Kevin Harvick says NASCAR should fix Cup car before major series changes
NXTbets Pro | Published On: November 13, 2026
Cup car criticism
Harvick wants NASCAR to fix the Cup car before it makes sweeping changes to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series. Harvick said the lower divisions already put on good racing, so the first priority should be the Next Gen Cup car, which he said has created a stale product. He made that case on his “Happy Hour” podcast and pointed to the Cup car as the bigger problem for the sport’s top level, not the series beneath it. In Harvick’s view, NASCAR has a car that is holding back the show at the Cup level while the other national series continue to supply strong competition on their own.
Harvick’s argument centers on the idea that NASCAR should solve the problem where it hurts most. He said the Next Gen Cup car struggles outside multi-groove tracks, and he framed that as a sign the car itself needs more attention. He also said Indianapolis Motor Speedway exposed the car’s biggest flaws, giving NASCAR a clear example of where the current package falls short. That criticism goes to the heart of his point. If the Cup car is the series’ showcase, Harvick said, then fixing it should come before major changes elsewhere. He believes the racing product at the top needs attention now.
Harvick did not stop at general complaints. He said the current Cup package was built more like a sports car than a machine suited for oval racing. That, in his view, has made the racing less natural for the kind of tracks NASCAR uses most. He criticized the car for too much drag and too little horsepower, a combination he said leaves the racing flat and predictable. His comments went beyond simple frustration. They pointed to a broader concern that the Next Gen design, as built now, does not match the demands of stock car racing well enough to deliver the kind of action NASCAR wants at its highest level. For Harvick, that is the core issue, and it should be addressed before the sport looks for bigger structural changes in the series below.
Short-track struggles
Harvick said the flaws show up most clearly on one-groove short tracks. He said wide tires, reduced power and aero issues combine to make racing especially poor in those settings. That is where the car’s weaknesses become easiest to see, in his view, because drivers have fewer ways to create passing chances and the racing can tighten into a narrow rhythm. Harvick’s point was direct. When a car cannot produce good racing on the kinds of tracks that rely on precision, grip and traffic management, the package needs work. He said NASCAR should add more horsepower, which he sees as one of the simplest ways to improve the racing and give drivers more room to race each other.
That call for more power fits with the larger criticism Harvick has voiced about the Next Gen car. He said the current package has too much drag and not enough horsepower, a mix that makes passing too difficult. He backed Denny Hamlin’s complaints on that point, agreeing that the car limits the ability to move through the field. Harvick’s support of Hamlin’s view adds weight to the criticism because it shows the issue is not confined to one driver or one team. In Harvick’s telling, the problem is structural. The car’s design leaves too little margin for creative racing, and that becomes most obvious when tracks do not offer multiple racing lanes.
Those limitations are especially apparent when a track does not offer several lanes, drivers need more mechanical grip, better throttle response and enough power to make passes stick. Harvick’s comments suggest the current Cup car does not provide enough of those ingredients. That leaves races looking similar lap after lap, with fewer real opportunities for change at the front. He made it clear he sees that as a NASCAR issue, not a driver issue. In his view, the sport needs to make the car work better before it asks the rest of the schedule to absorb bigger changes.
NASCAR changes
Harvick said NASCAR may need a new body for the Cup car, and he also urged the sanctioning body to take a closer look at the Next Gen underbody design. Those comments point to a deeper overhaul than just a tune-up in horsepower or aero balance. He is calling for NASCAR to examine the bones of the car itself if it wants a better racing product. That stance puts him firmly in the camp that believes the current platform has reached its limit. Harvick’s message was plain. The sport cannot keep layering small fixes onto a car that still produces the same problems in the same places.
He also said NASCAR needs to make tougher decisions even if those choices upset people. That part of his message went beyond technical complaints and into the way the sport should approach change. Harvick was not arguing for compromise for compromise’s sake. He was saying the series has to act on what the racing is showing it, even if the answer is unpopular. That approach matched the rest of his remarks, which focused on the quality of the Cup race itself rather than the politics of adjusting the schedule or the lower divisions. He kept his emphasis on the top series and on the car that sets the tone for the entire sport.
For Harvick, the path forward starts with the Cup car and works outward from there. That message was clear across all of his comments. Before NASCAR reshapes the rest of its national series, it should fix the car that defines the top of the sport.
