It's championship weekend in NASCAR and while the Cup Series is expected to be a thriller between Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin, William Byron and Kyle Larson, the Xfinity and Truck Series finals have NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick concerned.
On the latest episode of his Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour podcast, Harvick made it clear that he believes Connor Zilisch and Corey Heim should be the odds-on favorites to win the Xfinity and Truck Series respectively. If they don't he expects "a nuclear meltdown" in the NASCAR community due to how dominant they both were in the regular season.
“Here’s what I think is interesting,” Harvick said. “When you look at Corey Heim’s stats compared to everybody else — if he doesn’t win this championship, it’s going to be a nuclear meltdown, if they don’t change the points to the correct way at the end of the year. It shouldn’t even be a question of who the champion is in the Truck Series. It shouldn’t be a question of who the champion is in the Xfinity Series.
“If Connor Zilisch and Corey Heim don’t win these championships, it’s exactly why we don’t need the system we have. It’s embarrassing.”
Zilisch won nine Xfinity Series races in the regular season and cruised to the regular season title. Heim did the same in the Truck Series, winning 11 races, four of which have come in the playoffs.
But due to the points system being the way they are, Zilisch is currently in a four-way tie with Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier and Jesse Love at 4000 points. Whoever gets the most points on Phoenix this Saturday wins it all.
The same goes for Heim, who is tied with Kaden Honeycutt, Ty Majeski and Tyler Ankrum, a trio with only one win between the three of them. But if any of them edge out Heim on the track, one of them will take the title.
But this is America, where the regular season of all sports is merely window dressing for the playoffs, where things really matter. Zilisch and Heim could win every regular season race but if they don't win the championship race, they will never be acknowledged as champions, let alone all-time greats.
It's not fair to them, but it is what it is. We didn't make the rules, but that's how just about everyone talks about all sports here.
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Oct 28, 2025, where it first appeared in the NASCAR section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
