Kyle Larson‘s IndyCar duties this weekend saw Hendrick Motorsports appoint Kevin Harvick as the backup driver for the All-Star weekend. However, recent developments imply that the 2014 Cup Series champion would not be able to take part in the heats or the main race. According to veteran motorsports journalist Bob Pockrass, the former Cup champions and All-Star race winners who want to take part in this year’s event must be full-time.
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Harvick will be able to take part in the practice and qualifying sessions but the latter is not going to do anything for Larson’s starting position. The qualifying bit will only be for the#5 crew’s pit stop competition since their regular driver wouldn’t be a part of the heats due to IndyCar duties. Ultimately, the car will start from the back of the pack in the main race.
Harvick gets to practice and then qualify the car so the crew can do the pit-stop competition. But he can't race the heats — and Larson won't be there for the heats — so Larson will start at rear for all-star race. https://t.co/hIB5XmMxxb
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 13, 2024
Fans were not happy about the whole scenario as many were hoping to see the NASCAR legend race in one of the best cars. Many of them expressed their dissatisfaction after getting to know this information and they made their thoughts clear on social media. But as far as Harvick is concerned, he is happy to have the opportunity.
The back end of The Closer’s career was not ideal as he didn’t have a competitive car underneath him. However, with HMS, he will be getting one. Harvick might not be taking part in any races but he is excited by the prospect and recently, sang the team’s praises for some flawless execution.
How Hendrick Motorsports has impressed Kevin Harvick already
The former Stewart-Haas Racing man recently visited the HMS shop to get his fittings done for the seat and it turns out that they had already nailed every detail of that. Harvick did not have any problem sitting in the #5 and was comfortable enough to go racing then and there. The team had help from Harvick’s former crew chief Rodney Childers their execution impressed the former driver to a great degree.
“The ability to execute the details even if you are given answers to the quiz and in today’s world, not every team has the ability to answer the quiz with all the questions already answered for them. You still have to take the answers and apply them to your situation, whether it’s your car, your driver, your team, your process, whatever that is.”
“You can have all the answers to somebody else’s equation but you have to be able to execute them with the details that come with it,” the 48-year-old said on a recent episode of his Happy Hour podcast.
He might not go racing in the #5 Hendrick Motorsports car but Kevin Harvick will certainly enjoy his time on track after a fairly long time off. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s still got it.
