“It Frustrates You” – Retired Kevin Harvick Shares “Miserable” Reason for Lack of Interest in Racing Return

Due to many unexpected spin-outs and tire wear, the NASCAR Cup  Series Food City 500 at Bristol got a lot of attention and ended up being one of the season’s most thrilling races. Each driver came into the race with an organized plan, but many had to throw off their strategy because of track conditions. The redesigned circuit with resin touch-up seemed to have posed a problem to the driver’s skills.

These unexpected challenges saw a difference emerging between veteran and comparatively new racers, as tire management took center stage. However, former Stewart-Haas legend, Kevin Harvick, recently made it clear that he still wants nothing to do with such awful race conditions.

Kevin Harvick addresses Bristol’s awful conditions

The tire issues hampered most of the afternoon as only five cars could finish on the lead lap. This is the first time something like this has happened in the Cup Series in 20 years. With Kyle Busch blowing his right-rear tire and William Byron losing control of his car without any contact, the main race kicked off with a fresh dose of tire-saving drama. Kevin Harvick, however, couldn’t enjoy the thrill of Bristol’s unpredictable track. He brought attention to the challenges of racing in such situations.

On Episode 9 of ‘Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour,’ Kevin Harvick along with co-hosts Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith provided an exclusive weekend recap of the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Harvick was asked if he’d want to return to the track considering the unexpected changes happening right now. He responded, “It probably would have been a pretty good day, but you never know. And, and if your car is off on days like that, it’s miserable because, you’re getting lapped and you can’t really figure out anything that, that makes it better. So, and when you have a race like that, that you’re unprepared for it frustrates you.”

Additionally, the 48-year-old remarked how difficult it is to race in these kinds of situations when none of your plans seem to work. He pointed out, “You have a plan, you go to the simulator, you put all this thought into what you think is going to happen and then it’s 100 and 80 degrees of, of what you had planned for. And that’s the frustrating part for the drivers for us.”

Goodyear’s Greg Stucker, the tire manufacturer’s director of racing, called Sunday’s outcome “too drastic,” and said, “Now we’re trying to understand what’s different… Why is the race track behaving differently this weekend than what it did a year ago? It’s the same package. It’s the same tire combination…” 

Featuring sixteen racers with 54 lead changes, the race kept taking uncertain turns throughout. Josh Berry, the replacement of Kevin Harvick at Stewart-Haas Racing, was among the leading pack in Bristol.

Josh Berry’s performance at Bristol left Kevin Harvick in admiration

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Despite a shaky start at Phoenix Raceway, Berry put his skills on display at Bristol which helped the SHR team regain momentum. Starting in second place, Berry led twice for a total of 25 laps and overcame tire problems to earn twelfth place.

Harvick commended Berry, “This is right up Josh Berry’s alley, I mean he was an absolute Master at late model stock racing in these types of races and figuring out how to make his car easy on the tires and do the things that it needed to do.”

While praising his performance, the former SHR driver expressed, “They had one moment where you know he spun out during the race and got, … they got behind and they were able to battle back. But I think they ran almost 70 laps at the end of the race.”

Following Kevin Harvick’s departure, NASCAR Xfinity Series star, Josh Berry, was signed as a full-time Cup Series driver at SHR. Kevin couldn’t resist praising the driver behind the wheel of the Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

Read More: “An Absolute Master”: Kevin Harvick Takes Pride in His Successor’s Resurgent Bristol Outing