“Took a Lot of Time” – Kevin Harvick Details the Process Behind the CARS Tour Schedule as He Gets More Hands On

The 2024 CARS Tour became a highly anticipated event when four NASCAR icons came on board to revamp the historic series. At the beginning of this year, veteran drivers Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Burton, and Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks collectively acquired it. 

After the release of next year’s schedule this weekend, the recently retired Harvick revealed the effort that went into retaining its classic form while including additional locations.

Harvick highlighted North Wilkesboro Speedway as the marquee of CARS Tour 2024

The new owners of CARS Tour were faced with the difficult task of scheduling their races without overlapping with NASCAR or major late-model events. Speaking to Frontstretch, Kevin Harvick explained, “We had some goals of ending the season a little bit earlier to be able to give the late model stock competitors a breath before they went to the end of the year to run Hickory and Florence and Southern National – the big races, at the end of the year, instead of stacking the end of our season right on top of those three races.”

The season begins at the Southern National Motorsports Park on March 2 and ends at the North Wilkesboro Speedway on October 19, 2024. But the exciting return of Orange Country Speedway posed the greatest challenge for Harvick. He admitted, “I think for me the schedule building process definitely took a lot of time just because of the fact that there were new racetracks, with bringing Orange County back.” It will now host the fifth race on April 20. With the announcement of zMAX Micro-lubricant as the title sponsor, President and CEO Marcus Smith also provided his valuable input.

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Harvick added, “With Marcus and the SMI [Speedway Motorsports Inc] group wanting to have a short track showcase at the end of the year at North Wilkesboro really allowed us to have just a really high-end marquee racetrack to end our season.” In addition to the season finale, the North Wilkesboro Speedway will also host races on May 14 and May 15. Meanwhile, Smith explained the reason behind zMAX’s decision to enter into an alliance with the CARS Tour.

Everyone contributed to produce the CARS Tour schedule, as per Kevin Harvick

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As reported in carsracingtour.com, Marcus Smith said, “A zMAX partnership with the CARS Tour is a grassroots commitment to building future competitors and fans in motorsports,” Smith further credited the four visionaries who are aiming to take this series to newer heights. 

“I’d like to thank Dale, Kevin, Jeff, and Justin for this opportunity. We look forward to marketing zMAX from the garage to the grandstands and we’re thrilled to see the CARS Tour returning to North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2024.”

Kevin Harvick also stressed the vital role played by their collaboration in bringing their ambitious venture from paper to the racetracks, starting with the schedule. Harvick concluded, “It all kind of came together, but I think with everybody’s ideas, and it all fell into place and worked out.”

Read More: Kevin Harvick Divulges How He Managed to Bring Back RCR’s #29 Car at North Wilkesboro