Keelan Harvick Shines at Southern National’s Thanksgiving Weekend Amidst Scary Crash Delay

Keelan Harvick has begun his ascension to popularity. He has followed in his father Kevin’s footsteps and has already made waves in the grassroots circuit of NASCAR. Having started racing at 7, Keelan took the next step of his career as he joined the X30 Junior series this year and has earned many accolades since then. Friday marked the welcome of yet another trophy into his cabinet.

The Thanksgiving Classic racing events at the Southern National Motorsports Park host three days of intense and exciting racing. While Keelan has expressed his desire to race on the Formula 1 track one day, he has leapfrogged many budding drivers from his age group with a headstart. Driving the No. 62 Hunt Brothers Pizza Legend Car, the 2022 US Pro Kart Series champion claimed one more win in a feature race, taking home the Legends feature race.

Keelan Harvick confirms his safety after dodgy Legend Car win

November has been a busy month for Keelan Harvick. The 11-year-old was at Fayetteville Motor Speedway just two weeks ago. The racing enthusiasts in North Carolina witnessed a racing spectacle as Keelan sped to a win in the Young Lions series. He competed in this year’s Summer shootout alongside Kyle Busch‘s son, Brexton.

Kevin Harvick’s purchase of the CARS Tour made him an important figure in the special feature 250-lap Late Model race, so his son has decided to take control of the younger racing events. The Thanksgiving Classic, which is a three-day event, brings together the lesser-talked forms of stock-car racing, and Legend Cars was one among them. Despite all the celebration, Keelan’s path to victory wasn’t as easy as it seemed.

The youngster got caught on Turn 2 as his car entangled with the fence and the tow truck had to be summoned to help the driver get out of his car. Luckily, there have been no reports of injuries, and Keelan confirmed the news on Twitter, as he wrote, “Running P10, but didn’t get to finish the race last night after this accident. Glad everyone was ok. Back at it today.”

Tyler Hughes and Jacob Staten took the two remaining podium places to complete the night. However, the wreck wasn’t the end of the night’s racing for Keelan Harvick as he prepared for his second outing on Saturday.

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Drivers speak about the importance of the Thanksgiving Classic event

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When the Southern National Motorsports Park was entering its sixth year of functioning in 1998, the officials decided to give birth to the Thanksgiving Classic tradition. The competition rose through the tanks when popular drivers like Denny Hamlin won two races in the mid-2000s, and Josh Berry took over the mantle and has won two on the trot in the last two years.

Berry has been on the verge of making three out of three this year. Speaking on its importance in the NASCAR scene, the new Stewart-Haas Racing driver said, “It’s another prestigious race. With the NASCAR schedule opening up, there are fewer opportunities to do this stuff. That one always fits for us, but Southern National is a fun track. For us, it’s important to support these guys and these race tracks when they put on these big races. It’s important for the sport as a whole.”

“Three in a row would be awesome. We’d terribly love to win one of these last three races with KHI. We know it’s going to be tough, and it’ll be a process getting everything tuned like we want it. I’m excited for [Sunday], and we’ll see what we can do.”

Recent Late Model feature race winner Katie Hettinger, has been a regular name in the CARS Tour circuit. Coming up the ranks, she has attracted some eyebrows through her moves on the asphalt, and speaking about the opportunity this race provides, she said,

“It’d be awesome to win this race. I think [Jason Stanley and I] proved our point in a Pro, but to be able to race against such a competitive Late Model Stock field [and win] would be really awesome.”

The Thanksgiving Classic has been a favorite among the drivers. One of the major areas of focus has been the inclusion of multiple types of racing across the three-day event. The off-season timing of the race has been another important factor in its popularity.

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