A double-duty night at New River All American Speedway proved to be a memorable one for Keelan Harvick.
The 11-year-old son of NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick won the Legends feature at New River on Saturday night and finished second in his first-ever race in a Street Stock. Both races were held in conjunction with the zMAX CARS Tour’s visit to the Jacksonville, North Carolina facility.
In the 30-lap Legends feature, Harvick swapped the lead back and forth with Jacob Staten multiple times. Harvick took the lead for the final time coming to the white flag, finishing ahead of Aiden McConnaughey and Staten.
What a finish to this legends race! This @KeelanHarvick kid seems to possess driving talent, eh???? pic.twitter.com/i0RulQadw3
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) April 14, 2024
“It was pretty hard,” said Harvick after the win. “Good job to Jacob, he did really good. I just made a mistake, I hit the wall, but I came back.
“It’s really cool. It’s a really fun track, and I hope to be back here again.”
“That was a long race,” said Staten after the third-place finish. “Just a lot of battling back and forth, me and Keelan. I hope we put on a good show for the fans, it was a lot of fun racing with him. Obviously, I wish I was on the winning end of it, but that’s racing sometimes. You win some, you lose some.”
Harvick was also in position to win the Street Stock feature, but missed a shift on a late restart. Tyler Smith picked up the victory, with Harvick finishing second and Steve Wells finishing third.
Harvick drew plenty of praise from his fellow competitors following the Street Stock debut.
“Little Keelan, man, that’s a driver,” said Smith after the Street Stock win. “Give him a couple of years, he’s going to be one of the best. I’ve got as much respect for him as anyone out here. I didn’t think the boy could drive that good. He saved it and I’m very proud for him.”
“I just tried to get a little too greedy,” admitted Harvick. “I just missed a shift. It was really good. Congrats to Tyler, he did a good job. I’m excited to come back.
“It was fun watching Keelan, man, ” added Wells. “You should have seen him off of [turn] two. He was smoking the right-rear tire.”
-Photo credit: Will Bellamy, Racing America
