Keelan Harvick prepares for first season in stock cars

Keelan Harvick took part in CARS Tour Media Day alongside his father, Kevin, as he prepares for his first season racing full bodied stock cars.

A third generation star and son of NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick, Keelan has been preparing for this moment for years.

He started out in karts, racing in America and Europe, honing his race craft, before moving up to Legends cars. In 2024 alone, Keelan accumulated 27 victories across 49 starts to go along with top-three finishes in the Cook Out Summer Shootout, INEX Nashville Spring Series and INEX Winter Nationals standings, earning the 2024 INEX Young Lions Asphalt National Championship.

In November of last year, Keelan took part in his first Limited Late Model race at Florence Motor Speedway during the South Carolina 400 weekend. He drove a fast, clean race, earning an eighth place run against some of the best in Late Model racing.

“There was definitely a lot of stuff I could take away [from Florence],” Keelan said in an interview on NASCAR.com. “I learned that I need to be better at tire-saving and more aggressive later as the race goes. This would not be possible without all the KHI guys, and I have to thank them again.”

Florence is known for abusing equipment and tires, which is why Keelan made his debut there. Kevin warned him about this, making sure Keelan was able to finish the race and learn as much as possible

“The biggest problem he had was us,” Kevin said. “We should have just let him go out there and not tell him what to do. I don’t think we all expected him to do as well as he did. He was very aware of his surroundings, communication and the things he did with the car. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the first outing.”

“[My dad] is really big on being smooth and trying to be consistent,” Keelan said. “That’s really helped me through my career. I would love to win a lot, but this is brand new competition, and it’s going to be really hard to adapt. If I can consistently get top-five or top-10 finishes, that would be a really good takeaway for me.”

While Kevin is very familiar with media days, it was Keelan’s first experience. While he took part alongside his father, his mother DeLana watched on and helped him, as she has a background in public relations.

“We’ve had a lot of photoshoots that [Keelan] has been a part of,” Kevin said. “You want [him] to be in a position where he understands this is part of the process and part of what being a professional race car driver is. This didn’t come naturally for me, but you need to learn and understand it. In order to be a pro and be good at [what you do], you need to have a good reputation and understand what this is for.”

Overall, Keelan had a fun experience and learned a lot of the media side of things for the sport.

Ahead of this year, Rackley W.A.R. and Kevin Harvick Inc. entered a partnership to field Pro and Super Late Models throughout the year for a plethora of drivers, including Keelan and Kevin. The father-son duo will compete against each other at several events throughout the year, on the East and West coast.

“I haven’t even thought about [Keelan winning races],” Kevin said. “We’re expecting some pretty steep learning curves, so we’ll see if we get to that point [this year]. Anytime you get to see your kids accomplish something is pretty gratifying as a parent. As we’ve gone through the ranks, it’s been pretty fun to watch him pick up things in chunks. [That first win] will be a lot of fun. I hope I’m there when it happens.”

While Keelan is looking to learn and earn experience this year, he is also hungry to earn his first win in a stock car.

“I’m going to be very excited [if I win],” Keelan said. “I’m probably going to hit the griddy. [If I beat my dad], the celebration is going to be a lot bigger than hitting the griddy.”

To read the whole story posted on NASCAR.com, click here: https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2025/01/21/keelan-harvick-stock-cars/