As the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season heads to Darlington Raceway, Kevin Harvick has shared his insights and predicted the winner for the upcoming Goodyear 400, which is set to take place this weekend. He’s going with a Joe Gibbs Racing veteran driver to win Sunday’s (April 6) Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.
On the latest episode of the Happy Hour podcast, the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion Harvick and his co-hosts, Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith, shared their picks to win at the Darlington Throwback weekend.
Harvick picked Denny Hamlin to win at Darlington Raceway. He believes Joe Gibbs’ star driver can win back-to-back races. The #11 Toyota driver took the checkered flag at last weekend’s Martinville short track race. Hamlin is a four-time winner at this track.
Picking the driver to win the 2025 Goodyear 400, Kevin Harvick said [55:50]:
“I think I’m gonna pick a Toyota. I’m gonna pick Denny Hamlin. Look two weeks in a row. I mean Martinsville and Darlington. You could go back and forth as to which one is his best track.”
Kevin Harvick’s co-host, Kaitlyn Vincie, named William Byron to win his second race of the season. He won this event in 2023.
“I’m also taking someone from the Hendrick Motorsports Camp William Byron who I feel like after this weekend they’ll have a little additional motivation for him after the tough pit stops,” Vincie said.
Meanwhile, co-host Mamba Smith picked Kyle Larson to win his second race of the season this weekend. He won the Darlington fall race in 2023. Smith said:
“I’m going with Kyle Larson, picking him first all year. Yeah, but he also has one of the best throwbacks second year in a row; he’s got the frosted flakes one. Terry’s gonna be there, and Kyle really wanted to win in the Corn Flakes car.”
How has Kevin Harvick’s top pick performed at the Darlington Raceway?
Denny Hamlin has had a good track record at the Darlington Raceway, securing four wins and 13 top-five finishes, with an average finish of 8.2 in 25 races.
After seven races in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, Hamlin has amassed a win, three top-fives, one top-10, and three outside top-20 finishes in seven races so far. He’s sixth in the points table with 218 points and a favorite in the odds table to win the fifth Darlington race.
It will be interesting to see how Kevin Harvick and his co-hosts’ predictions fare at Darlington Raceway. Watch the Goodyear 400 on FS1 at 3 pm ET.
Edited by Yash Soni
