Kevin Harvick voices concern for Martin Truex Jr. ahead of Daytona 500

Martin Truex Jr. retired from full-time racing at the end of the 2024 season, but the former NASCAR Cup Series champion will return to the sport for a one-off running of the Daytona 500 this weekend, as he’s in search of his first Harley J. Earl Trophy.

Kevin Harvick can’t wait to see him behind the wheel. Truex Jr. will attempt the feat with his former championship-winning crew chief Cole Pearn atop his pit box, and TRICON Garage handling the entry in the No. 40 Toyota.

Ahead of the madness that is Daytona 500 weekend, Harvick expressed a bit of concern for Truex Jr. heading into the race. While he’s excited to see him compete, he doesn’t know if his Toyota will have the speed necessary to get it done, especially in qualifying.

“I love the pairing. I think that Cole Pearn is just — I mean, he’s a really intelligent guy. He has a really entertaining personality. He’s just this cool guy that you just can’t not like, and he’s super smart to go with it. I’m concerned about this car, to be honest with you, from a speed standpoint. The Toyotas have just not qualified as well as they need to,” Harvick stated, via Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour.

“I think, when you look at this field, it’s different, you know, from how many cars there are, compared to just two or three that might miss. I mean, now you’re looking at four or five. I know that doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is. And you know, we’ve seen so many things happen, and that’s just — when you don’t have that speed to lean back on, and maybe Toyota fixed it. Those are all the things that we don’t know. We’re guessing at this point. We aren’t in the motor shop. … We just — we haven’t seen the speed out of those Toyotas, from a qualifying perspective.

“It just adds another element to it, if you don’t lock yourself in, because there’s going to be some fast cars. When you talk about that No. 40 car, you know it’s probably going to be hauling the mail, from a speed standpoint. Some of those guys that lock in, it’s going to put a lot of pressure on guys, you know, like Martin, in their scenario.”

While Kevin Harvick has some legitimate concerns, one thing we’ve learned over the course of the NASCAR Cup Series career of Martin Truex Jr. is to never count him out. He’s returning for one reason only, to get the win, and it’s a fool’s errand to bet against him, no matter how long the odds are.