Kevin Harvick Admits Son Keelan Harvick Has Developed a Skillset He Lacked

One of the major goal Kevin Harvick had when he retired from the sport in 2023 was the career of his son Keelan Harvick. He has been working hard behind the scenes to establish his son as one of the most valuable emerging talents in the stock car racing scene.

They have also been racing each other occasionally and one such battle happened in the 2026 CARS Tour season opener at the Tucson Speedway. Keelan Harvick won the pole for the Southwest division Pro Late Model race and that made Kevin Harvick realize son is a much better qualifier than he has been in his early years.

The biggest surprise for me is that he can qualify [well] because that was never a trait I had.

Kevin Harvick told Short Track Scene.

The 2025 season was impressive for Keelan Harvick, as grew strong as a racer and has been able to quickly adapt to each new cars he got opportunity to drive. He has learned to take advantage of the advantage he has and the 2014 Cup winner admitted that he enjoys racing against the young Harvick who is faster than him.

So, the speed and the qualifying speed, and just being able to adapt to the cars as quickly as he has. We went through some learning curves at the beginning of the year, but the speed was always there. He did a great job. It’s fun for me to get out here and race against him. But he’s faster than me.

Kevin Harvick asserted.

Kevin Harvick wins 2025 CARS Tour opener against son Keelan Harvick

Though he lost in the qualifying, Kevin Harvick showed why he is called the closer as he went onto win the 125 laps main event on Sunday, slowly griding his way up. He beat his son and a talented group of drivers to come out as the winner. The veteran credited the string car he had for the success.

The strength of my car today was just to drive up off the corner and I’d kind of found a little better groove through (turns) one and two than most everybody.

Kevin Harvick explained.

The veteran pointed out that he had aa car suited for the long-run compared to the rest of the grid and highlighted how take advantage of that in the final 40 laps. He really enjoyed getting back to the victory lane again.

I thought my car was better than most everybody’s on the long run anyway. With that 40 some lap run there at the end, I was able to take advantage of rolling that top. It was fun and hopefully the crowd enjoyed it, it’s fun to be in Victory Lane.

Kevin Harvick added.

The comments from the veteran seems rational and on point. Harvick is getting the opportunity to not only just win races, but also race his son, something a handful drivers ever dream of. It would be interesting to see what the future has in holds for the veteran racer.

Also Read: Kevin Harvick Makes “Purity” Claim as NASCAR Returns to Original Chase Format

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