The Sad Saga of Jack Harvey
There was another announcement last week connected to the current silly season, which has the potential to be the craziest silly season of them all. With a lot of bombshells and unexpected twists and turns, this silly season could get wild and possibly ugly in some circumstances. Last week’s announcement, however, was no bombshell. Unfortunately, most fans saw this one coming.
Jack Harvey has now been officially removed from the No. 30 car of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLLR). Conor Daly has been tabbed as the driver of the car this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, which is an oval where Daly has had many good runs in lesser cars. For the final two races, the team plans to evaluate other drivers, but I’ve heard former F2 driver and Red Bull F1 Reserve Driver Jüri Vips will probably run at least one of the two remaining races, if not both.
The story of Jack Harvey is a sad one. He and Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) started in IndyCar together. They were taking things nice and slow as they both acclimated to IndyCar. His career seemed to be progressing nicely as the team seemed to find their footing in the NTT IndyCar Series.
In 2021 MSR announced they would be running a second car in selected races, beginning with the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500. The car was piloted by Helio Castroneves, who won his fourth 500 that day. Harvey finished eighteenth in the race, and watched quietly as his new teammate took the spotlight and the accolades.
Also that season, RLLR announced that they would be running a third car in selected races, in preparation for that car being run. Santino Ferrucci got most of the races they ran in the No. 45 car, leading several people to believe that he would get the ride – but it ultimately went to Jack Harvey, catching many people by surprise.
I was also surprised, because I really thought Harvey was a fixture at MSR. He had helped get that program off the ground, and it seemed like an odd time to be leaving – just when they were starting to see the results of his efforts.
As we all know now, Harvey at RLLR was a disaster. It started off with a thirteenth at St. Petersburg in 2022, and went downhill from there. In fact, that was as high as he would finish until the series go to the random crash-fest at Nashville, when he finished tenth. The remaining three races after Nashville in 2022, Harvey finished twenty-fourth, fifteenth and twentieth in the remaining races after Nashville.
It was common knowledge among teams and fans that Harvey needed a very strong 2023 to keep his seat. It didn’t happen. In fact, it was worse. All three of the RLLR cars had problems at many tracks in the first half of the season, and Harvey’s was usually the slowest of those three. Once the team sorted out its problems in late summer, Christian Lundgaard won at Toronto, and Graham Rahal put his car on the pole at the Gallagher Grand Prix on the IMS road course. Unfortunately, Harvey’s car still struggled.
I certainly don’t know what the problem was, and I’m not sure anyone knows. I know Jack Harvey didn’t forget how to drive a race car, once he left MSR and moved to RLLR. Was it lack of chemistry within his team? Does RLLR set up their cars in a way that doesn’t suit Harvey’s driving style? I have no clue, but something was definitely amiss.
On Tuesday the team ended the speculation and put Harvey out of his misery, by announcing that he had been relieved of his duties in the No. 30 car. While I was not surprised at all, I still hated it for Jack Harvey.
We all have co-workers we like and don’t like. As racing fans, everyone has drivers they like and don’t like. It’s the same for me. I’ve never had any personal interactions with Jack Harvey, but I’ve seen his television interviews and I’ve observed him in press conferences in the media center. In all my observations , dating back to his first appearance in the 2017 Indianapolis 500, I’ve seen nothing to tell me that Jack Harvey was anything but a straight-up high-character guy, who was extremely humble, witty, pleasant and accommodating. I can’t say that about every driver I’ve come across.
What I find extremely sad about this situation is that I’m not sure Jack Harvey has a chair, when the music stops in the 2024 offseason. When the green flag flies at (presumably) St. Petersburg next spring, I’m afraid Jack Harvey may be on the outside looking in.
According to last week’s Trackside, Harvey apparently enquired about the possibility of returning to MSR, and was told that was not an option. There will be a lot of movement among drivers and teams in the coming months, but I’m not sure I see a spot for Harvey. The only slight possibility I see is at Dale Coyne Racing, but there may not be room there. I’ve heard Devlin DeFrancesco may end up in the No. 18 car currently occupied by David Malukas, and I’m not sure of the status of Sting Ray Robb. Perhaps something else will open up among other teams, or perhaps Harvey can find some budget to take to another team.
IndyCar is a results-now business. It always has been t some extent, and seems to be becoming more so every season. I get it and that’s just the way it is. But sometimes you’d like to see a good guy land on his feet. I’m sure in hindsight, he knows he should have never left MSR, but things haven’t gone well for them since he left, either.
I am hopeful that Jack Harvey can get another shot in IndyCar. He’s one of the good ones.
George Phillips
Oilpressure 
August 21, 2023 at 8:43 am
It is interesting to me to see how MSR sank without Harvey while RLL sank with him. He hasn’t been the same and neither has the team.
While I like Harvey and wouldn’t be opposed to seeing him land another seat, the results at RLL are rough to look at (only one top 10, started and finished last among his two teammates well over half the time) and I think would make hiring him in a full time role difficult to justify unless he is toting sponsorship. His results at MSR are certainly better, though his reputation as a guy who qualifies better than he races was well-earned there and then cemented at RLL.
August 21, 2023 at 10:23 am
It probably would have helped Jack if RLL just parted ways with him after the 2022 season. When they moved him over to the #30 car, it was the team’s way of saying, “You’re not good enough to drive the car that has our best sponsor on it.”
I suppose some people have the inner fortitude to view that as a challenge and prove ’em wrong so to speak. But it’s also a huge blow to one’s confidence, and I think that’s part of what we’ve seen from Jack at RLL in 2023.
August 21, 2023 at 11:39 am
RLL have been very supportive all through this bleak 18 months or so. Wonder if they will offer him a drive in the BMW programme.