More often than not, NASCAR fans look up to the veterans, such as the likes of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, for their honest opinions. This time, the media turned to the Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick to learn about his opinions on restarts. This comes to light amidst extensive instances of contacts and wrecks during the recent Cup Series race held at the Circuit of The Americas. While Harvick opined his nuanced understanding of the issue at hand, it was the follow-up question that seemed to rile him up.

While the journalist took a light jab at Harvick that seemed to have let out a couple of nervous laughs around, Harvick gave his unfiltered response and slammed them shut.

What made the veteran racer so furious?

It happened during an interview when the Stewart-Haas Racing driver was discussing the recent COTA race and expressing his views on single-file restarts. The reporter asked him, “Is it because there are all these cameras around and you just can’t pop somebody in the face after wearing it?”

A frustrated Kevin counter-questioned the journalist. He asked, “How many guys have you seen really get popped in the face in the last 10 years?” 

The reporter took a wild guess and answered with a “two or three” response. Taking a dismissive tone, Harvick sarcastically added, “Is that really realistic in today’s society to walk over and punch a guy in the mouth? Is that real?”

As both parties exchanged these words, Harvick reiterated that such confrontational incidents are a thing of the past. Nowadays, drivers have a new way to channel their frustration on the track, and that is, by intentionally bumping into other cars. The reporter, however, didn’t take the hint and continued airing the same question. To this, Harvick reasoned.

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He believed that there are two reasons for the same. First, there are zero consequences with the car since the Next Gen stock cars are highly durable, and second, as drivers learn, they understand that they are either going to end up in “the slammer” or the “be slammed” category.

The stock car that keeps going despite getting wrecked

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Harvick revealed the real reason behind such an aggressive attitude of NASCAR drivers. He said, “The reason why is because the car you can run into a steel wall and it keeps going, or a concrete wall and it keeps going.”

The next-gen stock car is made of composite material and can withstand greater contact without loss of performance as compared to the traditional body made of metal sheets. When drivers become used to the car, it gives them extra assurance about the extent of the damage, resulting in very aggressive driving. Harvick said, “Everybody learns what you can and can’t do and you just become more and more aggressive and because there are no consequences with the car, to tear the car up.”

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NASCAR has improved the safety of stock cars. However, with increasing aggression among drivers, the safety protocols should be revised at regular intervals, don’t you think?