There has been a lot of speculation that Stewart-Haas Racing driver might retire at the end of the 2022 Cup Series season.
The fact that he is now 46 years old and is going through a winless streak of 50 races has fueled this rumor. After an excellent 2020 season with most wins, things have gone bad for Harvick and he is still struggling to lay his mark this season. But Harvick believes that he still has got a couple more years to offer at NASCAR’s top tier.
“I like where I race. I like Stewart-Haas Racing. I like the atmosphere. I like the people here. That’s really the biggest reason that I like to do it, especially this year,” he said. “You’re with a group of people where you’re constantly problem-solving.
“You’re trying to fix it faster than everybody else and come to something that is better than everybody else so you can win races. I like the core group of guys that I started here with. That’s why they all came here, and I guess I would feel like I’m abandoning them if I didn’t go a couple more years.
“For me, I still enjoy that challenge. I enjoy where this series is, and learning about the new car is not a bad thing to do as you go forward into the future and do something different.”
The last race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway was a good one for Harvick as he came close to winning, coming only second behind winner Denny Hamlin. It was his best result since September 2021 in the Bristol Night Race.
As for SHR, things are not as bad as for Harvick as they already have their first win with Chase Briscoe at Phoenix.
Having driven different technology all his carer, Harvick now has to rise to the challenge of learning the Next Gen car faster than his young rivals. That might be too much to ask for a declining racer but he will have to rise to the challenge if he wants to offer something to SHR in the years to come.