Brad Keselowski’s recent comments requesting better support from Ford have sparked debate across the NASCAR garage. Now, former Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick has weighed in, putting Ford and Penske under scrutiny. 

During the pre-race media availability, Brad Keselowski commented on how Toyota has pushed for "elite collaboration amongst their top organizations," which gave them two “A-organizations” rather than an A, B, and C", and Toyota is the only one to achieve this. 

While discussing these comments on his podcast Happy Hour on July 8, Kevin Harvick argued that Team Penske had gradually taken control of several aspects of Ford’s competition program. 

"At the end, Penske had basically taken over everything that Ford was doing with the program that the teams were allowed to do, and they had manipulated it to the point where they were in charge of the Aero program and all the things that the teams were doing it," he said.

The NASCAR Hall of Famer further emphasised that the problem is not with the way the team operates, but rather that the OEM needs to support their teams better. 

"It started as Stewart-Haas and Penske, and now that it's all been put into one house, it hasn't run as good," he added. "But in the end, I think that from a Ford standpoint, it's a Ford problem. It's not a team problem. They need more help from their manufacturers."

The Ford camp has bagged only one win in the 2026 campaign so far, as compared to seven last season. The win came earlier this season with Ryan Blaney of Penske. 

The NASCAR Cup Series Champion's assessment largely echoed Brad Keselowski’s comments, with both believing that Ford’s current slump stems from the OEM's overall approach rather than the performance of any one team. 

Brad Keselowski urges Ford to step up amid Toyota’s dominance 

The Ford-backed RFK driver Keselowski spoke about Ford’s recent struggles. During his pre-race interview, he spoke to the media, where he spoke about how the races are in the hands of the OEMs under the Next Gen rather than the team. 

"I think that the cars aren't where they need to be, and I feel the same way about myself," he said on July 3, as posted by Cup Scene on YouTube. "And that's not a dig on the crew chiefs or the race engineers, but that's philosophically, the sport has changed now where the races are less in the hands of the crew chiefs and the race engineers and more in the hands of the OEMs."

He praised Toyota for continuing to innovate and improve, saying its success should motivate the rest of the field to elevate their performance.

After 19 races this season, Toyota has 12 wins against Ford's one win. Ford is currently 270 points behind the leader, which is Toyota.

What do you think of Harvick's take on the current situation? Let us know in the comments.

Read more at Daytona Racing Digest.

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar