Keelan Harvick dominates at Hickory to earn his first CARS Tour win
Author: Scotte Sprinkle
Date: 07/12/25
Keelan Harvick dominated the CARS Pro Late Model Tour race at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday night, beating his father and earning his first win in the series, as well as earning a guaranteed starting spot in the $30,000 to win Throwback Classic race at Hickory on August 2.
This was the third time so far this year that the Harvicks have faced off head-to-head. Keelan is now 3-0 against his father, and NASCAR legend, Kevin Harvick. Keelan won the CARS Tour West race at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway back in May, as well as beating his dad at Evergreen Speedway a few weeks after Kern.
Keelan started on pole and led all but one lap en route to his win. While he has a win in the West series, this was his first win in the main tour.
“I can’t thank Rick Hendrick [enough]. Happy birthday to him,” Keelan said in victory lane. HendrickCars.com was the sponsor for both Keelan and Kevin in the race tonight. “I can’t thank you fans [enough] for coming out. It feels good.”
Kevin finished in third, just behind runner-up Caden Kvapil. Harvick’s car seemed to come on strong near the end of the race, but it was too little, too late for the veteran.
“It’s just so special to be able to do what we’re doing right now,” Kevin said after the race. “It’s not anything that I had really thought about or planned. And even though he kicks my butt, it’s fun to be on the same racetrack. It creates new conversations that we didn’t really have in Legends cars and go karts. And just to see the progression. I think it happens faster when we’re racing together. So we’re having fun.
“We’re racing in front of a lot of fans across the country. We appreciate everybody coming here on short notice tonight. It’s just a lot of fun to be on a racetrack. And I’m definitely out of shape. I know that for sure.”
Keelan started the race from pole with Ben Maier alongside. Maier tried to put up a fight with the youngster but Keelan was able to pull away after a few laps. Kevin qualified in fourth but slipped back to eighth just a few laps in. Coastal Plains winner Jade Avedisian was able to drive up through the field after starting in 14th and reached 7th place with 62 laps to go.
The first caution fell with 62 laps to go when Taylor Hull blew a right front tire in Turn 2 and hit the outside wall.
Maier took the lead on the restart from the outside, and the pair raced side-by-side until Keelan retook the lead on the following lap with a pass on the inside. Another 40 green flag laps clicked off before the competition caution came out with 23 laps to go.
Keelan was able to get a better jump on the restart and kept Maier at bay. He pulled away with the lead but the battle ensued for second. Kvapil got passed Maier and Kevin caught both of them.
Avedisian was able to join that battle, and when Kevin finally passed Maier, Avedisian followed through to take fourth. Maier held on to finish fourth.
The next race for the CARS Tour is the Throwback Classic 276 at Hickory on August 2. The Pro Late Models will have a $30,000 to win 100-lap race with the Late Model Stocks having a $50,000 to win 125-lap race.
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