Kevin Harvick, revered for his sharp analysis and unfiltered commentary, has been closely watching the emergence of new talent in the Cup Series. A former champion with 60 wins, Harvick brings credibility and insight to both the booth and his own podcast. After the Viva Mexico 250 race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, just like other NASCAR veterans experiencing the thrill of international circuit racing, Harvick also broke down the field’s performance, spotlighting a burgeoning contender, Shane van Gisbergen, the former clearly recognized something special unfolding.
Shane van Gisbergen’s rise this season has been nothing short of meteoric. The New Zealand native, already a two-time Cup winner with triumphs in Chicago and Mexico City, started 2025 with a learning curve on ovals, often finishing outside the Top 20. The win gave him hope for even better times to come. “It means everything to us, this is why I’m here,” van Gisbergen said. “I am getting better and more competitive. We’re really making a lot of progress.” From the 33rd in points to now finding himself in the playoffs, SVG was the class of the field as he carved out a 16-second window on the runner-up car. That’s how good the Kiwi driver was in Mexico, but Harvick feels the Trackhouse driver hasn’t peaked just yet.
Harvick sees a game-changing potential in SVG
In a recent episode of his podcast “Happy Hour,” Kevin Harvick applauded Gisbergen for his commendable victory at the Mexican circuit, even explaining the racecraft that the latter showcased throughout the race. “I think when you go to a new racetrack like this, that people haven’t been to, it really shows who are the guys that are elite, and SVG was right there,” said Harvick. “Ty Gibbs, right in the mix.” It was a chaotic race right from the get-go. We saw Kyle Busch spark the big one early in the race, whereas Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Carson Hocevar tangled again. It was hard for drivers to keep their fenders clean, yet SVG raced his way up front, unbothered by the chaos that ensued behind him.
“I think he was really the only one that I felt like when I watched the broadcast that had the speed to keep up with Shane. I think it was a battle between those two guys, and obviously the caution felt the wrong time for Ty,” said Harvick. Ty Gibbs emerged as the lone driver capable of shadowing Gisbergen’s blistering pace in Mexico City as Gibbs was second overall in speed and defense, and led restarts, trailing only the #88 car on the stat sheet. He led 3 times for a total of 27 laps, showcasing serious potential for a win. But a late caution triggered by Carson Hocevar disrupted his strategy, making it a critical turning point for Gibbs in the race. Though he ultimately finished 11th, Gibbs’ performance stood out as the most credible challenge to SVG’s dominance.
But just like any other NASCAR veteran, Kevin Harvick also showed concerns over NASCAR’s playoff point system, which allowed Gisbergen to clinch a playoff position despite a limited number of starts in the season. “But when you get those mixed up conditions as well, and you see what he can do when it’s wet, when it’s dry, all the things that are in between, he’s a world-class racer, and I think we thought this was coming, and now we see it with the standings and everything that it mixes up with the points,” Harvick continued. “And I still believe we’re gonna have a couple more winners, I do.”
“He’s a world-class road racer.” @KevinHarvick reacts to Shane van Gisbergen’s win in Mexico City. pic.twitter.com/BQuSwJuQHu
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) June 17, 2025
With just 10 drivers already qualified for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the remaining seats will witness a tough rivalry as Harvick noted, “Right now, Briscoe’s 14th that puts Bowman and Buescher, if that were the case, out. If they’re not one of the winners, but from SVG’s standpoint, I mean, he’s a world-class road racer, and I think he continues to get better on the ovals, and I think that will make his road racing even better as he gets more comfortable in the cars.”
SVG’s charm on road courses may be commendable, but Harvick notes that he still lacks some refinement in the ovals. Just 24 hours after his dominant win, Gisbergen hopped into a legends car at Charlotte, only to finish 4 laps down after his car was wrecked on Lap 18, while climbing from 20th to 7th place on a wet track. So far on ovals, SVG has had four top 20 finishes, and considering that this is his first year, he’s shown good progress. He even finished 14th at Charlotte, so Harvick feels that with every weekend, he is going to make positive strides.
Harvick says Max Verstappen could be fit for Cup challenge
Kevin Harvick has stirred up discussion by predicting Max Verstappen might make the switch to NASCAR once his Formula 1 career winds down. Harvick noted, “There’s a hot rumor that he’s gonna quit at the end of the year!.. I think that if he’s not doing F1, I think it becomes a lot easier to open those doors. And with Red Bull involved, I would say that the door for that to happen is probably way more open with Project 91 than it ever has,” after Red Bull’s recent collaboration with Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 and their return to sport after a 14-year absence.
Verstappen himself has voiced interest in trying out racing in NASCAR in a 2021 Autosport interview, saying, “I would like to try NASCAR one day. It’s something different, and I think it would be a fun challenge.” His curiosity deepened at a Red Bull event in Austria, where fellow Red Bull athlete Connor Zilisch casually invited him to hop into a NASCAR car, a suggestion Verstappen replied with genuine interest, saying, “Yeah, I mean, I would like to do it.” With his complete dominance in Formula 1, with 4 consecutive championships, and a growing passion for diverse disciplines, Verstappen presents a rare all-around talent ripe for NASCAR’s global spotlight.
Harvick specifically pointed out Project 91, Trackhouse Racing’s initiative aimed at integrating international stars into NASCAR, as the perfect mechanism for such a move. The program has already hosted drivers like Kimi Räikkönen and Shane van Gisbergen, proving that the model works and that Verstappen could follow suit. If he does, it is not a question of ‘ifs’, but ‘when’, and NASCAR fans may soon witness one of the world’s best drivers take on stock cars in elite form.
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