Kevin Harvick talks feedback, criticism at team level in new Mobil 1 The Grid video
By Nick Tylwalk
Kevin Harvick says that keeping an open mind to opinions from within his team and a close eye on what’s going on around the garage are vital for staying at the forefront of NASCAR.
Though he’s still not the shrinking violet type by any means, time and success seem to have mellowed out Kevin Harvick just a tad. You only get occasional glances of the temper that earned him the sarcastic nickname “Happy” in the early stages of his NASCAR Cup Series career, and one suspects that the members of his Stewart-Haas Racing team are all well aware that side of him still exists.
Yet as Harvick explains in a new Mobil 1 The Grid video you can see below, he’s not opposed to feedback from anyone in the SHR organization or immune to criticism when it comes his way. An open flow of information in all directions is one of the things he believes has made the 4 team so tough to beat this year.
It starts with the bond between Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers, but it goes well beyond that.
“Having an honest evaluation is something that is hard for people to do.” Harvick said to Mobil 1 The Grid. “I have no problem with it. Some people get offended by it, and I have no problem taking that criticism and feedback from anybody, because we all want to be the best that we can be. So being open-minded and having an honest relationship with really everybody is something that our team is really good at, and understands that everybody wants to be better and not there to hurt each other’s feelings. It’s just part of the job.”
That same open-mindedness extends to what other teams might be doing too. Having been at the top level of NASCAR for this entire century so far, Harvick knows how many things have changed during that time and what the consequences might be for not keeping pace with all of them.
“You have to look around, and you have to pay attention,” Harvick said. “The day that you’re just getting in the car and driving, you’re probably going to get run out of the sport because it changes so fast.”
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It’s hard to argue with the results of that mind set for Harvick and the No. 4 team, considering they’ve already been to Victory Lane five times in 2018. You can check out more from Harvick and the other Stewart-Haas Racing drivers all season long on the Mobil 1 The Grid YouTube channel, which posts new NASCAR, IndyCar and F1 videos on a regular basis.