{"id":229052,"date":"2026-02-17T22:04:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T22:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/kevin-harvick-picks-hmss-star-driver-as-favorite-to-win-the-2026-echopark-nascar-cup-series-race\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T22:04:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T22:04:31","slug":"kevin-harvick-picks-hmss-star-driver-as-favorite-to-win-the-2026-echopark-nascar-cup-series-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/kevin-harvick-picks-hmss-star-driver-as-favorite-to-win-the-2026-echopark-nascar-cup-series-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Harvick picks HMS\u2019s star driver as favorite to win the 2026 EchoPark NASCAR Cup Series race"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5125261\" data-slug-id=\"2737179\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Former NASCAR Cup Series champion-turned-commentator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/kevin-harvick\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Kevin Harvick<\/a> has shared his insights and predicted the winner for the Autotrader 400, which is set to take place this weekend. He&#8217;s going with Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson to win Sunday\u2019s Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway (previously known as Atlanta Motor Speedway).<\/p>\n<p>On the recent episode of the \u201cKevin Harvick\u2019s Happy Hour\u201d 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\u2019s second race at EchoPark on Sunday, February 22.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Harvick picked the #5 Chevrolet HMS\u2019s Kyle Larson to win this year\u2019s Atlanta spring race. Harvick is confident in Chevrolet\u2019s new Camaro ZL1 body to achieve more success at superspeedways and believes that the defending series champion can deliver it.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Picking the 2026 Autotrader 400 winner, Harvick said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI think that there&#8217;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&#8217;m thinking a Chevy. I&#8217;m going to go with Kyle Larson.\u201d [57:43]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/nascar\/youtube\">\n<div class=\"yt-wrapper\">                    <noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tyler Reddick Wins the Daytona 500! Full Race Recap and Atlanta Preview\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5-4EmO58KqA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/nascar\/youtube\" data-embed=\"5-4EmO58KqA\">\n<div class=\"play-button\"><img height=\"370\" width=\"660\" data-img=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/02\/5336f-17713579712495-1920.jpg\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/02\/5336f-17713579712495-1920.jpg\" class=\"lazy-img\" alt=\"youtube-cover\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Kevin Harvick&#8217;s co-host, Kaitlyn Vincie, bet on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/joey-logano\/news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Joey Logano<\/a> to win his third race at EchoPark. Logano is the favorite in the odds table and last won here in 2024.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI&#8217;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,\u201d Vincie said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Meanwhile, co-host Mamba Smith picked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/austin-dillon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Austin Dillon<\/a> to win this weekend. Dillon finished 16th last year.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI love seeing Richard Childress in Victory Lane. I think there&#8217;s a little magic in the air 25 years after Dale passes the three paint scheme. I don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;ll be the same this week, but it&#8217;s kind of reminiscent of one of Kevin&#8217;s old skins. Let&#8217;s give it to Austin Dillon win somewhere outside of Richmond.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr\/>\n<h2><strong>How has Kevin Harvick&#8217;s top pick performed at the EchoPark Speedway?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/kyle-larson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Kyle Larson<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>It will be interesting to see how Kevin Harvick and his co-hosts&#8217; picks fare at EchoPark Speedway. Watch the 2026 season\u2019s second race on FOX at 3 pm ET.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Yash Soni<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/nascar\/news-kevin-harvick-picks-hms-s-star-driver-favorite-win-2026-echopark-nascar-cup-series-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&#8217;s going with Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson to win Sunday\u2019s Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway (previously known as Atlanta Motor Speedway). On the recent episode of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":229054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-229052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}