Kevin Harvick Has No Plans to Continue in NASCAR Xfinity Series
Kevin Harvick is open to possibilities to compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in the future, but don’t hold your breath.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick is finished with the Xfinity Series, at least for now. The driver made the proclamation on a recent edition of his Happy Hours show on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“For me, [Darlington Raceway] will be the last scheduled Xfinity race that we put on the schedule,” Harvick said.
Harvick finished 29th in the above-mentioned race at Darlington Raceway on Sept. 1 after a run-in with series regular Ross Chastain.
"I tried to stay as low as I could, and he just rode on my door," Harvick said of Chastain after the race. "That's just a really inexperienced racer and a really bad move there and got the air and got on beside me and just kept going up the race track. I couldn't do anything with the wheel.”
The Darlington contest was the fifth Xfinity race of the season for Harvick, the first of which produced a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway in late February.
Harvick has raced at least part-time in the Xfinity Series every year since 1999. Despite going full-time in the Cup Series upon the death of Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500, Harvick also continued to race full-time in the Xfinity (then Busch) Series. He also raced full-time in both series in 2006, claiming the Xfinity championship both years. Harvick ran more than 20 races during several other seasons, coinciding with full-time dockets of racing in the Cup Series.
“With the two-day schedules, my family and all of the things that came up this year, just because of the way the schedules worked out, I just need to focus on my Cup car and the things that are happening there,” Harvick elaborated.
Harvick has competed in 346 Xfinity Series races in the last 20 years, resulting in 47 wins, 185 top-fives, and 259 top-10 finishes. He is third on the series all-time wins list, behind Kyle Busch with 92 and Mark Martin with 49.
Although he doesn’t plan on racing in the Xfinity Series again, Harvick isn’t completely committed to the decision.
“It’s not to say that I won’t run here or there if we have a sponsor or someone who needs something, or there’s a new racetrack that’s intriguing,” he concluded. "But for me, there’s no more planned Xfinity races.”
Harvick also formerly competed in the series as a car owner, operating Kevin Harvick Inc., which fielded teams in the Xfinity and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series between 2002 and 2011.
