Jack Harvey doesn’t know if Sunday’s IndyCar race at Nashville Speedway will be the last of his career or a pause in the continuation to a journey that began in 2017, but he knows what he wants, and that’s to remain in the cockpit and possibly add his presence to the TV booth.
“The outlook for next year, if I was being completely realistic – taking away what my heart wants to do, which in a perfect dream scenario is to be full-time – I just don’t think that’s on the cards,” Harvey told RACER. “It’s not trying to be negative. I’ve loved everything we’ve done this year with Dale Coyne Racing and I want to go back, but Dale’s been transparent with me and we know there’s a need for budget that’s greater than we can offer. I’d love to do the 500 again, and from a driving perspective in IndyCar, that’s the biggest thing that we’re targeting.
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“I think right now we just have to be somewhat calculated, because I’d rather end up with a fantastic seat at the 500 if we can, than holding out and doing a few more things not to the level that we really would like. And my manager tells me there’s been some good inquiries for us, so I’m putting my concentration into the highest quality situation we can find ourselves.”
As he completes his eighth IndyCar season, Harvey also sees the upcoming change from NBC to FOX as the broadcaster for the NTT IndyCar Series and Indy NXT as an area of intrigue and opportunity.
“I’ve always enjoyed commentating, which I’ve done when I was coming through some of the junior categories in Europe,” the 31-year-old Briton said. “I think the thing people need to remember is I’m just a racing fan. Racing is my job, but it’s also absolutely my passion. I love being in the IndyCar paddock, so if there was an opportunity to do some form of commentating, I would be very interested in doing it.
“I also think, especially having driven with the new hybrid car now on road courses, ovals, street circuits, that it’s pretty unique. I think of James Hinchcliffe and how he has transitioned from doing some of his pit lane reporting to being in the booth, and he’s set such a good template for how someone can do it, continue racing, and follow both paths with success. I want to race each weekend, but if that’s not possible for whatever reason, I just feel like there’s so much upside to talking about the cars and the racing to the fans and being involved in the sport that I love.”