Speaking to The Athletic, Kevin Harvick says he is much more comfortable in his role as a television analyst for NASCAR on FOX in his second season compared to his first after a nearly three decade stint as a driver at the highest levels.
“I have a much better understanding of what my role actually is,” Harvick said. “I think Year Two allows me to be more opinionated in things that are happening or happening in the conversation, whether it’s in a production meeting or in the booth or whatever that is, and feel comfortable about not stepping on anybody’s toes. Because this is truly a team. It takes a lot of people, just like everything else, and last year I wanted to make sure I understood how it all worked before I started being too opinionated on things.
“I treat it just like I was driving the car. Like everything matters. You want everything to flow and be organized. And I’ve learned that things happen a little later in the TV world than in the driver’s side of the world. It’s a lot closer to the event than what I was used to. But that’s just kind of the nature of the beast because there’s just a lot of things that happen week-of because you can’t do it the week before.”
The 49-year-old is the 2014 champion, a feat he accomplished alongside crew chief Rodney Childers, but also a 60-time winner at the highest level of the sport across stints with Richard Childress Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing.
He is 10th on the all-time wins list and retired after the 2023 season to join Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the television booth. And speaking of Joy, Harvick has the highest caliber of respect for the longtime play-by-play voice, especially when it comes to the honor of calling the end of races.
“I worry too much about walking on somebody or overthinking the end of the races,” Harvick stated, regarding something he’d like to improve in broadcasting moving forward. “The end of the races just gets so chaotic with two big voices in the room. Sometimes it’s hard to know where you chime in on that, or if you don’t need to.
“I’m of the opinion that Mike Joy should call the last lap of every race because I like listening to his voice. So … you have to know when to stand down, though there are moments that you could definitely put in on something that happened, but you have to do it quickly.”
What is his role?
“It’s still just the things that are happening from the driver’s perspective with the new car,” Harvick said. “Because if you haven’t been in the car, it’s just a different world compared to what it was. So being able to see those things. I like to explain the racing piece of what’s actually happening. You don’t have to make anything up, it’s pretty simple. There are a lot of things to watch. Our sport is very complicated. There’s a lot of technology, a lot of people that are really good at it. There’s a lot of work, time and effort.
“So being able to get that out and across to people is super important. Because if you just sit there and show the cars going around the racetrack, it looks pretty easy, but it’s far from that.”
Harvick replaced Jeff Gordon, who spent three years as a television analyst, with Gordon replacing Darrell Waltrip, who was there from the start in 2001. For his part, Harvick says he isn’t thinking about his tenure beyond one season at a time.
“Well, the good news is I don’t really have to think about that vision because it’s just, I guess, one segment of time at a time with whatever deal you’re currently under. It’s something that I enjoy. I enjoy being around the racetrack, and being around the racetrack in a non-pressure situation,” Harvick said. “And I like racing. I like the people, I like the sport. I like everything about it. So I enjoy being here and doing something that just doesn’t have the pressure of driving the car.”
