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NASCAR Legend Kevin Harvick to Retire from Full-Time Racing After 2023 Season

Rob Goldberg

NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick announced Thursday he will retire at the end of the 2023 season:

"Come November, when the checkered flag drops on the season finale in Phoenix, it will also be my final race as a NASCAR Cup Series driver," Harvick said in the video. "It's time to call time."

Harvick is heading into his 23rd season in the sport, notably replacing Dale Earnhardt after the legend's fatal crash in 2001. The 47-year-old is now ready to step away to spend more time with his family.

"It's great to be able to go out on your own terms and plan it how you want it to go, but the biggest thing that sticks out to me is my kids," he told Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press. "Being home with them and seeing the impact that you have with them when you are home, being able to be part of that daily process and be that father figure, it's just time."

Harvick has 60 career victories in the Cup Series, ranking ninth all time. He won the 2014 championship in a season in which he won five races, including the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The veteran is perhaps best known for his consistency year-after-year, reaching the NASCAR playoffs in each of the last 13 seasons with 10 top-five finishes in this stretch. He won two races in 2022 to help him get back to the postseason, although he lost in the round of 16 and finished in 15th place.

Outside of the Cup Series, the driver found a lot of success in what's now known as the Xfinity Series, earning championships in 2001 and 2006. He also regularly competed in the Camping World Truck Series and has 14 career wins in the circuit.

"With championships across several NASCAR series and a NASCAR Cup Series win total that ranks in the top 10, Kevin Harvick's legacy as one of the all-time great drivers is secure," NASCAR President Steve Phelps said in a statement.

Harvick is likely to have a future in broadcasting after his racing career, having already made guest appearances on Fox Sports while anchoring "drivers only" broadcasts. He and his wife, DeLana, also run the KHI Management sports marketing agency.

   

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