After son Keelan’s European karting experience, Kevin Harvick questions open-wheel racing path for American drivers

Kevin Harvick has raised a fundamental concern that's haunted American open-wheel hopefuls for decades. Why is it still so hard for U.S. drivers to reach Formula 1 through domestic systems? Appearing on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast alongside Fox journalist Will Buxton, Harvick discussed his son's European karting barriers and the American drivers' development ladder in open-wheel racing.

Harvick has long championed grassroots racing in the United States. The 2014 NASCAR Champion revealed that his 12-year-old son, Keelan, spent time racing in Italy through the WSK karting series. Despite showing promise, the experience exposed the political and financial disadvantages Americans face when pursuing a European motorsport path.

"How do we fix that problem for American open wheel racing to be competitive enough to where good American open wheel drivers don't have to go across the world to race," quipped Harvick on his podcast.

Buxton, who did not have an immediate answer for Kevin Harvick, noted that the route to Formula 1 remains frustratingly dependent on overseas exposure:

"It's a time-honored question, isn't it? And there's no simple solution to it because if there was, we would have found it by now… you can go back 30, 40, 50, 60 (years). How many American drivers have actually been able to transfer over and make a success of the European ladder?" (18:05 onwards)

Buxton's pointed assessment underlines a harsh reality. Only a handful of U.S. racers have ever succeeded in F1, with most success stories dating back over half a century.

Phil Hill remains the only American-born F1 World Champion, claiming the title in 1961. Dan Gurney and Mario Andretti followed with race wins and, in Andretti's case, the 1978 world title. Since then, Michael Andretti's short-lived McLaren stint in 1993 and Alexander Rossi's five-race F1 cameo in 2015 stand as rare attempts that were cut short.

American Grand Prix racing car driver Phil Hill talks to the pit crew in 1961. Source: Getty

Today, Rossi is a leading IndyCar driver, but his F1 detour remains a cautionary tale. As Buxton added, the journey to Europe is not just tough, it’s economically and logistically punishing:

"If you want to get to Formula 1, you have to do the European ladder. But as an American, how do you find the sponsorship to race in Europe when European sponsors aren't going to back an American? And an American sponsor is unlikely to back an American in a market that they're not in because every race happens in Europe." (19:03 onwards)

With these realities in mind, Kevin Harvick's son Keelan has begun to forge a different path toward American stock car racing. In 2025, the young Harvick committed to his first full season in Pro Late Models, after two years of go-karts and Legend cars. Keelan made his CARS Tour debut in April and impressed at the Pro Late Model season-opener at Cordele Motor Speedway, finishing fifth.

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'Having an American driver in Formula 1 for the sake of it doesn't help': Will Buxton to Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick answers questions from the media at the Charlotte Convention Center. Source: Imagn

Kevin Harvick lamented the open-wheel development system's failure to retain and elevate its best young drivers. Discussing two standout American karting talents like Brent Crews and Connor Zilisch on Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour podcast, he noted how they are now making waves in NASCAR.

Both Crews and Zilisch found more viable career pathways in stock cars despite proving competitive in Europe. According to Buxton, that's a systemic miss that hurts IndyCar and F1's image alike:

"If you want an American driver to succeed, they've got to be with a top team. You can't just put them in a backmarker team and expect that to resonate with people. Them finishing 18th, 19th every weekend, that's not marketable and that's not a positive news story... Having an American driver (in) Formula 1 for the sake of it doesn't help Formula 1 in America." (22:49 onwards)

This reflects the dilemma with Logan Sargeant in 2024, the only American on the F1 grid, whose struggles at Williams have made no positive impact stateside. Even the most talented drivers can’t shine in uncompetitive machinery, and that mismatch in expectations versus results further damages the perception of American drivers.

Buxton also noted that Formula 1 is, at its core, a 'battle of innovation and engineering' rather than a pure racing contest. Without the right car, even talents like Max Verstappen are unlikely to win races. With Cadillac's Andretti Global entry set to join the grid in 2026, all eyes will turn to whether the new American team can offer a competitive seat to homegrown talent.