Kevin Harvick has rough day at Kansas Speedway this time around, in Hollywood Casino 400

Of all the emotions Kevin Harvick has felt at Kansas Speedway, bitter disappointment likely wasn’t one of them.

Until Sunday.

Harvick was the first driver out of the Hollywood Casino 400, when a crash on lap 33 left his car too damaged to continue. Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain slid up the track in front of Harvick, which caused his car to lose grip and slam into the wall.

Harvick came into the race last among the 16 drivers in the playoff field, needing a victory. The playoff field gets whittled to 12 drivers after next week’s race in Bristol, which means a win is the only way Harvick will keep his season going.

Harvick had every reason to be confident heading into Sunday. He was a fixture in the top 10, logging three wins, five seconds, 11 top-threes, 12 top-fives, and 19 top-10 showings. On Sunday his hauler left the track before the race was even half over.

“Yeah, it is what it is. We were racing to win anyway today, so that is what we will do again next week,” Harvick said.

He wasn’t the only playoff driver to have a Sunday to forget. Tyler Reddick was understandably all smiles on Saturday after winning his second pole at Kansas. His day came to an end on lap 67, when a flat right rear tire forced Reddick into the wall.

“The right-rear tire just blew like we’ve had a few times. At Fontana, I was able to save it. But here, it snapped at the worst possible point and we just killed the wall,” Reddick said. “It broke the control arm on the right-front, so our day was over. We leave here with not a lot of points, so we’ll have to fight hard at Bristol.”

Reddick started the race fifth in the point standings, which means he’ll have work to do in Tennessee to solidify his position.

Kyle Busch has described his relationship with Kansas Speedway as ‘hate-love’. Sunday was more of the former. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series-champion started the race 11th in the point standings. An early pit road penalty for driving through too many pit boxes sent him to the back of the field. A later caution caused by hitting the wall was the last gasp in a comeback effort.

“After we had our pit road penalty there we got back in traffic and made an adjustment to the car,” Busch said. “It helped the car but made it looser in the long run, and I just couldn’t hold onto it there. I think we just incurred too much damage with the flat (caused by sliding through the infield grass). The car was just not the same after that.”

The good news for Busch is he’s won nine times at Bristol, including the last visit there in April, on a dirt surface. It was his 60 th career Cup Series victory.

He might well have to win again to keep his season alive.

“If I can have past Bristol results be Bristol results, then yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem,” Busch said. “If I have Bristol results similar to what’s happened this year every week, then no, it’s going to be an uphill battle.”

Starting next Saturday at Bristol, the battles of the remaining season will only intensify.