“Never going to be fair”: Kevin Harvick makes feelings clear as NASCAR looks to change the championship format

Former Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick recently shared his thoughts on NASCAR's goal to make the sport fair for everyone. On the latest episode of the Happy Hour podcast on FOX Sports, Harvick argued the governing body's claim and pointed out that it will never be "fair" for everyone.

NASCAR aims to drop the winner-take-all format and explore new formats for the next season to ensure a champion who excels all season. The governing body will likely favor the multi-race ending to reduce the one-race randomness in the next season. However, no format has been confirmed yet by the sanctioning body.

The former Stewart-Haas Racing driver emphasized that, since the NextGen era, the sanctioning body has been attempting to make things fairer for smaller teams. He further claimed that in achieving that, NASCAR has affected the consistency of dominant teams and garnered a variety of winners but fewer prevailing stars on the track.

Kevin Harvick debated that the point of making things fair is unrealistic. He further claimed that there will always be strong and weak teams. Harvick cited the example of Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports and explained [00:46 onward]:

"The good teams are rising back to the top, and you can see it in the stats. I think there’s a lot of team drivers who won races this year; that is the fewest since 2020. My point there is, the good teams are starting to get the good people and the details. All of a sudden, it’s migrated back to how it was anyway. Let the star be the star. Let the guys that will dominate, let them dominate." "This isn’t you can’t make this so that it’s fair for Rick Ware Racing compared to Rick Hendrick. Right? Like, it’s never gonna be fair. It’s not gonna be the same. And the more you try to water that down, I think that is how we got to where we are—trying to make it so it was more even for everybody. It is never going to be even. The good teams are always going to be good teams," Kevin Harvick concluded.

Joe Gibbs Racing dominated the 2025 postseason, with Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Christopher Bell winning all three races in the Round of 16. The team also clinched two races in the Round of Eight playoffs and featured two entries in the Championship 4 race along with two Hendrick Motorsports drivers.

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"A good racetrack is not perfect": Kevin Harvick got candid about what makes a racetrack great

In a previous episode of the same podcast, former SHR driver Kevin Harvick offered his insights on what makes a racetrack great. The 2014 Cup Series champion claimed that no race track can be perfect, but wants a track with multiple grooves and a one-lane racetrack to keep the fans excited.

The NASCAR veteran cited the example of "old" Bristol Motor Speedway when it had a one-lane racetrack at the bottom groove and challenged drivers to pass. However, in the modern era, the track features multiple grooves that the drivers enjoy, but fans loved the "spectacle" of the old pavement.

Reflecting on the same, Kevin Harvick stated:

"What makes it exciting compared to what makes it racy are two different things and I think that you want a racetrack that's got a couple of grooves but doesn't take the spectacle out of it of being able to not have to rub on somebody's door." (0:26 onwards)

Kevin Harvick concluded by bringing up the North Wilkesboro Speedway. He claimed that the 0.652-mile track is among the best of both. Drivers can take the bottom lane, but still have the opportunity to slam the driver running alongside them. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell won the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway this season.

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Edited by Karan Yadav