Kevin Harvick: Cup Series stars racing Xfinity, Trucks 'teaches them to do things the right way'

Kyle Larson has put belt to ass in the Xfinity Series twice this season. First, he dominated at Homestead-Miami Speedway, before a controversial finish took the win away from him. Then, he once again was the class of the field this past weekend, capping off an awesome performance at Bristol Motor Speedway with a win.

Afterwards, he spoke with Kevin Harvick, and what he said made headlines. Larson apparently loves to go down to the Xfinity Series and embarrass the full-time drivers. It’s not mean-spirited; the Hendrick Motorsports star just wants to show the competition where they need to improve, if you take him at his word.

“In Xfinity, I do get motivated, and this is going to come across like very cocky, but I want to embarrass them, honestly,” Larson said, via Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. “I want to embarrass NASCAR a little bit because they just don’t let Cup guys run anymore, and the kids probably think they’re in a good spot and they don’t know where the bar really is at. 

“So, I like to go run those Xfinity races and just get 10-second leads to let them realize that they’ve got a lot of room to improve. I think that’s only better for our sport. When those young guys can compete with Cup guys, they’re better suited for the Cup Series once they get there. … I want to smash the field when I run Xfinity. That’s motivating to me, for sure.”

Evidently, Harvick loves that answer from Larson. He thinks it’s high-time NASCAR allowed Cup Series regulars to race more in the Xfinity Series, believing it would benefit the drivers, and the series as a whole. He pulled no punches in his assessment.

“He’s right. They need to let the — when I started Xfinity, there was 20, 25 [Cup Series] guys in every Xfinity race. The thing that happens there is they teach you where to run on a racetrack. They teach you that you can drive your car harder. They teach you that you can run down pit road faster. They teach you all the things that you need to be taught,” Harvick stated.

“Right now, we’re on like a three-year plan for the Xfinity guys to be ready to race a Cup car. Jesse Love, great kid, a lot of success. Six laps down this weekend throughout the race, running as hard as he can. Cup is hard, but the drivers are great. And having those drivers in the Truck and Xfinity races? Yeah, we get tired of seeing them win, but it also teaches them how to do things the right way. Apparently, that’s on Kyle Larson’s agenda.

“… He’s 100% right. … We’ve dumbed it all down to make it so that everybody was happy. You can’t make everybody happy. Let them race. Bring them back — put the Cup guys in the Xfinity Series. You’re going to bring sponsors back. You’re going to bring more fans to the track. Attention. Who cares if the Xfinity guys aren’t winning? We’ve made it so that the Xfinity guys and Truck guys can win, but we’ve also made them worse. We’ve dumbed it down and we’ve made everybody worse. Thank you, Kyle Larson, for saying that.”

All told, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson made some salient points. Will NASCAR start to allow their Cup Series drivers to race more often in the Xfinity and Truck Series, like the old days? Time will tell, but it’s tough to argue with the two former champions on the matter.