“I had a stack of busted ribs for several weeks”: Heroic Kevin Harvick reveals driving with an injury he sustained in Italy this season

Kevin Harvick's farewell season has been a tough tour but he has led the Stewart Haas Racing team every weekend, often outperforming the machinery.

While the struggles continue, the NASCAR veteran made a surprising revelation that he has been racing with an injury in recent races. The #4 Ford driver mentioned that he sustained a rib injury off the track during his Europe trip.

Kevin Harvick and his son Keelan were in Italy during NASCAR's off week in June. Harvick accompanied his 10-year-old son Keelan, who was racing in go-karts. The SHR driver fell off a flight of stairs and cracked his ribs and drove sustaining the injuries for several weekends that followed.

“I fell down a flight of steps in Italy and had a stack of busted ribs for several weeks,” he said in the media conference at Indianapolis.

When NASCAR returned from the break, Kevin Harvick didn't make his injury public and drove through the pain in Nashville and Chicago. Injuries aside, Harvick reflected on the inconsistent season as he admits the team has fought one battle after another.

Despite the odds stacked against them, he reckons the #4 team has been doing its best and is hoping to put together solid results in the final stretch of his Cup Series career.

“Had some bad ones, had some good ones," he said. "Kind of fought and scraped, worked through an injury after the break to over the next six weeks. We just have fought one battle after another. It’s been typical #4 car stuff that we’ve worked through. We’ll just keep grinding away for 13 more weeks.”

Harvick currently occupies 12th place in the drivers' standings but is yet to win a race this season. While his playoff spot is almost confirmed, it will be a struggle to advance to the further rounds.

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Kevin Harvick won't race at IMS even if the Brickyard 400 returns

As the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion turns his final laps at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he admits that he won't return to the track in the future.

When asked by a reporter about a possible return to the Brickyard in the future, Kevin Harvick firmly dismissed such views.

"That’s right, For me, that time will be over when we get to Phoenix at the end of the year," he was quoted saying by RACER.

Harvick celebrating his victory at IMS 2020

A three-time winner of NASCAR's crown jewel event on the track, it was IndyCar's prestigious event at IMS that fascinated him as a child. The California native admitted that he wanted to race in the Indy 500 as a kid.

"Grew up a kid in Bakersfield, California, wanting to race in the Indy 500 like Rick Mears, and to be able to come close to living that childhood dream of winning races at the Brickyard and having some success has been pretty special to me. It’s fun to have celebrated that, and to come back and be able to be here one last time is something that I’ll enjoy," he added.

While his dream remains unconquered, Kevin Harvick will leave his own legacy on the Brickyard.