Kevin Harvick sends NASCAR strong message about Xfinity race at Indy

The NASCAR Xfinity Series has run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 2012. But from 1982-2011, the yearly event was held at the nearby Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Currently, only the Truck Series race takes place at IRP. Kevin Harvick believes it’s time for NASCAR to send Xfinity back to IRP, he said on his “Happy Hour” podcast. Harvick said that in his opinion, multiple races at IMS “waters the weekend down.”

“I wish they wouldn’t run the Xfinity cars there,” Harvick said. “I think that Indy is one of those prestigious places — the road course was awful there, our cars are meant to be on the oval and competing for a prestigious event like that — I’m glad they went back to the oval, and I still don’t think the Xfinity cars need to be at the big track. Xfinity should be back with the trucks at IRP and everything that happens over there, go back to that traditional style of weekend so you don’t water it down. When you have that Saturday race, it takes away from the Sunday race and waters the weekend down.

“… I don’t believe they should be there. They put on a great show anywhere most of the time, but I think IRP is a better place for them. … NASCAR needs to say, ‘You guys need to be back at IRP,’ because they’re going to get 15,000 fans. It was always a packed house, standing room only and I just believe the prestige of Indy belongs at the top level.”

NASCAR Xfinity Series race at IMS does big viewership

For what it’s worth, Saturday’s Xfinity race at IMS was a success from a TV standpoint. The race had 1.108 million viewers, peaking at 1.333 million viewers from 7:15-7:30 p.m. ET. Connor Zilisch won his third consecutive race in what was win No. 100 for JR Motorsports.

“It’s incredible to get the 100th victory for JR Motorsports,” Zilisch said. “I’ve been with the company just under a year and if you had told me a year ago that I would be sitting here with six wins, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’m so happy for Dale, Kelley, L.W., Mr. H and everyone at JR Motorsports. This one is so special for them. It’s such a cool accomplishment.

“I’m so proud of Mardy’s [crew chief Mardy Lindley] and all the guys on the WeatherTech team for all their hard work. Hopefully we can continue the momentum next week in Iowa. There’s still a lot that we want to accomplish this season.”