“We Are in the Entertainment Business”: Kevin Harvick Defends NASCAR’s Controversial Nashville Verdict Forcing Drivers’ Fuel Woes

What a race at the Nashville Superspeedway! It turned into a marathon like no other, with spectators watching as the race seemed to toy with the drivers, throwing a relentless series of yellow and green flags their way.

Leaders kept falling out of contention with each late-race restart—there were 31 extra laps and 15 total cautions throughout the day. In the end, Joey Logano and his Team Penske crew took the checkered flag. After the dramatic NASCAR Cup Series finish, veteran driver Kevin Harvick shared his thoughts on the wild event that stretched well beyond its scheduled distance and time.

The never-ending race that became pure entertainment

When Denny Hamlin’s fans were ready to crack open their beers, who would have thought he’d lose track of fuel? That’s exactly what happened at the Nashville Superspeedway last weekend. In the final laps, the race seemed to go on endless restarts. Out of nowhere, a Ford swooped in and grabbed the checkered flag. You probably had some jitters just reading that—it was that kind of race! And to top it off, we saw Kyle Larson make contact with another driver for the first time. It seemed like a movie, right?

In his ‘Happy Hour’ podcast, Kevin Harvick argued that as an entertainment business, NASCAR should prioritize creating exciting finishes that engage the fans, even if it means extending races past their original length. “I think part of this is we are in the entertainment business,” Harvick also talked about the green flag debate. “I think the traditional me would tell you that I want the race to end at the right distance, whether it’s green or caution but I like the show.”

While making his point, Harvick also suggested that NASCAR should try and lean more towards green flag finishes rather than ending under caution, and pointed to the fact that Team Penske’s Joey Logano was able to capitalize on the extended race and fuel mileage gamble to score an unlikely win, which he says added an extra layer of excitement and unpredictability.

The veteran racer does acknowledge that if he were speaking from a traditional approach, then he would want to end the race at the scheduled distance, whether under green or caution. However, he also claimed that in this industry, it was important to provide an engaging spectacle that the fans could be amazed at. And in all honesty, these types of dramatic finishes, with unexpected twists and turns, are truly what everyone wants to see.

Drivers after the Nashville weekend

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There were five overtimes before Logano won. While Kevin Harvick endorses the entertainment value of NASCAR’s overtime rules, NASCAR drivers think otherwise.

1. Starting off with the winner of the wild race. Joey Logano applauded his fueler and said, “A lot of teamwork there. You have to give a lot of credit to our fueler, Nick Hensley, our engine department with Roush Yates building obviously some engines that could also manage fuel really well, and some guts – a lot of cajones made it happen.”

1. Once a race leader for the last few winning laps and then ending up in P12, Denny Hamlin said, “We ran out under caution. (Chris Gabehart, crew chief) was monitoring fuel pressure. I let him know what the fuel pressure was. We were fine, just running out of gas and we did it under caution. It was the right call. I was going down the pitlane there out of gas. I’m surprised we lasted that many green-white-checkers honestly. Certainly, stinks being 15 seconds from a win at the end then 10 seconds from a win, and then to finish 12th. It’s just part of it.”

1. Then, Kyle Larson, who for the first time was seen out of character, giving it back to the JGR driver on the track, opined his reason for finishing at the back of the top 5. He said, “Just a lot of craziness there at the end. There were a lot of cars short on fuel and we were one of them. Just a lot of mess. On the first restart, I was just trying to get Denny (Hamlin) washed off the bottom so that I could get some clean air and give myself an opportunity to win.”

However, the unpredictable finishes only hurt championship contenders who suffer misfortune in the extra laps. Kevin Harvick points out this dilemma and feels sorry for the drivers whose playoff chances were sabotaged in some way, but ultimately seems to favor the excitement and drama created by the extended races like Nashville.

Harvick’s comments shifted the conversation into high gear, debating that the battle for the checkered flag might be fierce, but a more fundamental race is underway—one for the soul of NASCAR. Fans indeed crave this form of entertainment, but drivers yearn for a level playing field as well.

As the season progresses, fuel strategy remains a major issue, and each lap will be a test and each finish a data point in this ongoing struggle to define what victory truly means.