Following the increasing growth of Formula 1 races, 2014 champion Kevin Harvick sees it as a threat to NASCAR's future. According to Harvick, most racing careers are unleashed at the Karting level, where young drivers start their racing careers.
His nine-year-old son, Keelan Harvick, is among the kids competing on go-kart tracks. Harvick has been coaching his son all by himself and hopes that his son will one day continue his NASCAR legacy.
On Twitter, IndyCars on NBC highlighted the drivers who spoke with NASCAR executives about how to steer young talent toward stockcars.
However, his son wants to race in a different capacity, following in the footsteps of his idol, Max Verstappen, who happens to be an F1 champion.
While speaking to NBC Sports, the No. 4 driver for Stewart-Haas Racing highlighted that it is not only his son who wants to participate in F1 races, but all the kids in go-karts have a dream of acquiring a spot at F1 races in the future.
In his statement, Harvick mentioned that:
“I live at the go-kart track and none of those kids want to race IndyCars; they all want to race F1 cars, they all want to drive the Ferrari or the Red Bull. In go-kart, the dream is not race in NASCAR, it’s not to race in IndyCars.”
According to Harvick, when a kart diver manages to secure a place in open-wheel racing in Europe, it’s usually very difficult for that driver to ever make a comeback in any NASCAR series.
Kevin Harvick is worried about young drivers joining F1
Kevin Harvick is worried about these young drivers dreaming of joining F1. He believes the competition is stiff and no one is telling them they will most likely fail.
Apart from NASCAR, Kevin Harvick sees more danger in IndyCars, where he has even given IndyCar officials a heads-up of the risk facing their sport. However, his advice fell on deaf ears.
In 2023, IndyCars will have three annual races in the United States, which might create a good environment for IndyCars veterans to try the F1 with the hope of getting an actual spot.
Currently, most NASCAR drivers have not shown any interest in any open-wheel races apart from the Indianapolis 500. Formula 1 on Twitter Highlighted that they are ready to up the ante in 2023.