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Kevin Harvick questions Xfinity Series identity after O'Reilly Auto Parts NASCAR title sponsor news

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones08/20/25brianjones_93
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Courtesy of NASCAR

Kevin Harvick raised some interesting questions about NASCAR announcing O’Reilly Auto Parts being the new title sponsor for what is now known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series. On Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Harvick reacted to the announcement that was made earlier this week.

“I’m really happy for what is the Xfinity Series now to have O’Reilly come in and sponsor the series, but I have a lot of questions,” Kevin Harvick said. “Are they the same company as Advance Auto Parts? So, what happens to the Advance Auto Parts weekly sponsorship?

“The second thing that I think we need to work on is we need some identity for this series. We have the NASCAR Cup Series, and we have the Bill France Cup, and we have all these things that are true to the Cup Series. The trucks are the easy one, right? They’re just trucks. Even if Craftsman is not there, it’s still the Truck Series, and then you have the Cup Series. So, what is the Xfinity Series? So, next year, are we going to be O’Reilly Series? And then everybody’s going to be like ‘What the hell is the O’Reilly Series?’ I don’t know. I just think that we need some consistent identity for the Xfinity Series as to what is it.”

More on the big change for NASCAR Xfinity Series

On Monday, NASCAR and O’Reilly Auto Parts announced a multiyear partnership to be the title sponsor of NASCAR’s secondary series. It will be officially called the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and will make its debut on Jan. 1, 2026.

“Like the great sport of NASCAR, O’Reilly Auto Parts was born in America and built on the hard work and drive of passionate people,” NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell said in a press release. “This new partnership allows us to continue to fuel that passion for the next generation of NASCAR’s stars and fans while celebrating the journey we’ve been on together for decades.”

The agreement marks the fourth entitlement sponsorship for the series. It was called the Xfinity Series since 2015, and before that, the series was called the Nationwide Series from 2008 to 2014. Longtime NASCAR fans remember the series being called the Busch Grand National Series, as it had that name from 1984 to 2002. NASCAR dropped “Grand National” from the series title in 2003.