"It was a pretty good race last year": Kevin Harvick expects more of the same from Iowa as 2024

Kevin Harvick has shared his thoughts on NASCAR's next stop on the schedule, Iowa. In 2023, NASCAR announced that for the first time since its opening in 2006, a Cup race would be hosted by Iowa Speedway in 2024.

The first ever Cup race in Iowa ended in a fairytale result as Ryan Blaney, a driver who grew up in the region, won in front of his 'home crowd'. Iowa ended up becoming an instant hit for NASCAR both in terms of the fan reception and the racing product. This led to NASCAR announcing Iowa's return on the Cup schedule for the 2025 season as well.

And with Iowa being the next stop on the schedule, Kevin Harvick has claimed he expects more of the 2024 race in 2025.

"It's a cool, awesome short track, and I think that the fans will come out and support it. I think that they enjoy the Cup cars and the way that they race at Iowa. So, I think that the drivers like it. We didn't really know what would happen with the asphalt. The way that they repaved it was kind of goofy. It's kind of weird. And it took away that third and fourth lane of racing because of the fact that new asphalt had grip, but it was a pretty good race last year and I don't think it'll be any different this year," Kevin Harvick described on the Happy Hour podcast. [35:30]

Kevin Harvick further recalled his first time racing at Iowa. He said it was in 2007 in an ARCA race, which was known as K&N at that time. Harvick recalled it being 'a big race', which interestingly turned out to be the first time he raced against Joey Logano.

Harvick said it was a sold out crowd and the race turned out to be great. He remembered being blown down by Logano on the straightaway while his car was fast through the corners.

Kevin Harvick wasn't pleased with the repave at Iowa ahead of the Cup race last season

Ahead of NASCAR's first ever Cup race at Iowa last season, they decided to proceed with a repave. That decision turned out to be one which many, including Kevin Harvick, didn't fully understand or appreciate.

On an episode of his podcast, he said:

"Who in the world decided to repave this racetrack? You had to run one with the old asphalt. They repaved the racetrack from the middle of the racetrack down. If you’re going to repave it, repave the whole corner because now you’ve got half a racetrack."

Harvick mentioned how IndyCar had a race at Iowa before NASCAR. But repaving the racetrack was something which Harvick deemed 'the biggest f-up' of the year.

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Edited by Tushar Bahl