After 60 Cup wins and a championship, Kevin Harvick had nothing left to prove. In fact, after retiring from full-time Cup racing in 2023, he was completely burned out and didn’t even want to race anymore. The pressure, criticism, and endless expectations got to him. That changed, though, after a conversation with Chase Elliott that Harvick couldn’t quite forget.
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During an appearance on The Dale Jr. Download, Harvick opened up about his interaction with Elliott at the Chili Bowl Nationals and why the younger driver’s words stuck with him.
“One thing that really struck me a few years ago was Chase Elliott at the Chili Bowl. … He’s like, ‘I felt like I needed to step outside of my comfort zone and not worry about my result,’” Harvick recalled.
The advice hit differently for someone who had spent much of his career under the spotlight. Harvick entered the Cup Series in 2001, replacing the late Dale Earnhardt at Richard Childress Racing. Winning in just his third start at Atlanta, he quickly established himself, but the expectations attached to that seat followed him his entire career.
He eventually built an identity of his own, securing those 60 Cup victories and the 2014 championship. Yet, when his full-time career ended after the 2023 season, Harvick admitted he was mentally ready to never really turn back.
“When I got done with Cup Racing, I was like, ‘Man, I don’t ever want to race again. I’m tired of being critiqued; I’m tired of the pressure; I’m tired of the responsibility,’” he said.
Elliott’s perspective offered a different way to approach the sport. But for Harvick, adopting it meant accepting that he could return to racing without necessarily being the driver everyone expected him to be.
It took Harvick some time to get comfortable with that idea. But he finally got there.
Harvick Put Elliott’s Advice to the Test at Five Flags Speedway
Eventually, he decided to put that mindset to the test at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. On June 28, 2024, Harvick made his Super Late Model debut in his No. 62 Chevrolet for the ASA Southern Super Series’ Busch Light 100. It was a different environment from the one he had known in Cup, and the competition included some of the country’s strongest short-track racers.
Bubba Pollard took the victory after working his way through the field, while Harvick finished 13th and off the lead lap. The race was an education for the former Cup champion, whose car also suffered mechanical trouble when its alternator failed.
Harvick was frustrated after being lapped by Pollard and the other front-runners. But rather than letting the result dictate his entire evening, he took the young drivers advice.
“I was kind of pissed and then I got out and I drank a beer and I thought about that conversation and I was like, ‘You know what? I had a hell of a time,’” Harvick recalled.
For Harvick, that freedom now extends to how he manages his own team.
Harvick Has Changed His Approach to Late Model Racing
Harvick has told the crew that he is there to have fun. He will answer questions, make an effort, and work on improving the car, but he does not want to feel obligated to review hours of footage or prepare a detailed race report after every outing.
If he wants to study the video, he will. If not, he can simply move on.
He also enjoys working with his Super Late Model crew chief, Mark, whom he has known since his childhood days watching races at Mesa Marin.
His post-Cup career has given him plenty of other ways to stay involved. Harvick joined FOX Sports as a NASCAR analyst in 2024 and continues hosting Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour.
He is also a co-owner of the CARS Tour alongside Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Justin Marks, while helping establish the CARS Tour West with Tim Huddleston. Supporting short-track racing and creating opportunities for younger drivers have become important parts of his work beyond the cockpit.
Harvick still wants to win when he gets behind the wheel, but the difference is that a bad result no longer has to follow him home. Elliott helped him understand that racing could be rewarding without the pressure to prove anything. And after spending so many years carrying the weight of Cup competition, that might be the most valuable lesson he has taken into retirement.