Kevin Harvick recently discussed what he sees as a growing problem in NASCAR: the Cup Series cars just aren’t fast enough. In a clip posted by HarvickHappyHour on X, the former NASCAR Cup Series champion lashed out at the current state of the Cup cars, especially in comparison to lower-tier vehicles like those in the ARCA Series.In the video, Harvick explained how the lack of speed in the Cup Series has become impossible to ignore. He pointed to a specific example from the Iowa Speedway weekend where an ARCA car, part of a fourth-tier developmental series, managed to post a faster qualifying time than any Cup car on the track.“The cup cars need to go way faster. Especially at the short tracks, and I don’t think there was anything more evident than this weekend. The ARCA car outqualified the Cup car, and was extremely difficult to pass,” Kevin Harvick said.“In the end, cars are so damn slow, they don’t race good,” he added.The current Cup car, introduced in 2022 and known as the Next Gen car, is not living up to its potential. According to The Express, every single Cup Series driver at Iowa Speedway posted a slower qualifying lap than Brent Crews from the ARCA Menards Series. Crews clocked in at 22.901 seconds, while Cup Series pole-sitter Chase Briscoe managed 23.004.This performance gap is linked directly to changes made in 2022, when NASCAR introduced the Next Gen car, replacing the more powerful Gen-6 model. While the old cars pushed close to 900 horsepower, the current ones are capped at 670, and sometimes reduced to 510 at certain tracks.Kevin Harvick calls out NASCAR and teams for failing young driversKevin Harvick also raised serious concerns about the lack of testing opportunities for rookie drivers in the Cup Series. According to Harvick, the current structure doesn’t do enough to support newcomers, and that’s making it harder for them to adapt to the demanding Next Gen cars.Harvick pointed to Katherine Legge as an example. Despite being a veteran in other racing formats like IndyCar and Formula E, Legge has struggled in the NASCAR environment. Harvick said her performance shows just how hard it is to jump into Cup racing without adequate testing.Kevin Harvick explained that while tests like the Goodyear tire test and development sessions are available, most teams avoid them to save money. He feels this reluctance is hurting the very foundation of NASCAR’s talent pipeline. The more complex and demanding these cars become, the more important track time is, especially for rookies. But teams, according to Harvick, are holding back progress by not investing in more test runs. Harvick said on the same podcast (25:46 onwards):“The teams don’t want to do anything to spend money. And that’s a fact.”"I think Katherine Legge is a prime example of the flaws in our testing system, and being able to see how hard it is to develop a Cup driver, with how difficult the car is to drive. And I'd really like, you know, for the rookies and the younger drivers to be able to get on the racetrack more. I know that the teams don't want to test, and they don't want to do this," Harvick added.He added that teams have too much control through Charter agreements, often blocking changes that could actually help the sport move forward. NASCAR, in his view, would make more aggressive adjustments if teams weren’t so resistant.The lack of testing not only slows down rookie development but also impacts the overall competitiveness of the field. Kevin Harvick believes that unless NASCAR and its teams address this systemic issue, it will continue to be a stumbling block for new talent and the sport’s growth.