A lot has changed for Landen Lewis in 12-months time. Just a year ago, Lewis was an up-and-comer going full-time Late Model Stock racing with Kevin Harvick Inc, with the goals of chasing a 2025 CARS Tour championship. He had big shoes to fill, taking over the flagship KHI No. 29 from Brent Crews following Crews impressive 3-win season with the Tour.
Flash forward a year, and Lewis checked all the boxes and more. Four CARS Tour wins, including a win on a national stage as the first North Wilkesboro Speedway race was aired live on Fox Sports 1, and a championship to cap it all off, all with a program and team that Kevin Harvick said wouldn’t have happened without Lewis.
Now, Lewis has a part-time deal with Niece Motorsports to run in the Craftsman Truck Series, a deal in which Lewis has already run two races to this point. In his debut with Niece on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Lewis ran an impressive sixth.
Even still, Lewis is around a late model and at a local short track every chance he gets. He’s already got a Late Model Stock triumph in 2026, winning the URA sanctioned Jerry Moody Memorial at Southern National Motorsports Park back in March, and plans to run as many LMSC races as he can throughout the year. Unlike some who may move on and never look back, it’s just a part of him that he feels won’t go away.
“At the end of the day, I still have this in my heart,” Lewis told Short Track Scene. “Even though I’m going Truck racing and doing those fun things, late model racing and short track racing is still where my heart is, so I enjoy coming back. I enjoy getting to spend time with the guys that I spent all of the last two or three years. I still work at the shop, so that part is still fun for me, being able to work on race cars and just try to make them better every single week.
“So, I think it’s fun, I still have that itch of trying to make race cars go as fast as I can.”
You heard it straight from the man himself. He’s still a late model guy at heart. Not only does that go for his own career, but he’s played a big role in the ever growing career of Keelan Harvick as well. Lewis has said before that Harvick is like a brother to him, so playing a role in the development of his young career is special.
“Well first off, I want to thank Kevin [Harvick] for allowing me to do that,” Lewis said. “Just being with Keelan, it’s special to me. I honestly, when he wins, I get more excited and more emotion than when I win. I’ve been a part of his life since he was probably 10-years old, so I’ve watched him grow up and he’s only 13, so I have to remember that. But it’s fun to be a part of, and I’m happy and thankful for Kevin and DeLana [Harvick] for giving me that opportunity to driver coach him, walk him through life of what to expect, it’s a pleasure to be a part of for sure.”
With more Truck Series races coming down the line, Lewis won’t be able to run late model races every week, especially with the bulk of those races backloaded towards the end of the season. As mentioned before, Lewis still plans to run as much as possible, including with the CARS Tour, where he plans to run all scheduled events through the race at Hickory Motor Speedway in August.
So, what are the Late Model Stock goals for Lewis in 2026?
“We can’t go win the championship obviously,” Lewis said. “I feel like my goal is just win races and be consistent. If we don’t win, I want to finish inside the top-five, just be consistent week in and week out. I feel like championship racing last year taught me that and it kind of opened my eyes up a a lot. We can go back and look at last year and look at the moments where I was just way over my head doing things that I didn’t need to do. But, I think that opened my eyes towards going into this year.
“Yeah, I’m not racing for a championship but I could still contend for wins without wrecking race cars, or run up front without wrecking race cars.”
Lewis is already two starts in to his Truck deal in 2026 and looking forward to more, as he’s shared the No. 45 truck with Ross Chastain and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to this point. While that experience has been great, and the future is full of exciting opportunities, Lewis says he’ll miss the short track family as he’s pulled farther from it on a weekly basis.
“Looking forward to getting started up with the truck side,” Lewis said. “Getting to share it with Ross and Ricky, that’s been a really cool moment for me and being able to learn from them. So, I’m excited for the Truck deal but at the same time, what I’ll miss from here is just, I know everybody right now, right? Like, I’ve been a part of this for two or three years and I know about everyone in the pits.
“I feel like the Tour is almost a family to me because it’s just a good series to be a part of, I’ve kind of watched it grow the last couple years. I think I’ll miss that, but I’ll still have it in my heart and even if I’m racing, on the plane ride home I’ll be watching on Flo.”
After all the chaos, Lewis finished fourth in his first start of the year with the Tour at Wake County Speedway, and joins the CARS Tour once again this weekend for their highly anticipated return to Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and first ever visit with the Late Model Stock cars.
