NASCAR Veteran Names Kevin Harvick’s Successor at Ford After the Legend Leaves Big Shoes to Fill

Kevin Harvick will go down as one of the greatest motorsports athletes of our generation. The storied career of the veteran will see its final chapter next week. Harvick has been a mainstay at Ford for years and his retirement is a massive blow to the manufacturer. But there is one man who has risen up to the occasion, much like Harvick has done countless times over the course of his career. If this driver keeps it up, he can become the 47-year-old’s successor as the face of Ford in NASCAR as per a prominent NASCAR insider.

Filling the shoes of a legend like Kevin Harvick is an immensely tough job. The 47-year-old himself had to fill enormous shoes when he came into the Cup Series with Richard Childress Racing as Dale Earnhardt’s replacement. Now, after over two decades in the Cup Series, Ford will have to rest their hopes on a new driver carrying them forward into the future.

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The man in question is not the one who will replace ‘The Closer’ in the #4 car at Stewart-Haas Racing, so Josh Berry is out of contention. The Fords this year have had a very tough time coping with the speed of the Toyotas and the Chevys. They have had some memorable moments with Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher but are currently bottom in the manufacturers’ championship.

Amidst all the struggles, one man has come out of the blue as the company’s pride. According to legendary NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett, he could become the one Ford puts their trust in for the future. That man is none other than the company’s sole driver in the 2023 championship race, Ryan Blaney.

No one gave Ryan Blaney a chance over the course of the season. Even when he made it into the playoffs and kept advancing through the rounds, he was never viewed as a serious title contender. People only started to take notice when he won at the Talladega Superspeedway in the round of 12. 

In Martinsville on Sunday, the Team Penske man proved himself yet again as he won his way into the championship race. According to Dale Jarrett, if Ryan Blaney can keep this form up, Ford will have a lot to be confident about.

“You know we have seen a number of these veteran drivers, it comes their time to move on and Kevin Harvick, it’s not like Ryan Blaney is going to replace Kevin Harvick but for the time being, this is a driver in the Ford camp that Ford can feel good about having there and having that ability to put themselves right there in championship moments,” the 1999 Cup Series champion said.

Ryan Blaney’s win at Martinsville was anything but a fluke. The Team Penske star led a whopping 145 laps to clinch his third win of the season. It will be the 29-year-old’s first appearance in the championship race. As far as Blaney is concerned, that’s all he wanted at the start of the season.

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“All you want is a shot at a championship. You get your shot when the playoffs start, if you make ’em, okay, you have a shot. But then your real shot is if you get to Phoenix, right?” the Team Penske driver said after taking arguably the most important win of his career so far.

Speaking of what he had achieved, Blaney expressed the pride he felt with his and his team’s efforts throughout the season. The driver of the #12 has hit a purple patch of form just at the right time and he will be waiting for the action to begin in Phoenix.

“We put together really strong strong playoffs and um especially the round to eight you know we had a had a good run on the whole round eight so yeah just overall just uh really proud of the whole effort. […] This is awesome so can’t wait to get to Phoenix next week,” he added.

It will be a fairy tale story if Ryan Blaney actually manages to win his maiden Cup Series title in 2023. The odds are stacked against him but his form right now is absolutely incredible. Will the Team Penske man lift the trophy on Sunday? Only one way to find out!

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