Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Busch Light Ford Mustang, and Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 6 NEXLIZET Ford Mustang, stopped by the infield media center at North Wilkesboro Speedway to talk about returning to the historic track for Sunday’s All-Star Race.
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 29 Busch Light Ford Mustang – HOW HAS YOUR WEEK BEEN AND THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS WEEKEND? “It’s been a great week so far. We had a good Tuesday and Wednesday with the CARS Tour event. We had a lot of fun with that and I still haven’t been to the hauler yet, so I’m excited about getting in the 29 car and being able to drive that. It seems a little bit surreal, but I think as you look at everything that’s kind of taken place and everything that’s happened and here we are. Between the racetrack and the car, it’s gonna be a great few days.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO HAVE YOUR FAMILY AT THE TRACK THIS WEEK AND THE POSSIBILITY OF YOUR SON COMPETING HERE ONE DAY? “I think when you look at this particular event and everything that has happened over the last year-and-a-half, maybe a couple years, since the transformation has taken place and we had the modified race and the CARS Tour event and everything we had last August, and I think that’s really when everybody realized that it was probably capable of being a reality. For me, I came back in 2010 when they first cleaned the track up and trying to get some momentum to do exactly what we’re doing today, but the timing was just not the same in 2010 as it is in 2023. And I think for me really realizing the impact of the moment that the 29 car had and the win in Atlanta is very similar to NASCAR with the feeling that you get why and what the NASCAR fans like about coming back here is it’s just different. Coming back to North WIlkesboro and having that old-school feel to it and generations of families being able to do exactly like you say, bring their kids to the race and experience something that they got to experience with their parents when they were kids. North Wilkesboro is a great facility, but there’s things that hit those hardcore fans differently, and I think North Wilkesboro is one of those things that moves the needle, and I think that is very similar to the 29 situation. It’s not really about the car or my name, it’s really about the moment for NASCAR and I think coming to North Wilkesboro is exactly the same. It’s a moment for NASCAR and I think that’s pretty neat.”
WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM BEING ON THE TRACK THE OTHER NIGHT AND WHAT WILL THAT MEAN FOR SUNDAY? “I know exactly how to get on and off pit road and I think as the race went on you learned some of the characteristics of the groove, but I think from a power standpoint and how heavy the Cup cars are it’s a much different driving style as far as what’s good and what’s bad and how much throttle you can use, how much brake you use and things like that. There are a lot of different tendencies with the car, but making laps around the track definitely doesn’t hurt anything, so you don’t have to waste any time when you first go out because the tires will not be your friend as you go several laps into the run. We’ll see, but based on the simulator, there were not very many times you were able to get wide-open, so we’ll see how that goes.”
HAVE YOU GIVEN YOURSELF TIME TO PROCESS THAT THIS IS YOUR LAST ALL-STAR RACE? “Yeah, I think this is the first one where I was like, ‘Oh, man. This is a big moment.’ Just with the 29 and seeing how excited Richard is to see it on the track and all the things that come with those 14 years with RCR and being able to actually do this is a pretty big moment. I think that the coolest part about it is the fact that the two companies worked together and being able to have the respect of Richard and everyone there to be able to actually let them have us do this is something that means a lot.”
HOW WILL IT CHANGE THE RACING WITH NO SHIFTING COMPARED TO WHAT WE’VE SEEN AT MARTINSVILLE? “I don’t think there’s anything you can compare to Martinsville. I have no idea. I think it’s yet to be seen. I think as you look at everything, and I’ve told you guys this before, I’m not gonna speculate on what type of racing that we’re gonna see because I always stick my foot in my mouth when I speculate as you guys do as well, in case you were wondering. When you start speculating on something that’s never happened, you’re just asking for nothing but trouble. It’s going to be fun, but I don’t know what that means as far as how the race is going to be.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THE CAROLINAS TO HAVE ALL THESE RACES IN THE TWO STATES THIS MONTH? “I think this week has been really good for racing in general. I think when you look at, I’ve heard for so many years about asphalt short track racing dying and I’ve paid a lot more attention to short track racing since we’ve been involved with the CARS Tour stuff. I think when you look at what has happened here, and I think this particular week has covered our sport pretty broadly from top to bottom. When you can involve the grassroots guys and show them that you care and make them part of your biggest event, it makes those guys feel good. I can’t tell you how many people that were just so excited to be at North Wilkesboro and be around and be a part of the event. I think it’s really important and I think the All-Star Race is a great race to be able to tie all that together. I think short track racing is the best place for the All-Star Races to be held because you don’t have to make anything up. It’s just a race. You don’t have any gimmicks. You don’t have any hoopla that goes with it to make it entertaining. I guess the only part that concerns me is some of the conversations that we had when we got to this point before when we had all these races clumped together as to what the crowds looked like. That would be my only interest as far as looking at it going forward as to how that gets moved around because I don’t know how many events can be supported in one particular area back-to-back-to-back-to-back.
YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE TRACK. HOW DO YOU THINK IT WILL HOLD UP AND WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICED THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER REGULAR STOPS? “The asphalt is definitely different because the way they pave is completely different. You just don’t see this style of asphalt very much. I think the racetrack itself will hold up fine. I think their strategy with the new epoxy material that they have to replace the holes and things in the racetrack when we had an issue on Tuesday, it took them I think eight minutes to fix the issue and it was never an issue again. So, I think if you just walk out there and you look at the epoxy you’re like, ‘Oh, man. That looks abrasive,’ but we haven’t seen anything that’s super abrasive with anything that we did Wednesday night. I think everybody is looking forward to racing on this style of asphalt that they don’t produce this asphalt anymore. So when you can see the shiny rocks and the grayness of the asphalt, I think that makes all the drivers excited.”
IS THE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP POSSIBLE FOR YOU? “I think for us our cars, I speak of the 4 team, our cars have run competitively and we’ve been in position and just haven’t knocked that door down yet, but it’s like I keep telling them, ‘You keep knocking on that door and eventually somebody is gonna answer it.’ We just have to keep dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s because that’s just where we are from an aerodynamic standpoint and everything that goes with our car currently. We just have to be able to do everything right. The cars have to be closer to perfect than the other two models currently, so we just have to keep doing the things that we’re doing. Some tracks affect it more than the others and I think with the small spoiler and the short track package it’s been good for us so far, so hopefully that continues and we can continue to do the things that we’ve done as a team and see where it all lands. You just have to keep clicking them off week by week and so far we’ve done good for the most part every week.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE PIT CREW ASPECT OF THIS WEEKEND? “I don’t particularly know my role, but I do know involving the pit crew is fun for those guys and I know there’s a big bonus up for grabs. Everybody likes money, so if they can stuff their pockets full of more money than they came here with, I think they’ll be going for it. Our guys, for the most part, have been good on pit road and hopefully they can bust off a good stop and try to win themselves some extra cash, but that just makes it fun. Anytime you can involve the team and the pit crew and people, something unique, anything unique makes it fun.”
DO YOU ADVOCATE COMING BACK HERE NEXT YEAR OR DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT OTHER THAN THE ALL-STAR RACE? “My opinion doesn’t really matter next year as far as from a driver’s standpoint. I always advocate for something different. I think anytime you can keep it mixed up, I think it makes it more fun for everybody. I don’t know. Is it as cool if you have a points race and the All-Star Race? I don’t even know if that’s a possibility or an option. I’m just guessing. I always vote for different. I think when you look at all the unique events they’re never as cool the third year, so I think it’s something that you have to keep fresh and you have to keep new and what that all means I don’t know, but I think a 400-lap race would be pretty cool here to see.”
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE AS FAR AS TIRE CONSERVATION FROM DARLINGTON TO HERE? “It’s a much shorter track. I mean, that’s the biggest difference and when you look and see the lines that the cars run, turns one and two is really unique and when they moved that wall out it kind of took the preferred line away, so you have to enter that corner a little bit different than what they used to with the way that wall sticks out. I think the line as you come up off the corner it’s almost like you get up against the wall almost halfway down the straightaway and you’re barely touching full throttle and you’re right back out of the throttle if it’s similar to what it was in the simulator. It could be totally wrong, but based upon the tire test and the things that they did, it’s probably going to be that way, so there are several new patches compared to when they did the tire test, but I think it’s really gonna be about how much power you can get to the ground. That’s probably gonna be a bit more extreme than Darlington I would say.”
WHY DID YOU WANT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF ALL THE PHOTOGRAPHERS AFTER THE GROUP PHOTO? “I think it’s important for you guys to be able to say you were here as well, but that was something that Sr. used to do. Every time he won he’d always take a picture of the photographers and Dale did that a little bit, so I thought it would be cool for him to take that picture. I told Harold (Hinson) to take that picture and send it to Dale. I know he’d like that.”
SHOULD WE REVISIT GOING BACK TO ROCKINGHAM SPEEDWAY? “I don’t know exactly where Rockingham is right now. Did it actually get that money? Last I heard they had stopped working. I don’t know if they actually ever finished.”
IF THEY DID, WHAT DO YOU THINK? “It would be my opinion to see how the three weeks in a row goes with Darlington, North Wilkesboro and Charlotte. That would be my opinion.”
CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE ENDURANCE FACTOR OF THE 600 NEXT WEEK? “I think a lot of it depends on how hot it is outside. Usually, it winds up being the first warmer day of the year, so that usually makes it a little bit more difficult than some of the other weekends that you’ve had because the early heat is always harder to deal with than it is after you get to the middle of the summer because you’re used to it. The 600-mile thing in itself is just unique because of the fact that it’s just 600 miles. The engine guys freak out because you have to go an extra 100 miles, but the parts and stuff on the car are a lot more durable than they used to be. I remember when I started racing the 600 it was all about pacing yourself until it got dark. Now, there’s really no pacing yourself. You go as hard as you can go and still have the same goal of keeping yourself on the lead lap and doing the things you need to do until it’s dark, but back in the day it was take care of the motor. They always seemed to de-tune the motor for that particular race to try to make it survive because everything was built to go 500 miles for the most part, and now you have to run them three races, but the engine shop will still have a miniature freak out just knowing that it’s an extra 100 miles because that’s what they do.”
DO YOU HAVE A FIELD OF DREAMS FEELING BEING HERE TODAY? “Yeah, I think mine is more about the car than it is the racetrack. I think the car fits the setting of the racetrack and everything that happens, but I guess, for me, it’s just a little bit different because of the moment and the impact and everything that came with the car that I’m driving. It’s more the car than the track for me. I’m honored to be here and I think it’s a great event, but to understand and see how important this particular number and paint scheme, I mean it really caught me off guard too. I almost had to re-learn the importance and the impact of that particular moment in our sport because, like I said earlier, there’s more to it than the paint scheme and the number. It’s really a moment in NASCAR the means something to people that aren’t even fans of yours or Earnhardt fans and everything that goes with it. I know that car on the racetrack one more time is important to a lot of fans, so it’s a great moment for the car and the track to do all of that together.”
HAS THIS YEAR FELT LIKE A FAREWELL TOUR TO THIS POINT? “We really haven’t been to a lot of these racetracks for the second time. I think when you look at everything that goes with it, we’re really just crossing the tracks for the first time.”
DO YOU FEEL WHAT WE SAW EARLIER IN THE WEEK WITH GUYS STAYING OUT AND THE TIRES STAYING COMPETITIVE WILL CARRY THROUGH TO THE CUP RACE? “I don’t think so. I think with the CARS Tour stuff, we’ve kind of seen that trend as we’ve gone through the first several races this year because the fields are so competitive and the cars are so close in time that the track position is important because you just can’t pass as many cars as you used to in a short amount of time because of the depth of the field. But these cars are gonna blow the back tires off of them way way differently than the late model stock cars did just because of the fact that they have so much more power compared to the late model stocks. I think it’ll be a little bit of a different style of strategy and race than what we saw the other night, but track position was important.”
ANY IDEA HOW MUCH FALL OFF THERE WAS THE OTHER NIGHT AND WHAT ARE EXPECTING WITH THESE TIRES AND THE CUP CARS? “In practice the fall off in 30 laps was about a second. I would say it’ll be triple that, at least double, but I’m guessing.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 NEXLIZET Ford Mustang – HOW DOES IT FEEL TO WALK IN TODAY WITH THE CUP GUYS? “Obviously, the track has come a long ways. I had never been here until Tuesday. I drove by the track a lot going up to the mountains with my family and kids. We would drive by here and point out the window at it because you could see it from the road, but I had never actually been in here before. That said, I can still tell they’ve done a lot of work and it looks really incredible. I appreciate all the efforts and how it’s all come together and, in some ways, has galvanized the industry behind a cause which is really hard to do nowadays, so that’s a win. I think looking to Sunday’s race, it will be a big race to win, not only is it the All-Star Race and everything that goes with it with the money and the pride and so forth, but a chance to put your name on a track that has defeated death in a lot of ways. I think that’s gonna carry a lot of weight and prestige.”
ARE YOU TRYING TO PLAY OFFENSE AND DEFENSE WITH THE POINTS TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE FIRMLY IN THE TOP 16, AND TRY TO WIN AT THE SAME TIME? “It’s probably a pretty safe bet that two or three new winners are still left. In that sense, that would put us on the playoff bubble line so we want to win a race. We’ve had a couple shots and they have kind of slipped through our fingers. We had a shot at Daytona, had a shot at Atlanta and probably had a good shot at Richmond and for various reasons it didn’t come together and you kind of go, ‘Aw, shucks,’ but we need to capitalize on those races and get the wins. But the races where we don’t have the opportunity to win and we’re in that 10th-15th place range then obviously we need to get those points when they’re available for us.”
COULD THIS BE A MORE TRADITIONAL SHORT TRACK SHOW ON SUNDAY? “I think so. I think the limited grip here really is interesting in a number of ways. I think two things stand out to me about it. One, it really favors itself to removing some of the aero stuff that we’ve had problems with as a whole, and I think that’s probably gonna be really good for us and put the racing a little bit more in the driver’s hands and I think that feeds into the second part that stands out to me is how will the drivers adapt. The drivers have fallen into a routine of racing where the cars have been fairly easy to drive and I think generally when you go backwards we see a lot of spins and accidents and things like that when you go backwards on that grip knob. This is a step backwards on the grip knob, which is welcome by me at least and we’ll see what it does to the driver’s ability to find that limit without going too far and having a bunch of accidents.”
THOUGHTS ON THIS MONTH OF RACING IN THE CAROLINAS AND HOW VALUABLE IS IT TO THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY TO HAVE THIS MUCH RACING VOLUME? “It’s nice to have three weeks without having to be on the airplane for us as an industry. We have our weeks in the front half of the year with non-stop travel. You guys know as you go up and down the road or fly, and it takes a balance of all those things. We need to get out to people that don’t see us all the time and aren’t in our world an in our bubble, but we also need to serve the people that are close to us and that do care so much and have been a part of the heritage and history of the sport forever. I think our schedule strikes a good balance of that with the first half of the year being more long-distance travel and things like that, and then this part of the year being closer to the areas that have really helped establish this sport at a time when the weather is good enough to really enjoy it. It’s part of the joys of the NASCAR travel life is seeing it from all sides and this is always a fun part of the year for me personally.”
DID DOING THE DOUBLE EVER APPEAL TO YOU AND SEEING KYLE LARSON DO IT NEXT YEAR? “I watch the Indy 500 regardless of whether somebody is doing the double, but it’s something more to watch which is always a good thing and will probably bring in casual fans. It’s good for both Indy Car and NASCAR. The double is such a unique thing to be able to do in all sports, especially motorsports, that I think it naturally garners attention. In that sense, there was a time I really wanted to do it and it was just clearly impossible with OEM relationships. It’s good to see him in a spot where he’s able to do it and wants to do it and can do it, and I wish him the best.”
WHERE DO EVENTS SUCH AS HERE FIT POTENTIALLY – NASHVILLE FAIRGROUNDS – WHERE IT DOESN’T HAVE ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES THAT YOUR SPONSORS MIGHT WANT? “I think this is a great event for our industry. I think sometimes we get caught up in things that maybe aren’t as important and I’m not worried about coming to tracks like this. Yes, there are going to be some sacrifices. I’m sure the traffic on Sunday is gonna be a problem and I’m sure there’s gonna be issues, whether it’s the track coming up or whatever it is. Those things are gonna happen when you come to venues such as this, but I think they’re a welcome trade-off to having a stale schedule of every year the same place. I think there’s a level of patience that I have and that I think the industry has towards those things when they’re on an irregular basis. I sure hope we do get to Nashville next year or the year after, whatever they end up doing. I hope we’re able to do this event for a number of years. I suspect there will be some capital improvements that are gonna be made out of this weekend. Hopefully, that’s some infrastructure around traffic and the race surface. I think if those two things can be hit, this can be on our schedule with regularity that is endorsed by the entire industry and gets it out of that threshold, but, regardless of whether that happens or not, I still think it’s fun to do these events on an irregular basis and it’s good for our industry.”
WHY WAS GATEWAY SO AGGRESSIVE? “I think Gateway is a really good racetrack for the Next Gen car. It’s got multiple grooves on both ends that kind of eliminate some of the aero stuff that we talk about, maybe not all the way but partially at least. It’s got good speed down the straightaway and then tight corners that make you really search for grip. I think there are certain tracks that fit the cars better than others and Gateway, the way it’s laid out and was set up last year and it’s gonna be the same this year is one of those.”
HOW ARE YOUR PIT CREWS STACKING UP FOR TONIGHT? “We had practice yesterday, the day before yesterday. If we can perform today the way we practiced, I think we can win it. We’ve got two really, really strong pit crews with the 6 and the 17 and I’m very excited about tonight and seeing what we can do. If we can deliver like we have in practice, we’ve got a really good shot.”
WHAT ABOUT THE DRIVER’S PART OF IT? “You just want to get all you can get. Everybody is pushing to their maximum limit and if you step over, that’s it, it’s over. A little bit difficult here because you’ll have to do your pit stop on old tires. In the rules NASCAR is making us use our tires from practice, which will be fairly worn out, so that makes it easy to slide through the box and have all those related issues, so that’s one of the things that stands out, but as far as the pit road itself it’s in beautiful condition with being redone and it should be a great setting for this type of event. I’m so glad to see it come back.”
WHAT ABOUT THE TRACK ITSELF? ANY CONCERNS ABOUT IT HOLDING UP? “I like the fact that they didn’t repave it and they wanted to get at least one race on the original surface. I certainly respect it and I think there’s an industry expectation that it’s probably not gonna go off without a flaw. There will probably be something, but I think there’s some tolerance for that being that this is an All-Star event, an exhibition race and how hard the industry has pulled together to try to get this track back to life. We’ll deal with it as it comes.”
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