Kevin Harvick Says Karting Stars Like Connor Zilisch Were Headed for Open-Wheel Racing

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Kevin Harvick said young karting stars like Connor Zilisch and Brent Crews nearly ended up in open-wheel racing instead of NASCAR, and that the sport’s grassroots ladder is too hard for families to figure out.

Harvick made the comments on The Dale Jr. Download with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Harvick: ‘Don’t know anything about NASCAR’

“The ladder system is so hard to explain to people, as to, ‘I want to get into racing; should I start in a go-kart? Should I go to Legend Cars? Should I start in a Bandoleros? What do I do here?’” Harvick said. “And I think that Brent Crews, Connor Zilisch, you look at those two. They go to go-karts; they’re going to live the F1 open-wheel dream. Don’t know anything about NASCAR.”

“Go to both their parents and say, ‘Hey, you should really look here down the NASCAR side of things instead of going over here and racing sports cars or going to F3, four, two, whatever you got going, because your kids got way more talent than probably most of the kids that are going to go into the NASCAR system.’”

“Now everybody knows that go-karts is pretty good based upon Connor Zilisch and Brent Crews, and it’s much more on the map than what it used to be.”

Zilisch’s path

Zilisch raced karts and sports cars before signing with Trackhouse Racing in 2024. He moved through the CARS Tour, ARCA and NASCAR’s national series before reaching Cup this season, and he will join Hendrick Motorsports in 2028.

Zilisch weighed in this week on the Martinsville brake-checks, calling them “pretty cheap,” as Pit This Time reported.

A broken ladder

Harvick said regional touring series used to give young drivers a clear path, before tours like the Southwest, Northwest and All-Pro series faded and each region started using different rules. That makes it harder for teams to race outside their home area.

Harvick and his partners now run the CARS Tour, which brings Legend Cars, Pro Late Models and Late Model Stocks to the same events so families can see the next step. Harvick is also working toward a single set of Super Late Model rules nationwide, starting with a 2027 event co-promoted with UARA, as Pit This Time reported.

Other paths to Cup

Several of today’s Cup stars took different routes. Denny Hamlin came up through Late Model Stocks in Virginia, William Byron started in Legend Cars, and Kyle Larson came from sprint cars and USAC midgets.

The Cup Series finale is Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC from Homestead-Miami Speedway.