Tony Stewart surprised everyone when he returned to race in the Truck Series this season. He competed for Kaulig Racing in its special driver program with RAM. Interestingly, Kevin Harvick, another former driver and champion, will also be in the line to race in NASCAR with Stewart, but on one condition.

Speaking about his chances to return to NASCAR in the Truck Series, Harvick shared his thoughts in a recent episode of his "Happy Hour" podcast. He said, "I vote for having a truck race at Kern. Run it there, let’s do that. If it’s at Kern, I’ll run the race."

Harvick made this statement while referring to an earlier conversation he had with Stewart. On the same podcast earlier this year, the duo discussed the possibility of racing together. "No, I’m saying let’s do the same race," Harvick told Stewart mid-conversation.

Stewart responded, saying, "We both run the same race? Hell, I’m in. Let’s sit and figure a race out. Well, we’ll have to plan it for next year at some point. Not this year."

Notably, the Kern Raceway is a track at Bakersfield in California, owned by Kevin Harvick. The track currently has a paved oval, a dirt oval, and a motocross track. Previously, the track hosted a variety of events, such as CARS Tour West and NASCAR events.

Kevin Harvick's last race in the Truck Series was the Bristol dirt race, where he was in charge of the #17 car for David Gilliland Racing. Interestingly, that was also his first Truck Series appearance since 2015.

Besides this, Harvick has 124 appearances and 14 wins to his name in the Series, which is commendable, considering his ample experience in the Cup Series.

Interestingly, Harvick's statement comes after he spoke about returning to the series after watching Tony Stewart do the same in February.

Kevin Harvick open to Truck return but not Cup

In February this year, Kevin Harvick shared that he got the "bug" to return to NASCAR after seeing Tony Stewart back in the series with Kaulig Racing for the Daytona race. Speaking about the same, he said:

"I might just make a comeback. Why not! Tony Stewart is going to drive the truck race at Daytona. I’m starting to get that bug again, I think."

However, he admitted that "Cup is too much work," and that wouldn't be on the cards. While Tony Stewart's return announcement inspired Kevin Harvick to ponder a comeback, the performance probably dampened that spirit.

Stewart did not have the ideal return to the Truck Series as his race was cut short just after 62 laps, after he made contact with Jake Garcia. With that said, it'll be interesting to see how Kevin Harvick performs against the younger talent should he decide to return.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Yask Kotak