Kevin Harvick Silences the ‘Good Old Days’ Argument as He Claims Racing Has Gotten More Aggressive

Jul 30, 2023 | 1:25 PM EDT

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An argument is often made by the older fans of any sport about how it was more aggressive back in the day. There might be a section of such fans in NASCAR as well. A section that may feel the sport has lost its aggressive nature from the days of Dale Earnhardt and Richie Evans. However, the battle for the lead between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin at Pocono earlier this month proved that the aggression was very much alive. According to Kevin Harvick, who finished the race in fourth, the aggressiveness of the sport is more than what is used to be.

Dale Earnhardt Jr took part in the ‘good old days’ debate on a recent episode of The Dale Jr. Download podcast. He said that the on-track incident between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin is what NASCAR fans wanted. The intensity and hard-racing brought back memories of his father for Dale Jr. As fans watching the sport in the 80s, these aggressive maneuvers were something the sport was missing. But Kevin Harvick had a different opinion.

Kevin Harvick Would Teach His Son to Be That Aggressive

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“I think everybody’s taught differently from the very beginning I’ve watched it with. All the way through with everything Keelan has done at this particular point and it’s rough, it’s much more aggressive than how we grew up racing, for sure, right? That’s how you teach them,” Harvick said when asked if Denny Hamlin’s move was acceptable.

“I would teach my son to do the exact same thing so, you know, it’s just the style and the nature of the of how they’re taught to race and it’s just evolving into all the way to the top now. So, it’s no different than these guys who have raced since they were young kids and it’s just much more aggressive than what we were brought up racing because it’s just a different style of racing, these different equipment cars, all the way into karts right?”

Harvick also stated that better safety measures and more protection in all racing equipment, starting from go-karts, is what gives the drivers more confidence to be aggressive than in the earlier days.

“You know we didn’t use to have fairings, now you have fairings protecting all the wheels and tyres and the plastic and they bounce off of each other. If you used to do that, you’d just flip, right? You could hook your wheels and flip,” he said.

Fans Split on Hamlin-Larson Pocono Drama

Another fan commented, “This is why you will never win a championship, you get raced the way you race others. You cry when u are on the other end of it and scream innocent when you are at fault. I love how Kyle called you out in the friend group for never being wrong. It’s called an apology, man up.

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So, was Denny Hamlin playing by the rules when he made his aggressive move on Kyle Larson? Or is Larson right to complain about the incident? Let us know your thoughts.

Watch this Story – Denny Hamlin Warns Bubba Wallace to Watch Out Amid Creeping Playoff Desperation

Kevin Harvick Silences the ‘Good Old Days’ Argument as He Claims Racing Has Gotten More Aggressive

Kevin Harvick Would Teach His Son to Be That Aggressive

Fans Split on Hamlin-Larson Pocono Drama

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