Kevin Harvick will practice and qualify the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports at North Wilkesboro Speedway next month for the NASCAR All-Star Race.
Harvick, who retired at the end of last season from Stewart-Haas Racing and is an analyst for Fox Sports, will substitute for Kyle Larson. Larson will be in Indianapolis attempting to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
“We’ve been trying to find drivers and stuff to replace me in the seat for practice and looked at lots of resumes, and unfortunately Clint’s [Bowyer] didn’t make the cut so we decided to go with Kevin Harvick,” Larson said Sunday during the Fox Sports pre-race show at Dover Motor Speedway. “He’s going to practice the No. 5. The whole team’s excited, honestly.”
Larson confirmed Friday at Dover that he would miss both practice and qualifying, scheduled for Friday, May 17, at North Wilkesboro. The hope is for the 2021 Cup Series champ to return on Saturday in time to compete in his heat race, but that timing remains uncertain. The NASCAR All-Star Race is on Sunday, May 19.
“The good thing is because I won’t be able – I don’t think – to get there for the heat race, they’ll have all day on Saturday to change everything back to me,” Larson said. “That factored into it a lot.”