“I hope we stick to the road course stuff”: Kevin Harvick open to NASCAR diversifying schedule further after successful Chicago outing

Kevin Harvick recently shared his thoughts on the second edition of the Chicago Street Course race. Speaking on his "Happy Hour" podcast, the former NASCAR driver discussed how he went from being a sceptic of the race to a believer, why NASCAR should stick to more road courses, and the newer markets that the sport can explore.

Harvick revealed that when he went to Chicago last season, he thought it was "the dumbest thing" they've ever done. But as he walked into the street course premises, his opinion quickly changed with all the preparation and marketing efforts NASCAR had put into the weekend.

"Everyone was engaged to the event in the city, and that’s not been the typical response. When you went to L.A., it wasn’t the typical feel. But in Chicago, that is not the case," Harvick said. [12:05]

Harvick further spoke about his experience of watching the race on TV this year. He stated that looking at the excitement and enthusiasm from the drivers and on social media, he felt this year's Chicago race had the same feel as last year's inaugral Series event.

He also claimed that he loves that NASCAR has done "such a good job" with promoting the race in Chicago and that the city has embraced it. And with both the races turning out to be good races, the former driver was convinced that NASCAR needs to embrace the road courses.

"The Xfinity race was good, the Cup race was good. To be able to get all the concerts and everything in this year, it gave it that complete festival feel. I know the race was shortened because rain and nobody really expected it, but we got it in and that was the completion of the event,"

"I hope we stick to the road course stuff. I think Chicago does a great job. I don't know if it's a forever thing. I think you can probably do it again with all the enthusiasm around it," he said.

Kevin Harvick also mentioned that there are a lot of places and cities where NASCAR can take the street course race and showcase the impact of the Cup Series.

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Kevin Harvick claims NASCAR could host a race in Denver or Los Angeles

Speaking on his "Happy Hour" podcast about where NASCAR could take the street course further, Kevin Harvick claimed that the sport can look at markets they haven't been to before.

"You look at a place like Denver. It’s a great place that you could kind of get a little bit further into the northwest and you could got to a city that really hasn’t seen NASCAR," Harvick said. [13:20]

The former Stewart Haas Racing driver stated that NASCAR could even race on the streets of Los Angeles. He mentioned that given that NASCAR does not have a venue in Southern California, having a street race in L.A. could be an option.

Harvick concluded that with Chicago being successful, with some planning, NASCAR can open up its options regarding places they can take their racing to.