Kevin Harvick has added Xfinity and Truck races to his schedule this season. He will return to the Xfinity Series this season for the first time in 2018, running three road course races. He also will run the Bristol Truck dirt race.
Harvick is scheduled to compete in the Xfinity races at Circuit of the Americas (May 22), Road America (July 3) and Indianapolis (Aug. 14). This marks the first year Cup has run at COTA and Road America. This will be the first time Cup will run the road course at Indianapolis. Harvick will drive for Stewart-Haas Racing. A car number and sponsors will be announced later.
Harvick, a two-time Xfinity champion, has 47 series wins.
Harvick also will run the March 27 Bristol Truck race in the No. 17 for David Gilliland Racing. Hunt Brothers Pizza will be he sponsor. The Bristol Truck dirt race is the night before the Cup race. Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Chase Briscoe has announced that he’ll run that Truck race to prepare for the Cup event.
“I think there are so many variables in that race,” Harvick said about the Bristol dirt race. “If I just step back and look at it and say, ‘What would you think about this race? What would be the proper thing to do for us with me personally not having a huge background?
“Obviously, (car owner Tony Stewart) has a huge background and should be an integral part of what we do as a race team as far as making sure that we’re prepared, but I think, for me personally, I know that I’m gonna be a little bit at a deficit as far as when I look at the racetrack and the things that I see and where I need to go.
“Do I need to keep moving up? Do I need to move down? When does it go dry slick? What’s the racetrack gonna be like? What are you anticipating? I think, for me, I have to look at Chase Briscoe and kind of take their lead. He’s got a background in it and just know that I’m still gonna be driving a Cup car on a dirt track. It’s not gonna be like a dirt late model or a midget or a modified, but those guys that do that stuff all the time will definitely have an advantage of knowing where they need to go, when they need to go, and I just kind of have to follow along and keep my eyes open and pay attention.
“In the end, I still think that it’s gonna be just survival. It’s the longest dirt race in the history of mankind, so who knows what the racetrack is going to be like at the end of 250 laps.”
Also announced Wednesday is that JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ryan Preece will drive in the Camping World Truck races at Nashville (June 18) and Pocono (June 26). Preece will drive the No. 17 for DGR. Hunt Brothers Pizza will be his sponsor at Nashville. Morton Buildings will sponsor Preece at Pocono.