Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - LIVE From Daytona With Cleetus McFarland & Travis Pastrana

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour is live from Daytona as the countdown to the Great American Race begins. Kevin Harvick, Kaitlyn Vincie, and Mamba Smith break down everything that will decide the Daytona 500, while welcoming special guests Travis Pastrana and Cleetus McFarland to the show. This year’s Daytona 500 carries added meaning as the sport reflects on 25 years of Dale Earnhardt’s enduring legacy and the impact he continues to have on NASCAR today. Plus, live fan questions from the NASCAR Fan Experience as Daytona 500 week ramps up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

here with us. Absolutely. This is awesome. Thank you so much for being with us. But before we get this thing going, we got, we got some guests that we need to bring out for you guys. We sure do. First off, driver 199, Travis, Travis, Pristradha!

Let's see right here, Travis. What's up? Then, you can't have a party in Daytona without this guy. This is true. The balled eagle himself. Give up for Cleetus, Mick Farland. Oh, yeah. Pleanis had to bring his own seat here for the whole thing.

There you go. We needed to get him a folding chair, guys. It's only fitting that you see in that folding chair. Give it up for Squirrel McNutt. Is he coming? Where are you at, George? Oh, boy. There is.

Here we go. We need another chair for him. I'm so thankful for this opportunity. I got to get an autograph. Get him. Get him. Kevin, he wants your autograph. Oh, my God.

Right there, lower back. I need you sign my tattoo. Oh, okay. Lower back, right there. This is already going total haywire here on Happy Air. Love it. Yeah, I got it. I got it.

All right, you're good. There you go. Hang on. I got to, Kevin, remember that story you told everybody last year about Wachens Glen? Oh, yes. The lady that needed her to her. Well, yeah, you know, I think when we went to Watkins Glent to an appearance, and let's just say the first lady in line was very enthusiastic to show her tattoo,

and Keelan was standing right beside me, and somehow, some way her whole shirt came off. You will have it. Yeah. That was awkward. Was it windy? Huh? Was it windy? It was.

I don't think it was a win. It was not a win. It was not a whim. Poor Keelan. We'll see the stories. Yeah. Poor Keelan. Guys, thanks so much for being.

here. This is awesome to have you both. And yeah, and tell us about how much you enjoy joining this NASCAR side of things. Obviously, you're not new to it, but welcome back. Hang on, hang on. Well, I'll go while they fix your mic. We're honored to be here and fired up. I mean, it doesn't even feel real that I'm not only hanging out with you guys, but like, we're here to race. I mean, it's one thing for us to show up, but we're like, I mean, I think I speak for both of us when it's surreal that we get to race to this weekend and have a lot of fun. And be with you guys.

Fans are fired up for you guys. Yeah. And I think for Travis, you've been here. I mean, this guy's finished 11th in the Daytona 5-0-0. Oh, yeah. So, you know, to be able to experience this again and do all the things that you're getting to go through, and we were talking backstage, it's a stacked freaking truck field. It is awesome.

It smokes back. We got Stenhouse is on our team. Nees Motorsports, which is awesome. Hosever won the 2.4 hours of Lammolets with Pete's. We got him on our team. Yeah. But I just want to take a step back. I mean, last week I'm racing rally cars up in the snow, getting to come down here to Florida, to Daytona, and everyone's like, what are you guys expecting?

Why are you here? Why are you back? And it's so cool because everybody wants to be a part of this. So we got brunt boots, blue collar. They've been down helping us build ramps to all kinds of stuff. And they're like, we want to go back to NASCAR. I'm like, I'll go with you. They're like, what you drive?

I'm like, threaten me with a good time. So I'm down to class. Bragging. I'm like, hey, I mean, this is pretty cool. Freedom Factory is awesome. I'm running Daytona. He's like, well, I want to run Daytona. And we're kind of looking around, and we had one of the owners of Black Rifle, he's like, I'll support you.

And he goes, we're going to come down because Al Nice, Nice Motorsports, actually was a veteran. And he's, you know, past military. And he said, hey, let's make it worth everything for all the fans, for everyone that's coming out, let's bring in some veterans, and let's put $100,000 donate to the boot campaign. And that's, it's not because they expect us to do well. I mean, obviously, we want to win. But it's because this sport is awesome because all of you fans want to come down here

because everyone wants to be a part of it. So sorry for the long window. Oh, I love that. Thank you. Ableau. Yeah, no doubt. Kevin, it's been so interesting having Cletus, right, be a part of this whole thing.

Did you expect your fan base to really, like, embrace all of this so much? And you've brought a lot of new fans, too. I got to say the support has been incredible from all you guys. I can't appreciate it enough. And, you know, I think without the Biff, you know, like coming on to my channel and really just teaching

all of us who didn't know. I know a lot of you guys were fans of NASCAR way before me, but for all my viewers who didn't watch NASCAR at all, like the shirt, Biff kind of helped introduce them all to it and helped make them love it as much as I already do. And one year later, I cannot believe

the opportunities that I've been able to get from it. And I'm just, it still doesn't feel real that I'm here and running too races. Well, I got to ask you this. You've run the ARCA race. You guys had one of the most famous interviews ever. And when you come back this year, though, you're going to feel experienced when you get into the ARCA car. Are you nervous about the truck? And I'm just going to tell you, I talked to smoke last night, and he's pretty nervous about the truck. I'm always slightly nervous about the truck because, you know, of all the talk of the truck's getting light in the back. And everyone's

like, oh yeah, if he's on your tail, you know, and he punches you on the left side. Oh, you don't even have to touch you. He just get close to. And I'm like, damn, the arcic car does not do that. The arc of cars are so planted, at least mine is. So I'm a little nervous, but, you know, worst case, just, uh, just going to have to drive it. That's right. There you go.

Just going to have to drive it. That's the planet. I'm just going to turn the left. What kind of interview are we going to do this year? Well, here's what I'm hoping our interview looks like. Oh, boy. Not at the infield care center. True. True.

Two at the winter circle. Three with Pastrana with me. There you go. I have to say this whole shake and bake. If I'm behind Cletus and it's the last lap, whatever lane, even if it's lane four that we have to go to, I'm not lifting. So you better hold that thing together.

I've seen him drive some stuff. We've already agreed that when there's three to go, we're going to put our pedals to the ground and not let off. and whatever's in front of us is going to have to move or go with us. It's move or be moved. Oh, there you go. I like that.

Listen, Travis, I remember when Travis showed up in the NASCAR circuit with Canaan Racing, which is now the Arcus series, and we're at Iowa, and you want to talk about someone who doesn't lift out of throttle. He's in qualifying. Has it pin coming out of two? Does a 720, like Jimmy Johnson at Dover,

all the way down the backstress and does not hit anything? and everyone on Pitt Road lost their mind. Well, it was two laps. That was actually really funny because I did the spin and was still able to do the second lap. The tire was a little loose. Tires were a little hot.

But that was actually throwback. That was Chase Elliott's first win. I'm like 28. Chase Elliott was, I think, 15 or 16. And he ended up, yeah, he beat me. Speaking of throwbacks, hey, okay, I want to show, I got something I want to show Travis. I think we got a picture of a throwback.

Look at that. Look at it. Oh, way. That's me and Travis right here. Daytona at the rookie seminar in like 2013. So I thought it was so cool. What was the hardest thing for you when you tried to make the transition the first time to NASCAR? What was the hardest thing on track for you to have to adjust to to figure out? Because most of us have done this our whole life in these cars. You came from many different forms of racing and all the things that you did.

What was the hardest thing for you to get used to? Probably the arrow, to be perfectly honest in that I got yelled at the first race because I was on some. someone's door on the outside and they're like, you cleaned them out. I'm like, I didn't even touch them. So it's, you know, there's just learning a little bit about that and how you can slow cars up and that kind of stuff. But I think the most challenging part was that, you know, I didn't come in with really any expectations. I was actually talking to Jimmy Johnson. And we had won four, so I won four straight U.S. rally championships and he won four straight cup championships. And I was looking into either going over to WRC and doing World Rally or I was like, Jimmy, I want to race the Daytona 500.

Kind of like you talked to Biff said, I want to race. And Jimmy's like, you can't just get in and do this. Here's a step series. And he goes, you look to me in the eye and said, by the time you're capable of doing a cup series race at the Daytona 500, you're going to be so engorged in this sport that you're going to believe that you can win or you can't. You're going to go at it 100 percent. And I got, man, it was one of the most challenging things I've ever done. And the amount of driving and seat time because everyone says, oh, NASCAR, you just turn left or whatever.

Not you guys, but like from the outside. I'm sorry. No, from the outside. And I look at guys Juan Montoya was a friend, like coming in from F1, coming in from Indy, coming in from dirt track and all this other stuff, and nobody holds a candle to NASCAR drivers on a NASCAR course. Yeah, yeah. I like that.

Oh, yeah. So we're here at Daytona. Obviously, it's an iconic venue. I want you both to respond to this. What do you think of the culture of Daytona and this race and this racetrack and what you've seen? You're already smiling. I mean, I love Daytona, all right?

sleeves off, flooring a sun. I just don't think there's anything better. I love it. I absolutely love Daytona coming over here. It's one of the most exciting feelings like knowing I'm going to be inside

Daytona's Speedway for a few days. Nothing like it. Couldn't be happier. I was pissed at you a few weeks ago. Really? Oh. Oh, I was mad. I'm sitting at home.

It's ice, snow, cold, and my man's video pops up on Instagram or wherever I was looking. and he's like, yep, it's cold down here in Florida. Don't come to Florida. It's a miserable place to be outside with the palm trees. And so I was a little frustrated with North Carolina at that point.

And then we go to the clash a couple weeks later. Oh, boy. Then you were really frustrated. For days. Yeah. Did you bring that family out, campers, like a bus and all that? Didn't you bring that last time? You brought your whole family?

No, last time they drove the motorhomes down. I was talking about the motorhomes in Dallega. I sold them, unfortunately. Oh, okay. That's all right. Did they make it home? Well, actually, you know, the Dega Bega, the one we took the, did the video in front of, the guy who bought it broke down just 15 minutes outside of Tala. So you drove it just long enough. Well, I think it might have been the rev limiter in the tunnel on the way in. Loosened up the valve train on it a little bit. And you'll have that. Just she gave up just right outside of Dega. What do you like about Daytona, this whole place? So when I was 16 years, years old. I got my first ever super cross win right on that grass there. Nice. So this was this was really cool for me to be a part of that. I got to meet evil coneeble here. He was judging a Hawaiian tropic contest. Oh. Yeah. I mean it was everything that I expected from from Daytona. My first visit is 16 and it's only gotten better since then. That's really cool. Well, I think when you talk about Daytona and you talk about the arc of series, you talk about the truck series, the O'Reilly series, Cup series. You got all these different things going on this week. And it's a,

It's a very limited amount of practice. What's the plan for Team Neese today when we go out to practice? Are we just going to go out there and ride around by ourselves? Are we going to learn anything? Every time he starts to talk, I get nervous about what he's about to say. Because he makes his face before he starts. My crew chief's telling me I've got to take it easy. What does that mean?

Yeah, I was going to say. I mean, I think he wants me to run solo. Okay. Now, I did hit the fence in the rookie test. at Rockingham. Just slightly. If the wall was one foot to the right, I would have been fine. But, so he wants me to just relax a little bit, cruise, and then I guess we'll go from there.

I want to say that he got the only full adult human-sized niece truck. There's a lot of jockeys that race us. I mean, you're tall. Trucks are tight. But my truck that I normally run, they're like. like, well, hey, look, he's taller, so he gets that. So I'm like Donkey Kong and Mario Kartz. I'm like, how big a wheel can I run and still fit in this truck?

It's going to be fun. I'm definitely looking forward to it. And Stenhouse actually said, hey, meet us here. We're supposed to be meeting Stenhouse right now, but we couldn't turn down coming to talk to you. We appreciate it. Well, you got a good coach. So Stenhouse is one of the best of these places. Yeah, it's supposed to be, but now we're talking to you.

You might miss that. You'll be fine. What tips do you have for us? The tips that I would have for you is don't crash. There you go. Hold on. I got to write this down. If you don't crash, you'll finish in the top ten.

That's actually fair. Really? I mean, you're going to be on a racetrack, and I told Tony the exact same thing last night, because he was a little nervous about things. I said, Tony, I said, you're going to be on a racetrack with 35 maniacs. And they're going to be hammered down. That's the thing I love about truck racing is they're hammered down

from the time that they start until the time that they finish. So I would take my time, get used to the distance on the truck, the distance from the apron, how much the trucks pull up and not worry about where you're running in the beginning of the race, because at some point you'll be in it. I got a dollar on him missing his whole pit stop at one point. Yeah. Because at 50 miles an hour, it feels like you're not moving. Everyone told me I was going to do it, and I laughed.

I pulled all the way in. My crew was like stepping back. 50 feels like you're walking. And then you hit the break and you realize you're still going 50 in his page. It's concrete. Just a dollar on that. It's just like ice. What do you think about Tony Stewart skipping the rookie truck meeting?

Oh. What happened? I would definitely make him start in the back. That's what I was thinking. I can't wait because he's going to be so frustrated by the time. Everything that happens in the truck race is totally against everything that Tony Stewart likes to do. Yeah. It is aggressive from start to finish.

There are, he is definitely could be the grandpa to 90% of the field. Yeah. So he is definitely I'm really excited about talking to him after the race. So what lap, our bed in the booth is what lap will Tony Stewart cuss out his first competitor?

12. I'm scared it's going to be me. Yeah. We got two, three. Lap three. Lap one, they're saying. Lap one. Yeah.

I haven't seen any, no one had put both hands up, so it's all single digits. Yeah. We've been trying to. I think Tony's turning a new. relief. I don't know. I don't think so. You don't know it very well. He's going to be excited. We've been championing for

Kevin to get back in a truck. We're trying to get that going. See? I knew it! See what I did there? I like that. I'll like that. I've been getting my ass kicked by a 12-year-old, so I don't know. He's 13 now. Oh, 13. That's right. That's a little better. 12-13. You're still getting your ass kicked by a teenager. Yeah. We want this to happen, though. Yeah. Well, I think it would be fun. I'd do it.

He seems to enjoy coming back. I think that was a yes. I'm not saying no. I'm saying no, never a cup car again because I just don't believe in the, I'm retired and then I unretire and come back and drive cup. That was a great ride. Everything's about fun now. Now I get to go to the racetrack and be like, you guys, you're showing up for the event.

And I'm not going to say, I don't care about the result anymore. If I win or lose, it doesn't matter because I'm out doing what I love to do. I forgot why I raced until I went and race late. again and how much I enjoyed the sport. So it's been fun. Closers. Y'all gonna show up if Kevin Harvick brings it back out for a truck race?

Yeah. People have spoken. I thought maybe. You're putting a lot of pressure on me. I know. That'd be cool. Yeah. Not to jump in here, but the really cool part about Cletus,

and I feel like so many NASCAR drivers, like Bowman came and jumped in. You got Hosevere, you got, obviously, Biffel and definitely with smoke coming in. And everyone's having fun. Even for me, someone that, like, I've made a career on just having as much fun as I possibly can. Now, obviously, win is more fun than losing. So you always want to do the best that you possibly can. But so many times, like, you get frustrated. You're not doing how you want to do. The team, the car, yourself, your performance. And then you go down to the Freedom 500,

and you realize why you started driving again. And you realize just how much fun everyone's having. Everyone stays after the race. Everyone's signing autographs. Everyone's talking to the fans. Everybody's a part of it. And I want to thank Cletus for kind of bringing that fun back to... Good job, Cleetus. I mean, to the sport, to me, personally, to so many drivers. I am honestly curious. Thank you. Why you decided to come to NASCAR?

Like, what started the whole thing? You know, I was just talking to Biff one night. And I was like, I want to race free or the Daytona 500. How many people are in with you? No, I was none. Okay, just check it. He was like, well, it's going to be a process. But we could start it.

And I was like, let's start it. And he literally built me the road to Daytona, kind of. and just got me connected with the right people, and here we are. That's awesome. We're so glad you're here. And I think when you talk about Greg and everything that he helped you do and the process that you went through, when you guys were laying this map out to do the things that you're doing today, was there anything in between the Crown Vix and ARCA?

Are we like any late models or anything? I mean, you do have your own racetrack. You practice at your track? I've driven, like, modified and sport compacts, and I drove a couple airplanes. Yeah. A couple helicopters. Yeah. Sprint boats.

Go cards for sure. Go cards. A couple Honda Civics. So, yeah, I've been kind of rounding myself out for this opportunity. I got you. So you're a lot of seat time. Are we going to be a super speedway specialist? I mean, I like the sound of that.

Yeah. I don't know if I'm like what type of specialist I am. You had a little bit of practice delivering some sandwiches at one point, right? That was kind of like what you're going to deal with. I used to deliver Jimmy John sandwiches. That's pretty much where I became a wheelman. That's right. You're going to deliver food on time.

Especially in the Jimmy John's model, you're going to have to get there on time. That's what was all about. I probably have some company records. Not going to lie. Hey, who thinks Kevin and his son should come race to Crown Vic race at the Freedom Pact? I think that would be awesome. I think that would be good.

Yes. Let's do it. I'm going to text you some dates. Let's do it. I'm in. I'm way more in for that than committing to that. That's like really easy. All right, guys.

How do I do with my cutoff? Am I all right? Yeah, solid. This is even in great. You're good. Yeah, I got a cutoff. I just ripped your sleeves off. I got to get a new shirt.

Everything we're doing, he's ripped my sleeves off a half hour ago. He's got them back. That's unbelievable. I didn't even notice. He's getting critiqued for his attire. You two need to work on it a little bit. Yeah, I'm a little uptight today. I have to go from this interview to Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, and Kyle Larson.

All right. Yeah, that's fair. There's fair. Guys, it's been awesome. Thank you so much for coming. I'm going to this round of applause for Trachshundon. Good luck. Give it up for Trasal.

Yes. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. That's fun. Yes. Good luck to you. There you go. Got to sign a bush light.

It's necessary, you know. It's going to keep rolling. Yeah. Well, wait. I know. Well, this is so nice as I'm fine. We started with the, we started with the stars and now we're stuck with Mamba. Hey, I heard the fans out here though.

The closes were giving me some love. I'm pretty sure they were more Mamba than Harvard. I mean, if you're going to cut your sleeves off, you better go to the gym a little bit. I mean, what? Okay. Thank you, guys. Thank you.

Appreciate it so much. Good luck. See you for our interview. Hey, Tijuana. We're not done yet. Thanks, guys. You got to go talk to Stenhouse. Yeah, I guess they got to get them dialed here.

All right, guys. Okay, we're here at Daytona. Thank you again to all of the fans who have joined us today. This is so awesome to have our first live audience. So thank you to all of you. Yes, thank you. And let's talk about this race, Kevin, because we've talked about it earlier in the week,

the significance of it, winning a Daytona 500, what it means. Well, in our sport, there is no bigger race to win than the Daytona 500. So being able to luckily accomplish that and get to Victory Lane, put your name on that Harley J. Earl trophy is something that, you know, you look at the names on that trophy, and it's the who's who's of NASCAR racing. But you also add in that element of anybody can win it. There are a lot of surprise winners that we see with this race.

But man, I just get the feeling. I get the feeling that those past champs are going to be, one of those guys could be in Victory Lane after this race. I like this. I just, Daytona, especially coming from the Northeast, like when you come down here and you get into race country, like this is it. And when you walk into this place, it's absolutely insane.

You can just feel the energy, the fans, everyone that stays in the infield, the infield is a time. I can't wait to get in there and share some bush lattes with y'all. Yes. They're ready for that. But the racing and the fan and the atmosphere here is no better way to start the season off. And I talked to William Byron this past week, and he's like, man, the second one was more unexpected than the first one,

but the third one would be the sweetest. So if he can three p, that'd be something. Odds are against him. Huh? Odds are against him. Yeah, I would say so. Yeah. You talk about winning two, but man, that is quite an accomplishment to win two daytona

500s in a row. And you can talk about it being lucky. You can talk about this. But when you do it twice, two years in a row, that's pretty hard to call that lucky. You're doing something right if you do it twice. You're putting yourself in position. And that is really the most important thing here. Just keep yourself in a position.

to stay in the front of the pack, don't make mistakes on pit road, do all the small things right. And every year that the William Byron's, the Ryan Blaney's, those guys get one more year of experience with their crew chief, with their team, in situations, they just become more dangerous. Yes, they do.

So one story I want to talk about that I'm sure there's some fans of this driver in the audience is Kyle Bush, because last night he was able to get the poll for the Great American Race. Yep. We've been talking about Kyle a lot on Happy Hour, whether we're going to see a resurgence of him. Certainly, this is things moving in the right direction.

Yeah, well, I'm happy for Kyle. I think that Kyle Bush being competitive and winning races is really important to our sport. And he deserves that. But I'm more happy for Richard Childress. And Richard Childeris is somebody who has meant so much to this sport, winning the Daytona 500 with Austin, myself, Dale Earnhardt, You know, he just has such a legacy in this sport. And I know how hard he works to be able to make those cars fast, how much he cares about this sport.

So I'm really excited for Richard. They needed something good to happen. I know Austin went to Victory Lane last year. But it's a contract year for Kyle Bush. And I believe that he can still get it done. And, you know, I think it's something that Kyle has to be able. to be comfortable and get what he wants underneath that car. But the first thing they have to have is speed.

Well, guess what? We showed up at the Daytona 500 with speed, and I think that's dangerous for the rest of the field. Yeah, it's not like Kyle Bush just forgot how to drive a race car. No. We're talking about one of the best guys to strap into a race car in the entire world at all times. So I'm happy for him because when you start out the year,

the way they ended it, which is like without the speed, that's tough, right? You just feel like it's another year of, oh, man, we go again. So starting out on the right foot. I think on the flip side of that, you know, you have to not spin out. You have to not wreck. And when that wasn't happening, they were making mistakes on pit roads. So they have a lot to clean up. Yeah, it's not one thing. But what happens is you get in those positions to where you're somewhat desperate and you know the day is going good and you want to make it better. And then you push that much too hard and you wind up

spun around backwards or, you know, wrecking the car into the, into the wall. So, I think he just has to take a deep breath. He's got to take a deep breath and not try to do too much. And I don't, that ability that Kyle has with the old car to be able to drive the car sideways, hang the car out, slide it. It's a different style now. You can't manhandle the cars like you used to. You have to have that finesse and be on the edge.

But when you cross it, these things spin out and you find yourself backwards into the fence faster than you even know. what happened. So Kyle Bush, obviously, things looking promising for him from qualifying. Who kind of concerned you last night when you watched that time? I was really concerned with the 2311 cars of Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. The fans are not in. Yeah, I think that, you know, last year I think we gave him a Mulligan with everything that they had going on with the lawsuit internally. But the expectation is for those cars to win. They spend the money. They have the resources. They have the tie to Joe Gibbs. Tyler Reddick is expected to be a championship contender. Bubba Wallace got to Victory Lane at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,

but Tyler Reddick's got to win. And I think that we talk contracts and all the things that are up. There are a lot of driver contracts that are up. And if those cars aren't performing, a caliber driver of Tyler Reddick isn't going to sit around and wait for you to figure your cars out. He wants to be able to have what he needs to go to Victory Lane. has done that.

So is that Cletus? Probably. Might have been. I thought he said he was going back. Never know who could be there. Yeah. You know who I was pleasantly surprised with was the 99, the fourth entry for RFK.

I think that's a big deal for them because they felt like, Ryan Priest felt like if he had more Ford help in previous Super Speedway races that he could have won one or two already. And I think that the fact that their fourth car, that they don't really do much, had that kind of speed.

He got Cori LaJoye's sewn in there. that you can trust to help get you to victory lane. I think that's a big deal for our. Yeah, and I think that the other caveat to this is the fact that you have guys that have gone purely for speed and trying to keep the speed and the balance in the race car to be able to drive that. Tonight we'll find out whose cars are driving okay

and be able to are the track house cars of Ross Chastain and Shane Van Gisberg in Slow. Daniel Suarez was extremely slow in qualifying trim. So are those cars, do they have a little more drag and downforce built into the car to be able to try to make them be able to be pushed well to push well? All the things that go with racing well. So that story is getting ready to be told this evening. Yeah. Justin Algar made it in.

It's a big weekend for the Earnhardt family. Great to see that once again out of that team. Yeah. And I talked to Dale yesterday and you could tell he was pretty confident. He felt like, you know, his cars, the, the. the car was better than it was in practice last year. And the effort that they had made was in a little better place than where he felt they were last year. But, you know, it's, I'd really want to see that junior motorsports team full-time on the cup side.

I think that it means so much to the sport to have Dale and Kelly on pit road. And I know there's a lot of things that go into that. But the more races that 40 cars shows up at the racetrack, the better it is for our sport. Yeah, for sure. Kevin, I wanted to kind of look at it. the duels. You kind of were talking about it a little bit with you'll find out tonight whose car is kind of handling right and who went for the speed. How hard is it though because we race the duels at night? I just heard a crack back there. You're getting me excited with that

Bushlaxler. Yeah. I heard it. Um, no, go ahead. Yeah. It's open right here. By all means. Cheers. How, how difficult is it running the duels at night? We start the race kind of the day. You know what I mean? We're going through a lot of different transitions. How do you know how good your car really is and what you need to do for the 500? Well, you have to definitely, you know, I think you can lean a little more towards the speed. But if you get any hint that your car is not handling well tonight, you're in big trouble on Sunday. And you've got to remember, tonight's pack is half the size of what it's going to be on Sunday. So that momentum of the pack and that energy of the pack is going to be a lot different than what you see tonight.

But you've got to be able to cue off of the things that you feel. Do you have enough speed in the car? A lot of times you get done with this race, and if your car's not handling bad, you go the opposite way, and you start to try to figure out, okay, guys, what can we do to this car to put a little more speed in the car, whether it's move a mirror or make some adjustments

on the ride heights or anything that they can do? There's still some things that they can do to the race cars to make those types of adjustments to either put a little more grip in or take a little bit of grip out. And you've got to make good decisions. And that's what, You know, the Joey Luganos, the Denny Hamlins of the world, they're good at helping their teams make the right decisions based upon their experience and the things that have happened for them in the past. So that's where those guys gained that advantage.

And what I mentioned earlier with William Byron, Ryan Blaney, having more experience another year under their belt, those are the decisions that they have to get better at and are able to get better at, especially when they don't change anything on their team. So the duels are tonight. What is the intensity like for drivers to have to race their way in? Because this seems like a stressful situation. I'd be miserable. But the duels used to be like that. You used to come down here and the duels were, you had seven provisionals and the rest of the field was lined up by those duels.

And you could very easily miss the race. So the duels were very stressful. But that's the stress that these guys are under that have to make this race. I think Corey Lajoy is in a good position with the speed of his car. and then you've got, you know, Yale and Alfredo and B.J. McLeod and those guys that have to get their self in on speed or on race their way in on position, not on speed. They didn't have the speed last night in qualifying to put themselves in position. So very stressful, but it could make the team's year. You look at the top teams. They're all racing to try to get themselves

in position to win races and make the championship. Well, that's the same thing that these teams are feeling. To make the Daytona, 500 is their championship for the year just just to make the race we could have scripted that any better I forgot that's my favorite part about Daytona I forgot that never gets old all week long that's going on Kevin last year got to ride in it I mean what did you say the Pucker factor was on that well last year I would I rode and we took off down the runway and we the first thing we did we did was go 90 degrees straight up in the air.

Oh, boy. And then we did a barrel roll. And I'm like, oh, man, what have I got myself into? But you're nervous. You're like, am I going to pass out, puke? I didn't pass out, and I didn't puke. And I got to fly the plane, and I got to do everything that we were supposed to do. And I did join the 9G club.

Okay. And I can tell you, my vision got to be about that wine. I was sunk down in the seat like this, saying, I'm not going to be. going to quit. And it's a good thing I didn't quit because I was, I couldn't talk. Yeah. Because I couldn't breathe and I couldn't see. And then the pilot was like, well, you did it. I'm like, oh, thank God, because I couldn't say anything. I got to be honest, I'd rather do that than ride with Cletus.

Just knowing Cretus, I'd much rather do that than ride with Cletus. That was perfectly timed. We'd set that up just for happier. Yeah, we planned that earlier. They were a little light, but. But, I mean, that's part of all the pre-race pompant circumstance, if you will, of the 500, which makes it so special. I'm going to be pissed if we aren't in the booth by the time the flyover happens. So we're going to have to talk to our pre-race producer because when you're standing in the booth and you see the flyover making its way towards you and those planes and you can see them before

everybody else because we're so high. And all of a sudden they get here and you realize how fast they're going. Yeah. How far away they actually were just a second ago and they fly over the first time and you get comfortable and you're all getting settled in and they always sneak back up on you. So remember that. Be ready for the reverse flyover because it's going to happen because they really enjoy scaring the crap out of us. They were flying out here earlier today. Did you hear them? They went over a lot earlier. Earlier today, at the end of the ride, you do the flyover. You go directly over the racetrack like they do the flyover. Then you do the reverse flyover. But if you notice, they make laps. They made two laps around the racetrack. And I felt like we might hit a light pole last year.

They took Zillich and J.H. Here they go again. Zillich and J.H. Went today. Kevin, you were talking about making someone's year just to make it into this race

and how scared you would be if you had to race your way in. The crews... Not scared. Oh, not scared. Just a lot of anxiety. Anxiety. Better word. Better word.

Yeah. The crews that are already in, the teams that are already in, that anxiety is still there because if you have to fix your race car by getting in someone else's mess, that is, that's a lot of work. And I'd say they're less worried about wrecking than they are sucking and being slow. Because it's a long few days if your car doesn't have any speed and it's handling good

and you don't really know what else to do to it. But look, this is the race that you see the most prepared cars from every team. They've had all winner to work on their cars. they know how important this race is to whizz. Is to win. Yeah. We're going to whiz all over it. They know how important this race is to the race team.

They know how much money it pays. They know the significance of putting your name on that trophy. So it's the race where it's the most competitive, and it is the most competitive that I have seen it in a long time. When you look at the manufacturers split up through that qualifying rundown last night, it's all over the place. It's not Ford stacked at the top. or Chevy stacked at the top, it's split up really well as far as being competitive.

So excited. You mentioned the manufacturers. This race is all about working together. The Chevy's have a new nose. How do you think that's all going to play out? Well, we're going to find out. We're going to find out how good they push. They specifically redesign that car to be better pushers and being able to be pushed on these super speedways.

So, you know, it's now this car is super finicky. Does it affect the handling? does it's going to affect the balance and and you do everything that you can do and and to get your car where you think it needs to be but you just don't know until you get on that big black asphalt out there hang on one second kev wow wow all right the fans love it last year at homestead miami speedway i was doing driver intros i obviously they do the flyover after intros you know after all that i had no idea they did it right in the middle of intros i about my pants Because it rattled the whole stadium, but it's really cool, man.

Well, there's no sport that does, there's no sport that supports our military better than NASCAR. That's right. And we have a, yeah. We have a great relationship with the military and support our military as everyone should. And, you know, I think when you see these types of things happening and you see the troops in the stands, in the pits, and every team goes out of the way to make sure that those guys get the respect and gals get the respect that they deserve for what they do for our country. I know we got some closers at our military. If you guys are out here, I appreciate y'all.

Yes, very much so. Thank you. Thank you for your service. So we're talking about Daytona. I feel like everyone remembers the first time they came here. Do you remember, like what you thought the first time you saw this place? Yeah. I came here.

Jeff Gordon won. It was like the early 2000s. I forget where maybe 03. I didn't even know you were born yet. That's because Black don't crack, Kevin. I just look like a baby. Yeah, and it was amazing. Me and my dad came and, like, we always went to New Hampshire Motor Speedway,

and that's our home track. But then, yeah, yeah, exactly. There we go. But we came down here, and it was different. Cold as hell right now. It was just different. It was just so, I don't know, it was so cool. I can't really put into words.

And then I think Ward Burton flipped down out of the, down into the trial. that year and Jeff won and I was mad as hell because I was a Stewart guy and like a little bit of a Kevin guy not that much it's Stuart guy what year was this I think it was like oh three okay five there you go look at that fan with this we go appreciate you yeah that's what I love about you guys you always keep our facts straight yeah that's exactly what we love about it somebody's got to keep our facts straight because I can't remember what I did yesterday but do you remember the first time you came here I came here as a fan in night for this night right here

I came for the, well, it was daytime races at that point, 1995, sat in the grandstands going into turn one and watched both qualifying races. So that was the only time that I had been here when I came back in 2000 for the first time with the Bush Series car. So it's a special place. And there's nothing like the first race of the year being your biggest race of the year, the hype, the enthusiasm and excitement that goes with us is you can't match it anywhere else. And I think that the things that NASCAR has done this year to put us in a better position to be who we are as a sport, promote us as a sport of just being badass. Yeah. That is what NASCAR racing is all about. We don't need to be like everybody else.

No, we want to be our own selves. You mentioned a badass, and this weekend also is about Dale Earnhardt. And I want you to reflect for a moment about him. It's 25 years since his passing. We have a special documentary on FS1 that's coming up tonight after the duels. Just tell your reflections. Well, it's hard to believe that it's been 25 years. And obviously, I live that situation pretty closely,

getting in the car the next week. And I think back to just the time of that period of when the accident happened to the unknown. We were actually at Mike Dillon's house in the kitchen. They called and said, hey, you need to come over. And that's when I knew that something was not right. So you're sitting there waiting, trying to understand what's going on. And then it's all the questions, right?

What's going to happen with RCR? Who's going to drive the car? How's the sport going to go on? And, you know, 25 years later, the sport is still going on, but it's just missing a big piece of what was so important to NASCAR racing with Dale. And he had such a massive influence on everything that happened, the image of who we were and such a. a strong leader of the sport. So it was a pretty crazy time to be able to adapt to what was going on,

get in the car to drive. You think back to those press conferences with the press conference the next week at Rockingham. And for me personally, that was the biggest press conference that I ever did. It was the most people, the most pressure, the most everything that I ever had to experience. But, you know, our sport has evolved because of that accident from a safety standpoint. NASCAR immediately started the safety aspect of trying to get ahead of things and keep up with things and do things in a better way. And we do that all the way up until today. They're constantly looking at every wreck, every piece of equipment that the driver has on,

the racetracks, the soft walls. You think about the impact that that one accident had on the safety of this sport, and it'll never be matched. And NASCAR has done a great job of continuing that right into this moment. I saw a quote that I think it was from Ricky Crave, and he said in 20, I think he said this in 2001 around that time. He said, in 20, 25 years, we'll look back and we'll be like they were insane for racing with concrete walls. And like, I'm so thankful for the hits that we have seen over the last 10. 10 years of show, especially, that we have those safer barriers for the drivers. And then obviously, if you guys have never been here, if this is your first time, there's the Daytona Tours.

Wow, but it's a whole fleet of. I never get home. There's the Daytona Tours building over here, and there's a statue of Dale and Hart. I went by it yesterday, and it does something to you every time you kind of open by it. It truly does, yeah. And we look forward to that documentary tonight. A lot of different perspectives will be talking about their reflections and what that time was like. Okay, so we're here in Daytona.

We got to do some Daytona 500 predictions on who we believe is going to win this big race. And Kevin, do you want to do the honors first? No? No. This whole big thing is... Here's the problem. Here's the deal. We've seen qualifying, but we've not seen one lap of practice with everybody together.

So I'm just going to say it's a past champion. We don't see that on Monday either for the record, though. I'm going to pick a past champion. I just don't know which one yet. All right. So you're really not going to be. gonna make a selection. Nope.

Because I'll just look dumb. Mamba, you go ahead. I have to go first? Well, do you guys? Oh, who'd you pick? I picked like eight guys. He's picking eight. This is what I have to deal with y'all.

Like, this is the type of stuff. My show. It's my show. I can make the rules. It's Kevin's show, they are saying. Seniority rules. Sorry. Wait, how?

You could only pick. You could only pick one guy. Real quick though. Real quick though. We have, you know, these are our closers. So they know that we keep points for all year. Remember who won? That means you're a down race for the points.

Because you're not picking it. Did I not already pick? No. Did we pick on Monday? Because I was literally just thinking that. We didn't pick. We did not pick. Oh, I heard that, Tyler.

Tyler's in my ear. I'm telling you, you make me pick. We didn't pick. I have to pick? Yeah. Well, I can pick for the show, but I'm just, as a formal disclosure, I might change my pick on Sunday. So don't hold me too. Okay.

Well, go ahead. I'm going to pick up. I'm going to pick up. I'm going to pick up. Okay. Yeah. That took way too much time for you to just admit that. I'm just looking for air time.

Okay. There you go. All right. Do you want to go? No. You go. That's rude? I'm actually, oh, good point.

Similar to Kevin. I'm going to pick a former champion. Okay. We've been talking about him a lot so far already. His name is Chase Elliott. I think Chase Elliott can get a Daytona 500 win. Okay. We all believe this format could be,

good for him too, so this could start it off on a good foot. Listen, I love that Kyle Bush is on the pole, and I don't want to jinx him because I really would like to. I would really like to see him in Victory Lane, but I'm going to go with Ryan Priest. Oh, I like that. I'm going with Priest. I think that it's about time that he finishes one of these ones with the wheels on the ground, so I'm going with Priest in that six-de-car.

Oh, you can't beat momentum either. Yeah, that's been on a role. It matters. The clash, one in his mom. modified this week, so momentum's hard to beat. Here come the airplanes again. That is unbelievable.

Wow. All right. Very formal. Are you just going to keep saying you're not making a choice? I already picked. You did? Wait. Yeah, I picked Ryan Blaney.

Oh, I didn't even hear him say it. I didn't even hear him. I'm used to you ignoring me, so. Oh, that's not true. Okay, so Blaney, Priests, and Elliot, those are our picks. Okay. Now, this is the point of the show that

he brings in America's favorite. Closers! Welcome to your favorite part of the Kevin Harvick Happy Hour podcast. It's Mombus Social Sips. So I'm going to come down and join you guys. Give me one second. All right. C.J.

All right. Hang on. Let me get to you. I'm going to get all the way in there. Hang on. I'm running to you. Is he going down? He's got to go down to the fan questions.

Yeah. That's what he's doing. CJ, our social experts, is collecting. We're going mobile. That's the most exercise he's done a month. Sir, you got a mic here. What's your name?

Colton. Colton. All right, Colton. What is your question for the squad here? Kevin. What race when was better? 2001 Atlanta or the 2014 championship. Oh.

2001. Yeah. You know, I think that when you look at everything that was happening during that time. And it's just like the press conferences. It was my biggest win in the biggest moment that you can possibly ever imagine. And, you know, the championship win was really special. And we did that as a group. But it was a different era of my career with a, you know, a different group of people. But there's just nothing that matches the intensity and the magnitude of those moments from 2001. So you're saying the stage,

was really big and the lights were very bright and you got it done. Yeah. Yeah, okay, just check it. Good question. Lights were bright. Lights were bright. I heard that you might have a word of the week suggestion. Oh, yeah.

Serpentine. Serpentine. What's this for? Word of the week. That's my word? No, we just, I'm just, we're just taking. Serpentine. I'm getting help.

These two that we had on stage were they could be the serpentine of the truck field. We're just trying, I'm just trying to get some help from our closers out here. You already got the one in. Thank you very much, Colton. Good job. What we got? We got another one right here, sir. I got one for Caitlin. All right, go ahead.

What's your name, sir? Mike. Mike? All right, go ahead. Caitlin, when you worked at Langley Speedway, who was your favorite track announcer? It was you, Mike Allen. Good to see you, my friend. It's nice to have you here. That's awesome.

We love Langley Speedway. And Kevin, if you need an announcer for the car store, I'm your man. I like it. He's very good. I love that. Hang on, we got one over here. CJ, where are we going? All right, right, right up front here.

here. Right up for a Joy LaGano fan. What's your name, ma'am? Rhonda. Rhonda. Where are you from, Rhonda? North Carolina. North Carolina.

There you go. The Smoky Mountains. All right. Yeah. Okay, who would you like to see crossover from NASCAR to Indian race at Phoenix? Connor Zillich. Yeah. I think he's got a, I think he's obviously young.

I think he's got a lot of carding experience. He's got a lot of road race experience. But, you know, we saw him do really well on the Oval. last year in the Xfinity series. So O'Reilly, sorry, the O'Reilly series. O'Reilly. Yeah, I'll get it. I'm new at this, so.

But, you know, I think that he's going to have a couple years of learning the Cup series, and I think it would be good to just see what he can do in the IndyCar while he's young. And, you know, I think Kyle Larson did a great job. Kurt Bush did a great job of being in contention to be competitive. and I think that it would be good to see somebody at the beginning of their career go over there and do that while they're still trying to figure out everything that's going on here. I think he'll be. And he's got the right sponsor. I think he'll be my man when Ligano retires.

Oh, how many more years do you think Joey Lugano is going to drive? I don't know. I hope a lot. See the pressure? I love him. He's such a philanthropist. We love him. He's done so much for North Carolina.

Joey has done a great job with himself. And he is definitely one of the leaders. in this sport. So good choice. Hang on. I could feel that one. You could feel that. I think they're getting lower. I think they're getting lower. That's wild. Oh, man.

We did not plan to have that many fly. I'd that feel in your ears. It caught me that time. That one rang my ears a little bit. Yeah, it did. It did. Yeah, that was for Joey, she says. Thank you so much to the fans for all their questions. That was very cool. We just have a few minutes left here.

And we want to thank you guys again for being a part of this. This has been so cool. I know you're excited. I am. We've done a lot of, hey Jimmy. We've done a lot of things, you know, for the first time over the last few years. But there is not one thing that Caitlin has been more excited for than this live show. It's because of all of you.

I wanted you guys to be a part of it. I think it's important for us to be at the racetracks doing this. All right, closers. We don't usually get to talk to you guys right away and know who your picks are. Can you guys, I just want to hear who are some picks that you got for the Daytona 500. Somebody's holding up. Oh, hang on. What is that?

This is a four-chip. We got a championship Kevin Harvick jacket right here. We do. We do. I'm not racing. But I like it. Catch him in the booth. That's right.

All right. Yeah, this has been great, right? It's been so cool. I mean, as a kid that's watched this sport my entire life and then the speed channel, you know, the race day stuff and being able to kind of turn the clock back and be a little bit of a piece of that, I couldn't ask for anything more. It doesn't happen if they don't all show up, so there's no people in the crowd. That's right.

And we won't have a show again. So if you guys want to have it, you got to keep showing up. So thank you. Hey, do you guys think we should do this more often or what? Hey, do what's a favor and let them know on your Twitter and on your Instagram. Let them know. Let them know. Mr. Promotion.

All right, what's next for you? I know you got a busy day ahead, right? I have to go do an interview and then probably just more meetings. More meetings. We have more meetings than you can imagine. But we've got three race tonight before the duels, and then we've got both races. I'm excited to, I'm excited to see some racing. We've seen a lot of, a lot of the formalities of the sport.

We've had PR day. We've had everybody telling us how great they're going to do. Let's find out how fast your car really is. Caitlin, what are you going to, what are you going on? I will be in the pits for the Arc of race, and I'm sure you're interviewing Cleetis once again to see what viral moment he can create. You think we'll have any bald eagles flying this year? It's highly possible. You never know.

So it's going to be a fun weekend of racing. Y'all don't forget our handle, Harvick Happy Pod, make sure you go to the new YouTube channel, go subscribe all of our content, this content. All you guys are going to be on it. That's right. So much to make sure you're live, yes. And make sure you don't miss the Daytona 500 coverage.

February 15th, it starts on Fox at 1230. Thank you again so much for being here. It means so much. Just have all the closers with us for our first live show. Who wants some beer? We'll see you guys. After Daytona. Thank you.