Kevin Harvick set to retire from competitive racing after the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series

2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick has announced that he will retire from full-time competitive racing following the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

The 2023 season was the last year of his current contract with Stewart-Haas Racing as a Cup driver. Last month during the NASCAR Awards, the 47-year-old, however, confirmed that an announcement would be made regarding his future before the commencement of the 2023 season.

Kevin Harvick made an official announcement on his social media accounts on Thursday morning after speculation swirled on social media over the past couple of days.

On the team's release, Harvick said:

“There is absolutely nothing else in the world that I enjoy doing more than going to the race track, and I’m genuinely looking forward to this season. But as I’ve gone through the years, I knew there would come a day where I had to make a decision. When would it be time to step away from the car? I’ve sought out people and picked their brains. When I asked them when they knew it was the right time, they said it’ll just happen, and you’ll realize that’s the right moment. You’ll make a plan and decide when it’s your last year.”

He continued:

“It’s definitely been hard to understand when that right moment is because we’ve been so fortunate to run well. But sometimes there are just other things going on that become more important and, for me, that time has come.”

Despite spending two decades at the NASCAR Cup Series, Harvick drove for only two organizations. He scored 23 Cup Series victories with Richard Childress Racing from 2001 to 2013 and 37 wins with Stewart-Haas Racing, including his first Championship in 2014. The veteran driver also has two Xfinity Series titles under his belt.

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Kevin Harvick achieved crown jewel triumph at Richard Childress Racing

Kevin Harvick is one of the few drivers who has victories in the crown jewel races including the Daytona 500 (2007), Coca-Cola 600 (2011 and 2013), Brickyard 40 (2003, 2019, 2020), and Southern 500 (2014 and 2020).

The only other drivers in NASCAR history to achieve this feat are the legends of the sport Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson.

Kevin Harvick hasn’t revealed what his next chapter will be but there have been some reports that he could join FOX as an analyst. The only thing that is for sure about him is that 2023 will be his last season as a Cup driver and the #4 Ford driver will hope to finish it as the best season of his career.