Keelan Harvick Wins on Road to the Throwback Classic at Hickory

Keelan Harvick picked up bragging rights against father Kevin Harvick and earned his first zMAX CARS Tour Pro Late Model victory on Saturday night, winning at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Keelan Harvick dominated the 100-lap Pro Late Model contest, crossing the line more than four seconds ahead of Caden Kvapil. Harvick led wire-to-wire in the event after qualifying on the pole.

With HendrickCars.com adorned on the No. 62, Harvick brought home a birthday present for Rick Hendrick in the win.

"I just can't thank Rick Hendrick enough," said Harvick in victory lane. "Happy birthday to him. I just can't thank Hendrick Cars for coming on board. It wouldn't be possible without all of my sponsors, Panini, Realtree, iRacing, Hunt Brothers Pizza, everybody who helps me race. It wouldn't be possible without them. Thank you, fans for coming out. It feels good."

Kevin Harvick finished third in the event, putting both father and son on the podium at Hickory. The elder Harvick has been enjoying the "Harvick Cup" series of races between them, even though he was on the losing end on Saturday.

"It's just so special to be able to do what we're doing right now," said Kevin Harvick. "It's not something that I had really thought about or planned. Even though he kicks my butt, it's fun to be on the same racetrack. It creates new conversations that we didn't really have with Legends Cars or go-karts.

"To see the progression, and I think it happens faster when we're racing together, so we're having fun. We're racing in front of a lot of fans across the country. We appreciate everybody coming here on short notice tonight to be able to watch this kind of makeup race.

Kvapil finished second, using restarts to his advantage throughout the race to work his way forward from the fifth starting spot. He admitted he didn't have anything for Keelan Harvick, but was satisfied with a runner-up finish.

"If anything, I probably needed a shorter race. I feel like we probably had a fifth-place car and brought it home second. We were super loose from the start, couldn't get drive off. I mean, the restarts helped me a lot. I gained a couple of my spots. All of my spots were really on the restarts.

"Maybe it held on a little better at the end, it started coming to me a little bit, but we just struggled with the whole race, too loose through exit. The 62, obviously, was a lot better than anyone here, so we had really nothing for him. To come home second, it's still pretty good. Started fifth and had a clean car."

Jade Avedisian finished fourth, with series points leader Ben Maier rounding out the top five.

The next race for the zMAX CARS Tour sees the series return to Hickory for the Throwback Classic on August 2. With his win on Saturday, Keelan Harvick is locked into the field for the $30,000-to-win Pro Late Model feature during the Throwback Classic.

Keelan and Kevin Harvick will be racing against each other once again on Wednesday, July 16 in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Masters of the Pros 200 at Owosso Speedway. Fans can watch that event live on Wednesday on RacingAmerica.TV.

-Photo credit: zMAX CARS Tour

Road to the Throwback 100 Unofficial Results