Keelan Harvick is just 13 years old, but the performances he has been putting on display across the country have already led to predictions that he could one day be as good a racer as his father, Kevin. Former NASCAR star Kenny Wallace recently admitted that he is in awe of him.
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Keelan won the Snowflake 125 at the Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, on Sunday. By doing so, he became the youngest driver ever to win the event and wrote his name in track history.
Wallace has observed that Keelan is not only shocking the United States with his results, but the entire world. The kid had been sent to Europe early in his career to race go-karts. It was after that that he came back home to alter his career path towards stock car racing. Either way, Wallace believes that his parents have given him all the tools he needs to succeed.
Wallace quipped on his YouTube channel in light of this achievement, “This kid is a child. But he’s already a man.”
“And at 13 years old, what does he do in Pensacola, Florida? He wins the Snowflake. The Snowflake has as many entries as the Snowball Derby does. It is a tough a** sanctioning division,” Wallace added. “He starts mid-pack, and I watched it. He came through that field so beautifully. Even Kevin Harvick said that he made some great moves.”
The role Kevin Harvick wants to play in his son’s career
Following his retirement in 2023, Kevin Harvick has been extensively focused on his son’s career path. But after the completion of the Snowflake 125, he told the press that he intends to let the kid flourish under the guidance of his crew chief and that he doesn’t want to serve that role. He desires to be a father more than a mentor.
Kevin said, “It’s a constant evaluation behind the scenes of making sure that you have the right people and you have the right races. I guess I’m somewhat of a gatekeeper of how things get set up and then watch and make sure that the details of how we would expect things to go are happening.”
Keelan continues to prove that he can fill the big shoes of his old man someday. At the pace he is progressing now, it won’t be too long before we see the name Harvick speed through Cup Series tracks again.
