"I haven't felt the need to do any of that stuff" - Kevin Harvick on why he did not look for a ride at the Bristol truck race

While many NASCAR drivers have chosen to compete in Truck Series races ahead of the Cup Series race in order to gain a better understanding of the course, Kevin Harvick has chosen the opposite path.

The Stewart Haas Racing driver has opted not to compete in the Truck race this weekend. In an interview with Bob Pockrass, veteran driver Kevin Harvick explained why he decided not to compete in the Bristol truck race.

He stated that one of the companies with whom his management team collaborates will fund a truck ride for KHI driver Harrison Burton. Harvick said:

I haven’t felt the need to do any of that stuff this year because there’s so many differences. The last thing I want to do is stuff that thing into third gear…in my car, I still have to think through it. I need to be concentrating on what I’m doing in the Cup car just because the younger ones can adapt faster to the memory and doing the things they need to do.”

On Twitter, Bob Pockrass posted a video of Harvick explaining why he opted not to try to find a truck ride for the Bristrol truck race.

Kevin Harvick's Dirt Racing Experience at Bristol Motor Speedway

Kevin Harvick has won 41 NASCAR Cup Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway in his career. All of them took place on the 0.533-mile High Banked oval track's concrete surface.

He has claimed three victories, 14 top five finishes, 21 top ten finishes, and 1209 total laps led at the track since 2001. Bristol's concrete has been covered in dirt for the second straight spring race, burying Harvick's previous honors.

Among the drivers who competed between 2005 and 2012, Harvick was one of the first to try dirt racing. In 2008, Harvick competed in four races and won one of them.

Apart from that, Harvick has also raced in IMCA dirt modification on a few occasions. He made one-off appearances on tracks such as Sharon Speedway in Hartford and even in his birthplace of Bakersfield when he raced at Bakersfield Speedway.

Harvick competed in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event and the NASCAR dirt weekend in Bristol last year. In his first NASCAR Truck Series race since 2015, Harvick started 30th and finished 15th in a Ford F-150 for David Gilliland Racing.