As 2014 NASCAR Cup Sequence champion Kevin Harvick entered the second half of his racing profession, he did what many do: He started contemplating what got here subsequent. Harvick knew he needed to remain in motorsports, and two avenues got here to thoughts. He may both personal a group and discipline drivers within the sport, or he may transfer into the printed sales space and speak about it.
He selected the latter.
Harvick was a month away from turning 48 years outdated when he retired after the 2023 season, making him the oldest Cup common on the time by nearly 5 years. However transferring into a brand new profession didn’t really feel drastic or misplaced; it felt proper.
“I am very lucky that I bought to finish my driving profession how I needed to, and I felt plenty of closure,” Harvick informed Motorsport.com. “We talked about it for in all probability 5 or 6 years earlier than I really did it. I felt like I may have been able to get out of the automotive earlier than I bought out of the automotive.
“However once I bought out, it was the fitting time. I fulfilled my group contract. I had the retirement tour. The followers knew I used to be going to retire. Fox had a gap to make TV work. Impulsively, it simply labored out, and that is sort of the way in which all of the folks I talked to stated it might work out.”
Harvick enters the sales space(s)
Harvick entered the Fox sphere with expertise within the sales space. It started a few decade in the past with the “drivers solely” broadcast, an annual Fox Sports activities custom the place the traditional on-camera expertise will get changed by drivers. Harvick additionally hopped within the sales space for different lower-series races.
Now, greater than a 12 months since Harvick’s final race as a full-time Cup driver, he’s all-in on broadcasting. He’s within the sales space for the Fox Sports activities Cup broadcasts, and his podcast, Kevin Harvick’s Pleased Hour, has largely taken the place of Fox’s former NASCAR speak present, “Race Hub.” Almost half of the Cup season belongs to Fox, and Harvick’s develop into the guts of its protection.
“I in all probability know extra in regards to the sport now than I did once I was driving,” Harvick informed Motorsport.com. “I do not suppose I actually had it on my playlist to sit down within the studio and do a podcast each week, nevertheless it’s actually allowed me to remain ingrained into the competitors facet — the ins and outs of what is taking place on a weekly foundation — so I do not miss the main points of every thing.”
The 2017 “Drivers Solely” Broadcast Sales space, together with Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano.
Picture by: Fox Sports activities
Avid NASCAR viewers knew earlier than Harvick retired that he was the following era of Fox’s Cup sales space. What none of us knew, together with Harvick, was how central he’d develop into there. Fox launched Harvick’s podcast initially of 2024, then ended Race Hub after 15 years a number of months later. Harvick’s podcast started filling the tv gap left by Race Hub, and it snowballed right into a program with tons of segments, together with interviews with particular company like Jeff Gordon and weekly Cup race winners.
Harvick stated the podcast’s trajectory has been “extra of an accident than a plan,” however he’s glad it labored out this manner. It’s additionally been a private evolution for him, as a result of he “wasn’t actually an enormous podcast individual” earlier than.
“I suppose I might been sleeping below a rock,” Harvick informed Motorsport. “I did not notice how many individuals listened to and watched podcasts.”
Harvick doesn’t take heed to a lot in any respect. In contrast to his spouse (who likes podcasts), his daughter (who likes Taylor Swift), and his son (who “likes something that he isn’t imagined to be listening to”), Harvick usually finds himself driving down the street in silence.
“I do not actually take heed to every other racing exhibits, to be trustworthy with you,” Harvick stated. “I really feel like once we go to do the present, that is our opinion. I need to watch the race, and I need to take heed to the sources of individuals I’ve round me. I like to attract our personal conclusions. I do not need to be swayed. I do not need to be taking a look at someone else’s opinion. In any other case, all of us lend a hand, and that is not enjoyable for anyone to take heed to.”
Proper now, Harvick feels deeply intertwined with the races he covers. He has in depth expertise with the present Cup automotive, the Subsequent Gen, and most tracks and drivers. Final 12 months for Motorsport, he even broke down every thing a driver wanted to do — prep, braking method, driving strains, restarts, and extra — to win the Cup championship at Phoenix Raceway.
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However a typical battle for sports activities commentators is the passage of time: learn how to proceed offering deep perception as a sport marches additional and additional away from the one they performed. Harvick doesn’t suppose that might be a problem for him, as a result of he’s nonetheless concerned with groups, drivers, and administration. He’s additionally racing at decrease ranges, particularly as his son, Keelan, will get older.
“To be in the course of the speak and the lingo, that is actually the way in which all this was designed and deliberate,” Harvick stated. “[The plan] was to have the ability to run Late Fashions and assist construct short-track collection, however be concerned in sure conditions so that you simply understood the development of the game and what goes with it. Every little thing was deliberate round racing, and learn how to proceed to be related and keep updated with every thing that is happening. When you’re not concerned in it each week, you are not going to be up to the mark with it.”
Staying lively in his “retirement”
Since retiring, Harvick’s discovered a number of issues about himself. He nonetheless loves racing. He enjoys relaying the highs, lows, and challenges of that competitors to tv viewers. He additionally struggles to let issues go.
However as soon as he does, he sees how good the opposite facet could be.
“Gosh,” Harvick stated. “I really like the drivers and what they do, and with the ability to speak to folks about how laborious it’s and the issues that we do exterior of the race-car drivers. However I competed for therefore lengthy, I feel I underestimated how a lot I used to be wanting ahead to not competing. That half has been actually good. I used to be extra prepared for it than I believed.
“After we’re doing the printed, and even the podcast, you’re taking your earpiece out and also you’re finished. It is like, ‘Oh, properly, yeah, that is it.’ I haven’t got to fret about how briskly I’m going or what’s taking place with my group this week, as a result of it is finished.”
Being “finished” on the finish of a race or broadcast isn’t one thing Harvick has identified — at the very least, not for a very long time.
“Even within the Late Mannequin races and issues that I run, it would not matter the place I end,” Harvick stated. “It’s about having enjoyable and being part of the occasion. Did I assist develop grassroots racing? Did I develop the racing collection that I used to be in? Did I assist Keelan with sponsorship? Did I assist him together with his drive? No matter that field that must be checked on that specific weekend. The competitors would not matter.
“For me, that has been so refreshing, to not have to fret about how briskly my automotive goes and what I must do subsequent week to be higher. It would not matter anymore. It actually doesn’t matter. It could be extra enjoyable to win all of the races, however that is not going to occur, not being in a automotive on a regular basis, it doesn’t matter what collection you’re in.”
When Harvick is totally finished with all of it — not simply with racing and broadcasting, however together with his whole profession — he hopes folks gained’t simply bear in mind how he carried out, but in addition what he did to get there.
“For me, it is simply work ethic, proper?” Harvick informed Motorsport. “I in all probability wasn’t one of the best driver, however I may outwork most of them. Whether or not it is sponsorship, drivers, or groups, I feel that no person will query the dedication I had, on the observe or off, to make one thing work.”
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On this article
Alanis King
NASCAR Cup
Kevin Harvick
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