Kevin Harvick spent years building a career in the NASCAR Cup Series, traditionally moving from the K&N Pro Series West and ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series to Truck, Xfinity, and then Cup. Now his 13-year-old son, Keelan Harvick, has begun to embark on the same road, and a deal with Toyota Racing Development will guide the next step in that journey.
The deal places the teen driver within Toyota’s driving program while he gains experience on paved tracks and competes in late model fields across the country. It also opens the door for a path to NASCAR competition in the future.
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In his free time in NASCAR, Harvick drove cars supported by Chevrolet and Ford. But the decision to place his son at Toyota was months in the making. This is also the first time that a manufacturer has participated in the development of Molding Keelan. Talk with Short track sceneHarvick said the structure within Toyota’s program played a big role in the decision.
“It’s just a great group of people with the resources and the structure. Their development program is really second to none. So I think for Keelan to be able to go down that path and for us as parents to be able to have that partnership with a group of people that you can work with together is important to us,” Harvicksaid.
He believes the program offers more than just behind-the-wheel assistance, highlighting the team environment as just as important a factor as the work done on the track. While he wants his son to pursue speed, he also wants Keelan to become a person who carries himself with dignity, and the culture within TRD can help shape that part of the journey as well.
“There really was never any commitment from the manufacturer until now for him. I think the path ended there with the conversations and all the things we talked about as a group, and we felt like that was the best path for Keelan.” he added.
Toyota’s driver development system has already helped guide drivers such as Christopher BellCorey Heim and John Hunter Nemechek, all of whom compete with teams like Joe Gibbs Racing, 23XI Racing and Legacy Motor Club that are aligned with the manufacturer. Drivers such as Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez also rose through the ranks at Toyota before eventually joining teams backed by other manufacturers later in their careers.
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Toyota’s development program focuses on build drivers from scratch. Instead of waiting for talent to emerge later, the company identifies promising drivers ages 12 to 15 and advances them through Late Models, the ARCA Menards Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series before pushing them toward the Cup level.
Meanwhile, other NASCAR manufacturers, Chevrolet and Ford, often take a different approach by relying on a broader network of teams while supporting major organizations such as Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske.
For now, Keelancontinues to gain experience in stock cars. He and his father will visit Kern County Raceway Park when CARS Tour West visits the track for the first time this season. The event will mark the young driver’s third start in the Super Late Model division and a return to the same track where he debuted in the category last October.
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