Kevin Harvick breaks silence on the NASCAR lawsuit in light of a “sudden” change: “It would’ve been just a mess”

In the latest episode of former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick's "Happy Hour" podcast on FOX, he shared his views on the ongoing lawsuit between the governing body and two Cup Series teams. He also expressed his shock at the unexpected decision by the judge that altered the case's outcome.

Cup Series teams 23XI and Front Row Motorsports refused to sign the new charter agreement, filing an antitrust lawsuit against the stock car association on October 2, 2024, in federal court in Charlotte. Later, the governing body refused both teams to run as charter teams while pursuing the legal battle.

However, things changed when U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Bell granted a preliminary injunction in favor of both teams in December 2024. Earlier this month, he denied NASCAR's request to dismiss the legal case and forced it to approve the teams to run as three charter teams in the 2025 season.

Covering the same news on his podcast, Kevin Harvick expressed his thoughts on the case and said [07:02 onwards]:

"When I first started watching the whole thing take place, I'm like, Man, NASCAR is kicking butt. This is going to be—this is not going to be very good for the teams, and then the judge switched, and all of the sudden everything swung, um, you know, towards the teams in front row and 23XI and their side of the lawsuit."

"It would have been so confusing to start the season with, Yes, you know those cars without Charters, and they would probably have one car with Charters if they got the SHR thing to it; it would have been just a mess," Kevin Harvick added.

Zane Smith and Noah Gragson will join Front Row Motorsports while Riley Herbst will join 23XI Racing for the next season, which kicks off at Daytona International Speedway next month.

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NASCAR veteran Kevin Harvick wants the 2024 F1 World Champion to take on the new exemption rule

Former Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick wants four-time F1 World Champion Max Verstappen to try NASCAR's latest exemption rule. In the same episode of the podcast, Harvick highlighted he would love to see Verstappen compete in the most prestigious crown jewel event, the Daytona 500.

According to the new exemption rule, any "world-class" driver could ask for an exemption if they fail to qualify for the race scheduled for the next month. In that case, NASCAR will allow the driver to take the 41st place on the grid to compete in the race.

Reflecting upon the opportunity, Kevin Harvick said [40:30]:

“I would love to see, like, the Max Verstappen-type situation at the Daytona 500 of sorts, with a Red Bull activation behind it,” Harvick said. “When you look at the whole thing, whatever the sponsor is, it is as important as anything else, because you want them to be behind the activation and promotion of what happens as well.”

Max Verstappen is gearing up for his 10th season with Red Bull. He joined the Milton Keynes-based team in 2016 and has been a part of it since then. He secured four titles for the team, with the most recent title coming last season.