Kevin Harvick, a former NASCAR Cup Series champion, is preparing the “oddest year” because of the unknowns and changes that come with the new Next Gen car.
Harvick, who came 10th in the Bud Light Clash exhibition race at the Los Angeles Coliseum last weekend, feels the influence of the innovative new car will be seen throughout the season.
According to him, this puts the onus on teams and drivers to be adaptable on short notice.
“As you look at the season, you just have to be ready for a change in direction at the drop of a hat because of where we are with the new car and all the unknowns of what you’re looking for,” said Harvick. “So, my expectation going into the year is to be ready to adapt.
“Whether it’s a practice session, qualifying session, the race, it’s all going to be drastically different. You just have to be open-minded to be able to adapt to your surroundings and your situation and not get too wound up about anything because of the fact that next week, it might be different.
“You just never know, but it’s been the oddest year I’ve ever gone into just because of all the unknowns and all the differences with the car. I think you just have to be somewhat relaxed about it and just know that’s the expectation.”
The NASCAR teams will return to the track next Tuesday as Speedweeks prepares them for the Daytona 500 on February 20.
The most recent two-day test at Daytona was skipped by Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team, while teammate Cole Custer did run in an earlier session last September.
Despite the fact that he hasn’t yet driven the new car on Daytona’s famed high banks, Harvick feels he won’t be adversely affected.
“The feedback was that the cars were very comfortable to drive, very stable,” Harvick said of the superspeedway testing.
“It sounds like there may be some tandem racing that comes back into play. And, reading the reports, it sounds like the cars are still very affected by the side draft and that they push well, so it sounds like the speedway racing will be affected the least amount by the new car.
“It’s everything else that’s going to be drastically different.”
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