Kevin Harvick reacts to getting beat by son Keelan in second-straight CARS Tour race

For the second time this year, Kevin Harvick has lost in a Pro Late Model race to his 12-year-old son, Keelan. This time it happened at Evergreen Speedway up in Washington state. The CARS Tour West race did not go Happy Harvick’s way.

Kevin and Keelan Harvick are racing against each other multiple times this year. With Kevin’s FOX TV duties over for the time being, he has more time to go to the race track. The problem is, his son may have surpassed him at this point.

At just 12, Keelan is doing a lot of impressive things behind the wheel. Perhaps none more impressive than beating his dad. The first time they raced at Kern Raceway, a late spin took the elder Harvick out of contention. Keelan ended up winning that race.

While he was only P2 at Evergreen, Keelan’s dad saw something in the young driver. Perhaps the most comfortable he has been in a full-body stock car.

“We didn’t crash anything. I did get beat by the 12-year-old,” Kevin Harvick said on his Happy Hour podcast. “This time he just beat me. First time, he finished ahead of me. First time he finished ahead. This time, just start to finish just beat me. It’s the first time I’ve watched him in the car because I got to race behind him pretty much all day. It’s the first time I’ve watched him in the car, and I was like, ‘He’s confident.’ He knows how wide his car is, he’s comfortable sliding the car around, his side by side was, I mean, they’re close enough right there. And I think that he felt comfortable driving the car in the corner.

But man, we raced in front of a capacity crowd. Like 7,000 people. Folks at Evergreen Speedway, great promoters, sponsorship sold for every freaking thing there. Purse was high for the competitors. Haeden Plybon won the race.”

Kevin and Keelan Harvick are a big part of why the race was sold out. When you get a Cup legend like Harvick in the field, fans will show up. Not to mention, it’s been years since NASCAR had a national series race up in Washington.

As for the father-son battle, Kevin is happy to see his son improve. The Closer is just an old man out on the track these days.

“Hey, I’m all about it. I think it’s um, I’ve hid nothing about stepping out of the car and losing a step or two when you don’t do it every week, and the kids are good nowadays,” Harvick explained. “Because they race so much, they’re exposed to so many more things than what we’re exposed to, and they as hell learn a lot faster.”