Harvick has advice for Logano about family's role

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- The feud between Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick was brewing long before Pocono Raceway and since has erupted into a parenting lecture aimed at Tom Logano, Joey's dad.

After contact between Logano's No. 20 and Harvick's 29 during last weekend's race at Pocono, Logano went to confront the driver and parked his car near Harvick's on pit road. Tom Logano, Logano's father -- highly involved in his son's career -- encouraged the confrontation once his son was out of the car.

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The feud between Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano was a hot topic Friday at Michigan. Hear what many had to say.

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Inside the media center at Michigan International Speedway on Friday, Harvick said the 20-year-old Logano needs to run his own racing career.

"His father has no place in his," Harvick said. "His father needs to stick back and act like all of the rest of the dads, and be happy that his kid's here. This isn't Little League baseball anymore. He just needs to stay away and act like a 50-year-old man, or however old he is."

Pocono is not the first time Harvick has had issues with Logano or his father.

Harvick rattled off a handful of on-track incidents with Logano that included rough racing at Bristol, Phoenix and Richmond. Finally, Harvick said he confronted the young driver at Nashville earlier this season after a dustup where Harvick claimed Tom Logano had "physical contact" with one of his Kevin Harvick Inc. public relations employees.

"I go to Nashville, I tell him, I say, 'Alright, Joey. The best thing you can do is get your dad under control,' and he turned around, laughed at me, and said, Do you really think that was a big deal?' Obviously, now it's a pretty big deal," Harvick explained.

After that, Harvick chalked it up to Logano being immature and not wanting to take advice from a veteran. He said he is open to work out the differences but Logano will have to begin the dialogue. So far, Logano is maintaining his position and supporting his father, who he believes has his best interest in mind.

Mark Martin understands, as only another father can.

"I loved seeing Tom Logano's reaction and I'm a dad ... anybody who would criticize that, a lot of them aren't dads," Martin said. "I have a son that competed, not only in racing, but in hockey, too. Heck, I stood up one day, yelled at him, hit him with his stick when he was playing hockey and a kid's dad was standing next to me and I didn't care. So, I'm a dad and I am a Tom Logano fan, as well."

Harvick doesn't see it that way.

"I like to leave my family at home because I think this is my job," he said. "Obviously, they come and watch and are part of it and DeLana [Harvick's wife] is part of it on a weekly basis, but, my mom and my dad, sister and all of them, they don't even like coming to the race track."

Speaking of DeLana Harvick, she has managed to turn the feud to fortune for charity by selling T-shirts that read: "I wear the firesuit in this family." It was inspired by Logano's infamous jab: "His wife wears the firesuit in the family and tells him what to do."

"Being brought into this sport when I was 23, I started and said a lot of things that you look back and you go, I probably shouldn't have said that," Harvick said. "But, it's right on the edge of making it personal, and personal is not something I don't think he really wants to get into that. That would be a lot worse for him than just handling it man to man and doing it the right way."

Related:
• DeLana responds | Shop: Get your 'Firesuit' T-shirt