Andrew Ravens Fri, October 23, 2026 at 10:58 PM UTC · 2 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kevin Harvick says Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson are both right about not being friends. The two drivers are first and second in the NASCAR Chase standings. Harvick reacted on his Happy Hour podcast.
Bell and Larson were asked about their relationship during a joint media session at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday.
"I think it's fair to say that we're different people, and we hang out with different people, and we're not friends, but we're acquaintances, and we've raced each other hard," Bell said.
Larson agreed and said Bell has pushed him to improve.
"I think nobody's pushed me more than Christopher to become a better racer, so I appreciate that," Larson said.
Harvick said the rivalry is fun to watch.
"There's a rivalry there that we all enjoy watching when it happens, and they're able to race against each other because they're both extremely talented and in extremely good equipment," Harvick said.
"And they're both right. It has made them better. And they know that they're not the same people. They don't like to do the same things," Harvick said.
"They aren't friends. I believe that there's a lot of respect there for one another. It's just that they don't like losing to the other one," Harvick said.
Harvick compared it to his own rivalry with the late Kyle Busch . Both ran their own Truck Series teams while racing against each other in the Cup Series.
"I think that Kyle Busch made me better. We competed head-to-head with the Truck Series teams with everything that we had on that side," Harvick said.
"And sometimes on those weekends, by the time we got to Sunday, we had probably run into each other a few times at some point because of the competitiveness between the two of us and our organizations for so many years," Harvick said.
The 2014 Cup champion said his only close friend among drivers was Tony Stewart . He explained why those friendships are rare at the top level of motorsports .
"Having those relationships that are close throughout the years… You're there to race for your team and do the best that you can for your team and worry about the consequences later," Harvick said.
"It's tough because sometimes you gotta run your friends over," Harvick added.
Bell is five points behind Larson with three races left. They race Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.
Source: Sports
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