12-year-old Keelan Harvick is keeping in line with the family honor. The young driver raced in his first Limited Late Model race on Friday and finished eighth in the 96-lap grueling battle. Debuting at the Florence Motor Speedway’s South Carolina 400 weekend of all would be an intimidating affair for any driver. But Keelan had the confidence of his father Kevin Harvick as he put on a brilliant display.
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So, what’s next? The 2014 Cup Series champion revealed in an interview after the race that his son has got quite the racing schedule coming up. He said, “I think next year we’ll probably run eight to twelve of these Limited Late Model races. We’ll run a lot here in Florence just because I like the rules, you can buy tires. We can give him a good, quality experience here.”
Kevin Harvick has a unique perspective, being a parent and car owner of Keelan Harvick. What it’s like for him to be both, and what’s next for both him and Keelan going forward now. pic.twitter.com/oHtBs5cS1H
— Short Track Scene (@ST_Scene) November 23, 2024
Pro-late models are also a part of Keelan’s plans for 2025. Overall, he can be expected to race in 25-30 late-model events. This tough developmental process is all aimed at preparing him for the Cup Series one day.
This is why he will also be driving against his father in some of these fixtures next year. Kevin believes that his son has shown that he is ready for the bigger leagues.
He noted, “Now it starts with all the little things. The last tenth-and-a-half, two-tenths are the hard part, [along with] learning when to go, how hard to go, how to qualify and restarts. Now he knows he can do it, so everything will start to slow down. It’s a matter of repetition at this point.”
Keelan himself is poised to take the upcoming challenges head-on.
Keelan comes back leading the pack after being “thrown to the wolves”
The fight that the younger Harvick was in for at Florence this Friday wasn’t an ordinary one. Kevin knew that the odds of him finishing well were low.
He said, “I think we kind of threw [Keelan] to the wolves. I didn’t really put all this together for him to be in the biggest Limited race of the year, but it worked out really well because he got to race against a really competitive field.”
“His race craft tonight was something I was proud of. He did an amazing job in the car,” he added appreciative of how his son handled himself in traffic, while also making a few moves amongst the field. Keelan also felt that he did a great job and expressed his resolve to win the race next year, confirming his future appearance.
He said, “I’m going to try [and win] next year. I can’t thank my sponsors [enough in] Hunt Brothers Pizza, Realtree, along with everybody else that helps me. I couldn’t be here without them.”
He has already accomplished a lot for his young age. His future certainly looks bright, especially with none other than The Closer’s guidance.
