“He’s never gonna have to deal with me”: Kevin Harvick explains his hands-off approach to Keelan’s rise after the Snowflake 125

Former NASCAR Cup champion Kevin Harvick explained his hands-off philosophy after his 13-year-old Keelan Harvick made history at Allen Turner Snowflake 125. Keelan raced from a 15th-place start to first at the checkered flag and became the youngest driver ever to win the marquee Pro Late Model contest at 13 years, 4 months, and 29 days.

During a post-race interview with reporter Matt Weaver at Five Flags Speedway, Kevin revealed that he does not micromanage. He said (1:10 onwards):

“I kind of know what’s going on when I watch the race, and there’s enough opinions that I can gather what’s going on. I don’t want to get in the middle of it. I mean, he’s never going to have to deal with me.”

“As he moves up the ranks to talk on the radio and talk to the crew chief, and my opinion, you know, I will talk to Michael, but it is what I see. It’s never, I don’t listen to the radio.”

Kevin Harvick added that his role is more of a ‘gatekeeper.’ He reads Keelan’s debriefs after each race and checks that they are thorough. But he stays out of radio calls and direct coaching. He said constant oversight, him “on him all the time,” would not work.

“We’re father son. So the coaching piece of it is much better coach through the coach and me in there on him all the time is not gonna work,” Harvick added (2:45).

That approach seems to be paying off. The Snowflake run had clear signs of a maturing driver. Keelan picked his spots in traffic. He kept his distance when he needed to set up other cars and recovered quickly after a missed shift on a restart.

What did Kevin Harvick like about Keelan’s race during Snowball Derby weekend?

During the same interview, Kevin Harick also mentioned what he liked about Keelan’s Sunday morning race during the 58th annual Snowball Derby.

“I look at things a little bit differently. And, you know, I think when you look at the progression of just him going through traffic… all those things are the types of things that I liked about tonight,” Kevin Harvick said.

Keelan grabbed the lead following pit stops with 50 laps remaining, but faltered on a restart and slipped back to fourth. He retook the lead over the final 24 laps and survived a final restart with 10 laps left to seal the win.

This win added to a growing list of successes for Keelan. Earlier this year, he won his first Pro Late Model race in the CARS Tour at Hickory Motor Speedway, where he led every lap from the pole and also beat his father.