Kevin Harvick is firing back after Stephen A. Smith said NASCAR drivers and golfers are not athletes, turning the debate into a sharp public split over what racing demands. Harvick addressed the issue on SPEED on Fox, using a personal story to argue that Smith has no real grasp of racing. The exchange centers on a claim Smith made while discussing greatness and longevity in sports.
Harvick says Smith “has no clue about racing”
Harvick did not soften his criticism. On the last episode of SPEED on Fox, hosted by Harvick and Will Buxton, he said Smith “has no clue about racing” and argued that people should not speak on a sport they do not understand.
Harvick said he does not mind criticism of racing, its drivers, or its people, but he drew a hard line at uninformed commentary. “If you don’t know anything about racing, just keep your opinion to yourself because you shouldn’t even have an opinion if you don’t know anything about a sport, ” Harvick said.
The reaction comes after Smith said on his radio show that “a golfer is not an athlete” and “a NASCAR driver is not an athlete, ” saying that getting behind the wheel of a car is not the same as being an athlete. Smith repeated that view while reacting to discussion about athletes and longevity.
The calorie story Harvick used to make his case
Harvick backed up his point with a story about a fitness tracker he wore during a race. He said he asked Polar for a watch while he was getting more serious about fitness, then used it during a 500-mile event.
In that first race, Harvick said the watch showed he burned 3, 200 calories. He said the company called the next week and told him they believed the device had to be wrong because they assumed a race driver could not be expending that much energy. Harvick then said that on the next race, with more cautions, he burned 2, 400 calories.
Harvick said Polar later told him the readings matched what they saw, and that the only people they had seen with that kind of calorie burn or constant heart rate were marathon runners. In Harvick’s telling, that response showed how off the mark Smith’s comments were.
Kevin Harvick used that example to push the debate beyond opinion and into lived experience, arguing that racing places real physical demands on drivers. His point was not subtle: people outside the sport may not realize what it takes to perform inside a car for a long race.
Smith’s comments sparked a wider response
Smith’s remarks have already drawn attention across the NASCAR world. He said golfers and NASCAR drivers can be elite at what they do, but still should not be called athletes because, in his view, the activities are not athletic in the same way other sports are.
Harvick’s response lands in the middle of that broader argument. He framed the issue as one of basic respect for the sport and for the people who compete in it. His message was direct: criticism is fair, but only when it comes from a place of understanding.
Kevin Harvick now sits at the center of a debate that is bigger than one quote. The next step will likely be whether Smith responds again, or whether the conversation shifts back to racing itself after a round of public pushback.
