the lead for as long as he could. He’s certainly learning from his mistakes. If you look at the Atlanta race from earlier this month, Larson lost a top 5 finish in a single moment that put him in the wall. It’s what led to a tense cutoff race.

It’s this mentality of maximizing his potential while minimizing mistakes that sets Kyle Larson apart. Kevin Harvick claimed it’s the reason why the NASCAR world expects ‘Yung Money’ would succeed in other motorsport, particularly with a new F1 opportunity rising.

Is Kyle Larson considering an F1 opportunity?

Kyle Larson’s mastered the art of stock car racing, and dirt racing, and has even tried his hand at IndyCar, but it might be time for him to look at European open-wheel racing. After claims of being a better overall racecar driver than Max Verstappen, fans wanted to see a faceoff happen eventually. With the ties the Hendrick driver has to McLaren, a potential seat swap could be on the cards, where Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri could jump in the NASCAR seat of the #5 Camaro. Is that where Larson’s heart is set?

Kyle Larson wants to tweak these plans. Instead of the conventional NASCAR-F1 swap, he wants to go up against other F1 drivers. This can be made into reality if Larson participates in tests taking place after the end of the F1 season. After the dominance fans saw with 462 laps in the lead and Harvick’s belief in the Hendrick man, seeing what Larson can do in an F1 car is such an exciting prospect. Despite this, the plan isn’t completely bulletproof and Kyle Larson knows so.

‘Yung Money’ may need a super license to be qualified for an F1 test, putting him in a difficult position to fulfill his ambitions. Despite this, a crossover is not out of the question, even if it means it’s just Larson and Oscar Piastri swapping cars for a few laps around the track. Larson certainly showed he knows how to handle the pressure of being at the top level and holding his own.