Time waits for no one, and even as Kevin Harvick has continued to perform at a high level well into his mid-40s, it hasn't waited for him either. At 46 and the oldest full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, Harvick is currently under contract with Stewart-Haas Racing until the end of the 2023 season.
With a contract year nearer now than it seems and with Harvick growing older, the question of exactly how long he plans to race before he retires is an unavoidable one. All indications from Harvick, though, are that he plans to continue racing. Speaking with Jim Utter of Motorsport.com, the Cup veteran of 22 seasons made a strong commitment towards continuing his career at Stewart-Haas Racing.
"I like where I race. I like Stewart-Haas Racing. I like the atmosphere. I like the people here. That's really the biggest reason that I like to do it, especially this year," Harvick said. "You're with a group of people where you're constantly problem-solving. You're trying to fix it faster than everybody else and come to something that is better than everybody else so you can win races.
"I like the core group of guys that I started here with. That's why they all came here, and I guess I would feel like I'm abandoning them if I didn't go a couple more years."
As recent years have seen top drivers in NASCAR retire younger and younger -- Jimmie Johnson at 45, Clint Bowyer at 41 and Aric Almirola later this year at 38 -- Harvick represents something of a throwback by racing into his late 40s. Harvick will be 47 during his contract year next year and almost 48 by the time the 2023 season ends.
The last driver to race full-time at that age was Matt Kenseth, who came out of semi-retirement to run almost the entire 2020 season at 48.
Harvick's Cup career began with the second race of the 2001 season, when he was tabbed as the replacement for the late Dale Earnhardt following his death in that year's Daytona 500. From that point, Harvick launched and built a legendary career of his own with 58 career wins and the 2014 Cup Series championship.
Despite a 50-race winless streak, Harvick has far from fallen off the top of his game -- As evidenced by a fifth-place finish in the championship standings last year and a second-place run last weekend at Richmond.