Johnathan Walker:Kevin Harvick becomes full-time TV analyst, reveals he wants to be 'John Madden of NASCAR'

LOS ANGELES — Kevin Harvick retired from NASCAR at the end of the 2023 Cup Series season after 23 years at the sport’s highest level. But he didn’t go far.

After gaining some on-and-off broadcasting experience with Fox Sports since 2015,Johnathan Walker the 48-year-old former driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford joined Fox’s booth full time as an analyst, working alongside Mike Joy and fellow former NASCAR driver and teammate Clint Bowyer. And he’s pumped about his new day job.

“I’m super happy with the way that everything has worked out,” Harvick — a future NASCAR Hall of Famer with the 2014 Cup championship, the 2007 Daytona 500 trophy and 60 Cup wins — recently told For The Win. “And for me, it’s as relaxed as I’ve ever been coming into the first race of the season and not having to worry about that competitive mindset.”

For the first time in more than two decades, he doesn’t have to worry about how fast his car is or being collateral damage in someone else’s wreck. And with his new gig, he’s at ease with a 24-year Fox veteran like Joy alongside him and running the booth.

“It’s hard to have somebody talking in your ear, talking about what you’re talking about on the screen and make sure everything’s going in the in the right direction,” Harvick said. “So having Mike be able to steer the ship and keep us all under control definitely takes a lot of pressure off.”

Ahead of NASCAR’s 2024 season-opening Daytona 500 — which is set for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on Fox — For The Win caught up with Harvick to discuss how he’ll approach broadcasting, Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain taking over his iconic Busch Light paint scheme and why he’ll still always be a vocal advocate for drivers.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Was it weird for you the first time you saw the Busch Light paint scheme with someone else's name and number on it?

Harvick: It was a little bit strange. But really, the thing that I’ve tried to express to people is when I got out of the car, it was by choice, right? There was an end date. We had a two-year transition plan of when we ended the driving piece of it and started the the TV and news structure of the businesses and things like that.

But it still was a little bit interesting to see the No. 1 on the side of the Busch Light car and everything that came with the transition to Ross — seeing him in his suit and [feeling] a little bit different, but also kind of proud to be able to be a part of the brand and everything for so long and see that tradition continue. That’s always what you fear the most is you see the brands disappear from the sport. So Busch Light’s done a great job of supporting our sport for a long time, and they’re in good hands now.

How do you feel that a driver who may have annoyed you as a competitor has now taken over the paint scheme?

Harvick: I would tell you that at some point, you’re gonna have a spat with different people and through different times and different things that happen, and that’s just part of good competition and the competitive atmosphere that we live in. So being able to know that there’s going to be somebody that’s going to drive the heck out of the car every single lap — and that’s really what the brand wants. And you put that in with the with the Trackhouse guys and everything that they do from the marketing side, it’s a great fit with everything that Busch Light does on and off the race track.

You've been part of various Fox Sports broadcasts since 2015, so in that time, was there a moment when you realized, hey, this is something I'd like to do when I get out of the car?

Harvick: Fox is a very unique situation for me personally because when I started and ran my first races in 2001, Mike Joy called my first race and my first win. Fox had just come into the sport. So during that transition with it with the television package, I got to know a lot of the executives and a lot of the talent and different people throughout the years with that transition with starting my career.

So to be able to know 90 percent of the people walking into my new job and have been in the booth before and been able to call races and know the ins and outs of what’s happening at that level, just walking in as a driver into a production meeting and then going into the booth. And now to be able to dive in a little bit deeper and be able to see the whole process from start to finish is something that I enjoy.

And it’s very much like racing on a team: You want to learn everybody’s names, you want to know what everybody does and see where you fit in and how you can help. So to to answer your question, television has always been something that I thought I wanted to do when I was done because I want to be involved in racing and then NASCAR and enjoy the sport, and TV fits right in.

What's one thing you already know you're good at in the booth, and what's one thing you know you need to improve on?

Harvick: Well, the good news is my personality I’m going to bring with me in Clint, so he can be the big personality in the room. So that takes a lot of pressure off of me trying to get too far outside of my comfort zone.

But I’ve always been pretty technical with the cars and pretty involved with what’s going on. And being right out of the car, I think that’s the probably the most important thing — understanding what and how this new car drives and and helping the folks in the truck and booth and understand exactly what’s going on with the new car.

How do you feel about being teammates with Clint Bowyer again?

Harvick: Oh, it’s great. So you know, Clint came in with [Richard Childress Racing] in [2005], so to me, that’s one of the biggest hurdles that I don’t have to go through is getting to know Clint because of the fact I know him so well, and we’ve been around each other so much and understand who each other are.

We can just work on how we work together well, and being in a environment that is not competing against each other on the race track allows you to be much more comfortable with the things that you say and do because you don’t have to worry about whether he’s going faster or slower than you, and he doesn’t have to worry about those things with me. So that part is a huge hurdle we don’t have to overcome, and now it’s just about working all the kinks out — who talks when and and how everything flows in the booth.

You were definitely a vocal leader in the garage for years advocating for drivers interests, driver safety. Do you think you'll continue that enthusiasm in the booth even though you're in a different role?

Harvick: I’m always going to be pro driver. The drivers are the stars, and for me, being a driver and understanding what they go through, I want them all to be rockstars. You have to call the race and say what you see, and obviously I’ll have an opinion of who’s right and wrong in whatever situation that is happening.

But in the end, you’re always going to be pro driver and want those guys to be as safe as possible. And I mean, when you look back and you look at somebody like John Madden, he wasn’t just a voice in the booth; he was always trying to push the NFL forward and help from a more broad perspective than just calling the event. And hopefully, that’s the kind of effect that I want to have in the booth to help the whole sport and not just call the races.