Former NASCAR Cup Series champion-turned-commentator Kevin Harvick has shared his insights and predicted the winner for the Autotrader 400, which is set to take place this weekend. He’s going with Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson to win Sunday’s Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway (previously known as Atlanta Motor Speedway).
On the recent episode of the “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour” podcast, NASCAR legend Harvick and his co-hosts, Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith, picked the driver they believe has a strong chance to win the season’s second race at EchoPark on Sunday, February 22.
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Harvick picked the #5 Chevrolet HMS’s Kyle Larson to win this year’s Atlanta spring race. Harvick is confident in Chevrolet’s new Camaro ZL1 body to achieve more success at superspeedways and believes that the defending series champion can deliver it.
Picking the 2026 Autotrader 400 winner, Harvick said:
“I think that there’s a lot of questions about the Chevy, but I like how fast they were, and I got to believe that they designed that car to be more efficient from both aspects. So, I’m thinking a Chevy. I’m going to go with Kyle Larson.” [57:43]
Kevin Harvick’s co-host, Kaitlyn Vincie, bet on Joey Logano to win his third race at EchoPark. Logano is the favorite in the odds table and last won here in 2024.
“I’m going with Joey Logano. Two-time winner at Atlanta start on the pole last year. He got involved in a crash, but he won recently in 2024 there. I think Joey,” Vincie said.
Meanwhile, co-host Mamba Smith picked Austin Dillon to win this weekend. Dillon finished 16th last year.
“I love seeing Richard Childress in Victory Lane. I think there’s a little magic in the air 25 years after Dale passes the three paint scheme. I don’t know if it’ll be the same this week, but it’s kind of reminiscent of one of Kevin’s old skins. Let’s give it to Austin Dillon win somewhere outside of Richmond.”
How has Kevin Harvick’s top pick performed at the EchoPark Speedway?
Kyle Larson has never won the Autotrader 400 and struggled significantly at EchoPark Speedway under the new drafting-style package. The #5 HMS driver has had three DNFs in the last five races.
In 16 starts at Atlanta, Larson has scored two runner-up, three top-five, and five top-10 finishes, with an average finish of 18.8 in 16 starts.
Larson scored a 16th-place finish in the recently concluded season opener, the Daytona 500. He has the second-best odds of +1200 to win his first Atlanta NASCAR Cup Series race.
It will be interesting to see how Kevin Harvick and his co-hosts’ picks fare at EchoPark Speedway. Watch the 2026 season’s second race on FOX at 3 pm ET.
Edited by Yash Soni