The 47-year-old Kevin Harvick took one last ride on a racing track at the season finale race at Phoenix. Now that he is done with the “racing” chapter of his book, the former Stewart-Haas Racing icon looks forward to finding some much-needed balance in all the other aspects of his life. Prime among the subjects that will have his attention on the new page is his young son, Keelan Harvick.
11-year-old Keelan Harvick followed in the rubber marks that his father left behind and began his racing career at a very young age. But his pursuits might not be heading exactly in the way Kevin Harvick would like it to. Conversing on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s podcast, the retired driver voiced his concerns over his son and revealed how he planned to set things right.
The issues that young Keelan Harvick faced because of his father’s absence
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Keelan Harvick has been racing since he was just 7 years old. In 2023, he took another climb up the ladder that his father had set by making his X30 Junior debut. Eyes set on getting to the circuits of Formula 1 the youngster has been spending most of his time behind karts. But unfortunately, he appears to have picked up some less-than-ideal habits in this pursuit.
Talking to Dale Earnhardt Jr and Mike Davis on ‘Dale Jr Download’, Kevin Harvick expressed his concern over the results of his absence in Keelan’s races. Talking about how balancing his roles was crucial now, he said, “That’s a huge priority because I feel like some of the things that we have experienced over the last year and a half with Keelan would not have happened… with some of his driving characteristics and mindset. Some of the things that went on with his driving we had to deal with wouldn’t have happened if I was there.”
As Davis magnified his question on what the exact issue with Keelan was, Harvick revealed, “Just bad habits. Thought processes and things that are easily eliminated when you are standing right there, right? And when he comes off the race track you just nip it in the bud.” After having retired from 23 years of racing, Kevin Harvick is perhaps the best teacher a young driver can have.
With his large ambitions and goals, should Keelan Harvick have anyone to look up to, it is his own father. And Kevin Harvick knows exactly what it is that he needs to do to give his son the best shot at his goals.
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The insights into Keelan’s affairs began flowing with Mike Davis asking Kevin Harvick if he would maybe want to race his son someday. Getting into how fixing his son’s attitude and mindset was the priority for now, the champion said that he was bent on making sure that he was there for his son all the time. As much as he wanted Keelan to be doing things on his own, Kevin Harvick said that there were certain things that needed immediate correction.
In his own words, “There is a responsibility that goes right along with being a dad and helping him through all of the things that he is going through as much as I want him to be doing things on his own, there are things that need to be corrected immediately.” The first step towards this for Kevin Harvick is to find alignment with his son. Continuing about how that aspect was easy now, he said, “Now I just need to sit back and say ‘How can I design his schedule to fit with what I am doing’.”
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It isn’t news that Keelan Harvick is a big fan of Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen and has wanted to race in F1 over NASCAR when he was older. Speaking to veteran reporter Jeff Gluck last year, Kevin Harvick had said that he wanted to take Keelan as far away from his comfort zone as possible as a racer. He said, “You either sink or swim. So you can either figure it out, or you cannot do well.”
Maybe one day 🏎️ 🇲🇨 pic.twitter.com/jZfCXKIxGW
— Keelan Harvick (@KeelanHarvick) April 25, 2023
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Kevin Harvick has always been a staunch supporter of his son’s dreams and goals. Let’s hope he sets the young driver on the right path once again and helps him achieve the potential that we all know he has.
Read More: Kevin Harvick Divulges the One Element From His Racing Career as He Braces Retirement