Keelan Harvick Scores First Pro Late Model Victory Against His Father
Keelan Harvick Scores First Pro Late Model Victory Against His Father
12-year-old Keelan Harvick scored his first Pro Late Model victory in the head-to-head showdown against his dad, Kevin Harvick, at Kern Raceway.
Saturday night was the highly anticipated first head-to-head showdown between 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, and his 12-year-old son, Keelan Harvick, at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway. And when the night ended, the massive crowd was left to head to the parking lots knowing they just saw history as Keelan Harvick bested his dad and the entire CARS Tour West field to win his first ever Pro Late Model race.
The younger Harvick inherited the lead with a handful of laps remaining when a multi-car wreck that included his father was triggered in turn one. Buddy Shepherd, Jacob Gomes, and Kevin Harvick were battling hard for the lead when Gomes made contact with Harvick, setting off the crash. Keelan Harvick was able to sneak through and take over the lead.
From there, Keelan Harvick just had to survive the next restart, which he did, and the win was his.
“Let’s go” yelled the young Harvick after climbing from his race car.
Saturday’s race had been full of hype and anticipation since it was announced that Kevin and Keelan would be racing head-to-head for the first time back in early February. Kevin Harvick told FloRacing that doing this out at Kern Raceway in his hometown of Bakersfield, California was going to make it even more special, and he also added that he actually expected to get beat by Keelan because “he’s in the race car all of the time.” But very few people probably believed him that Keelan would beat him. Until it happened.
“What a race,” said Kevin Harvick in victory lane. “I pushed (Keelan) out of the way earlier, and that wasn’t intentional. It was definitely Dad overdriving the car and unfortunately he was on the outside.”
Keelan was able to survive that moment with his father and put himself in position later on to capitalize on someone else’s misfortune, which is exactly what happened with five laps remaining.
The victory is the second of the year for Keelan in a full-bodied Late Model. He scored a victory in a Limited Late Model back in February at Florence Motor Speedway in South Carolina. Keelan won a pole in his CARS Tour debut at Cordele Motor Speedway in Georgia in April. He finished third in the Pro Late Model field at North Wilkesboro Speedway earlier in May.