Is Kevin Harvick Serious About a NASCAR Return?

What’s Happening?

Former NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kevin Harvick mentioned he was starting to “get the bug” to race again during the season debut of his podcast/show, Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. The only question is, was the NASCAR legend merely joking or serious about returning to the sport?

Kevin Harvick has not made a start in the NASCAR Cup Series since the end of his 2023 retirement tour.

But, during a conversation about NASCAR’s return to the Chase championship format on his podcast, Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, the former Richard Childress Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing star may have opened the door to a return.

Following this Chase talk, Harvick and his co-hosts Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith joked about the idea of “what’s old is new” in NASCAR, Harvick jokingly said, “I might just make a comeback.”

Though this was seemingly a joke, the conversation continued, with Harvick saying, “I’m starting to get the bug again, Cup’s too much work. What could I just get in and drive?”

He, Vincie, and Smith ultimately landed on Harvick, a former 14-time winner and Championship-winning owner in the Truck Series, racing in the Truck Series, with the bit continuing onto talk of what number and sponsor he should run if he were to return to trucks.

Now, most NASCAR fans have noted that Harvick was having fun with his co-hosts, and that these are about as far from legitimate plans as could possibly be made. But despite the nature of these comments, other fans have pointed out that NASCAR stars of Harvick’s era seem to have a hard time hanging up the helmet.

Take Dale Earnhardt Jr, for example, who, following his full-time retirement tour in 2017, continued to race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series until 2024, is planning on racing late models this year, and has yet to officially shut the door on returning to NASCAR.

What about Jimmie Johnson, who, since his retirement tour in 2020, has returned for at least two Cup Series races a year with his team Legacy Motor Club, and even added a truck start to his calendar in 2026.

Even Harvick’s former boss, Tony Stewart, is returning to the Truck Series this year, nearly ten years after his most recent NASCAR start, to help relaunch Ram Trucks in NASCAR.

Of course, much like Stewart’s NHRA efforts and Earnhardt’s late model racing schedule, Harvick has his own way of scratching his racing itch, having made multiple starts in late models over the past two seasons.

In fact, during their comedic back-and-forth, Harvick deflected some of these talks by joking to his co-hosts, comparing the work that goes into a NASCAR schedule to late models, saying, “Late model racing is pretty fun.”

Nonetheless, fans are already talking, and given Harvick’s late career competitiveness and his continued success racing in late models, who’s to say he wouldn’t get behind the wheel at least one more time, given the right deal came across his desk?

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