Why Kevin Harvick and Bubba Wallace’s Pre-Vegas Conversation Is Lighting up NASCAR World

Bubba Wallace’s Spotter Echoes Kevin Harvick’s Statement From Last Year: “Shorten the Damn Race”

The Cup Series race in Las Vegas last Sunday wasn’t short of action. The 400-miler saw Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick battle it out for the spoils before the former took home the victory flag. But even before the green flag flew on the race, Bubba Wallace and Kevin Harvick had a conversation on-air that has since spread like wildfire on social media.

Taking the mic alongside Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the Fox Sports booth, Harvick dialed up Bubba Wallace in the #23 Toyota Camry XSE as the drivers warmed up their tires around the 1.5-mile intermediate. Discussing the driver’s mood and outlook heading to the start line, Harvick wished him well and tailed his call with some Gen-Z lingo that Wallace found funny and pointed out.

Harvick said, “Alright, buddy. Well, that Columbia Camry looks pretty lit today, so floor that thing.” Wallace retorted with a laugh, “You’re too old to be talking like that.” Out of the track after watching Wallace finish the race at 35th place, Harvick recalled the moment and spoke about it on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast.

Kevin Harvick recalls his usage of the word “lit” and makes an interesting decision

Getting back to the studio after the weekend in Vegas, Harvick was alongside his co-hosts Mamba Smith and Kaitlyn Vincie in the Happy Hour podcast. He mentioned that Mike Joy had already used the word in the race’s qualifying session and knew that he was going to use it too. He continued, “If I didn’t tell them it was actually happening they would’ve looked at me when I said that. Clint would’ve just lost his freaking mind.”

Though Bowyer knew that Harvick was going to say the word, he still cracked up during the race. Harvick added that all the producers knew of his prep too and they’d given him the green signal. Continuing about how he trended on X for his choice of words, he revealed that his wife had been taken aback not knowing what everyone was talking about her husband.

Though he acknowledged that it was way out of character for him to sayings words like “lit”, Harvick and the other hosts decided that they would pick a fan-suggested word each week and have Harvick incorporate it into his live race analysis every week.

Post Edited By: Ankit Sharma
Kevin Harvick

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Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 3000 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

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