Kevin Harvick Wants NASCAR to Scrap Second Kansas Cup Race

NASCAR veteran Kevin Harvick urged the sport to get rid of the second race at the Kansas Speedway for a new track.

Kevin Harvick Wants NASCAR to Scrap Second Kansas Cup Race

Kevin Harvick (Via @KevinHarvick/X)

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NASCAR has a packed schedule with 36 races taking place in the Cup Series. While the championship does take place at some iconic tracks, there are times when the same track hosts more than one race. Now, NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick has declared that it might be time to do away with the second race at Kansas.

The Kansas Speedway hosts two NASCAR races each season. The first in the early stages of the calendar, while the second race is held in August. Kevin Harvick reckoned that he did not see the need for a second race at the speedway, calling it a ‘one-race town.’ Harvick asserted that Kansas City was more of a one race market, similar to the likes of Michigan and Pocono.

I don’t think Kansas is a two-race town. I think Kansas is a one-race town. There’s just some of those markets that are one-race (markets). Michigan, Pocono, Richmond.

Kevin Harvick said on Happy Hour podcast.

Moreover, the NASCAR legend pointed out that going to the same track again in the same season makes the race more predictable. As drivers and teams will already have an idea over their performance. This makes the race less exciting for fans. Rather, Harvick suggested that doing things less frequently would add to the mystery element and keep everything interesting.

I think that it’s okay to not go there every once in a while, too. I think that going back to those places adds that mystique of, ‘Oh, what’s it going to be like with this car?’ It’s all those things that you haven’t done in a while. Old becomes new again.

Kevin Harvick noted.

Kevin Harvick suggests ‘skipping’ tracks

NASCAR fans are incredibly passionate who fill the grandstands at every race. No matter where the sport goes, fans do follow. However, according to Harvick, racing in the same city twice could impact the audience numbers. To counter this, he has a rather bold suggestion.

Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick (Via IMAGO)

Kevin Harvick reckoned that NASCAR could potentially skip tracks like Richmond for a whole season. He insisted that fans would not get angry over such a move. Moreover, Harvick insisted that another possibility was to reduce two races at a track to just one, something like Pocono. This would pack the stands for the single race and then NASCAR would get a slot to race at a different circuit. The 49-year-old pointed out the grand success at Iowa last weekend with massive crowds coming to watch even the ARCA and Xfinity races.

If you skipped Richmond a year, I think everybody would be okay with that. Or if you skipped somewhere that had two races and moved that race for a year and saw how the crowd went, just like with Pocono. Have one race, pack it out, and you can go somewhere else. Iowa has always been a great place to race. I think that seeing the crowd and everything stacked around the outside. The ARCA crowd was good, the Xfinity crowd was good.

Kevin Harvick added.

Kevin Harvick’s ideas could change things in NASCAR. If the sport can explore more tracks with such a system, it could tap into new audiences locally. However, such drastic steps are never taken immediately. The sport is unlikely to consider such measures in the short term. Though, if NASCAR sees value in going to different tracks, such a scenario could indeed happen.

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