Kevin Harvick Lays Out One Stipulation for His NASCAR Return

What’s Happening?

NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick said this one unlikely change to the Truck Series schedule could get him back behind the wheel of a truck during a recent podcast episode.

Throughout the season, future NASCAR Hall of Famer Kevin Harvick has joked about racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series from time to time.

Most of these comments have come on his podcast, Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, first joking in January with his co-hosts that they should find him a track to race at, seeing as everything “old is new” in NASCAR for 2026.

Since then, the former Truck Series team-owner has not joked too much about a return. That was until last week, when he and his former Stewart-Haas Racing car owner, Tony Stewart, sat down on the podcast.

During this interview, Harvick asked Stewart, who returned to NASCAR this season for Kaulig Racing in the Truck Series, if he was planning to do another race.

When Stewart responded that he was “pretty sure” he’d race again, Harvick asked if they should do one together, a clip that would later draw attention from his wife, DeLana Harvick.

Of course, Harvick has not raced in NASCAR since 2023 and in the Truck Series since 2021. Still, during the latest episode of his podcast, Harvick seemed interested in a return, saying he thinks it would be fun.

This did come with two small notes: first, that it would be next season, saying “No, yeah, not this year,” and second, it depends on what track.

Harvick, who, alongside his duties as an analyst for FOX, is a series promoter with the CARS Tour and a track promoter with Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway, said that he would run that race if his hometown track, Kern, were to host a Truck Series race.

“I vote for having a truck race at Kern. Run it there, let’s do that. If it’s at Kern, I’ll run the race.” — Kevin Harvick

Is Kern a Possibility?

While NASCAR is searching for a track to go to in Southern California (and Kern’s addition would be a welcome one by the fanbase for more reasons than Harvick’s return to the sport), the track would face an uphill climb in getting a race.

First, with schedule changes over the past five years limiting the series’ trips west of the Mississippi, the trucks will go to Southern California this year for the inaugural street race in San Diego.

Still, if that slot were to open up at year’s end, Kern would be one of the smallest tracks with a 6,000-spectator capacity, though they could find a temporary solution to that issue.

That’s not to say that the track has no shot; it does have a relationship with NASCAR, hosting an annual ARCA Menards Series West date, and other current additions like Lime Rock Park in Connecticut have surprised fans in recent years.

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