Losing His IndyCar Seat: Jack Harvey Determined to Race Despite Uncertainty | FanAmp Insider

In this exclusive interview, IndyCar driver Jack Harvey sits down with us at the 2024 Nashville finale to discuss his recent challenges, including being dropped from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 2023 and ending his 2024 Dale Coyne Racing season without a seat for next year. Despite these setbacks, Jack remains determined to keep racing.

Jack dropped everything to move from the UK to the US and chase his racing dream. You'll hear Jack share what it's like competing with friends, his mindset for taking wins and rejections in stride, and what's next for him on-track. He also discusses lessons learned about resilience, perseverance, and being the pilot of your own life.

Whether you're a driver or not, the lessons and advice in this Insider apply to everyone!

Click below to watch the full interview with Jack Harvey, and keep reading for the full transcript.

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Jack: This could absolutely and feasibly be my last IndyCar race. I want to leave the track, not just happy that it's been amazing to even get to this point, but also that it’s a pretty wonderful life.

Introduction and Jack’s journey to IndyCar [0:25]

Greg: Picture your dream job. The one that you'd tell all your friends and family about. That one that you wouldn't even need to set an alarm to wake up for. Now, think about what it would feel like - excited to walk into work - only to find out that you've been fired and replaced by your best friend. There's no imagining this for IndyCar driver Jack Harvey, because he lived it.

He sat down with FanAmp at the 2024 IndyCar season finale to share his story. You don't want to miss hearing how his world was turned upside down, and his secrets for overcoming it. Plus, stick around until the end, because we've got a big announcement for him for 2025. With that, let's go meet Jack.

Jack: My name is Jack Harvey, 31 years old.

Originally from, the United Kingdom. Small town called Lincoln. I'm the driver number 18 for Dale Coyne Racing. I started go karting when I was 9 years old. I progressed through all the national ranks in the UK, and then, I started racing across Europe. I then moved into open wheel racing. Stayed in Europe.

I went to the Houston IndyCar Grand Prix and it was hot. It was so hot there that on the way home on the flight, I said to my dad that:

“I was so serious about this. I think it's too hot for me to race it. That was a genuine consideration.”

Right then was when I met Sam Schmidt and some of the other team owners and it kind of just really evolved from there.

So I think the realistic side, that racing in Europe was becoming so wildly expensive without potentially a destination to go. So, coming here, doing a year of Indy Lights, and then at the time racing with Sam - I mean he had an Indy Lights team and an IndyCar team, so it felt like an obvious place to be. If that went well you could go from here to there.

I think the bit that people don't give enough credit to is actually how hard it is moving to a completely different part of the world than you've ever been before. It's not like it's a very gradual like transition to that. It was literally a case of we're going racing in America. I moved there, and at that point, my whole family is still in my hometown of Lincoln.

So, at this point, I’m the only one away. So yes, I had a support network to make it happen, but honestly, my first year living here was quite tough. You know, only just turned 21 and I didn't do the college experience. That wasn't like a…. I didn't have a ton of experience even knowing what it's like to completely fend for your own - if you want to call it that.

However, once I really started to embrace American culture and American way of life, etc… My experience went from a 4 to a 10. Honestly, at the end of my first year of Indy Lights, that was when I really decided that this is where I wanted to be long term.

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Overcoming his replacement at Rahal [3:20]

Greg: Remember when I said, picture your dream job?

Well, fast forward a bit, and Jack was working his.

He'd gone from #2 in Indy Lights to a full time IndyCar driver. However, in the final races of the 2023 season, his team made an earth shattering announcement. Jack was out, and he was now being replaced by his close friend, Conor Daly. Setbacks are a dime a dozen, I'm sure, within the sport overall.

There was one thing that you said interestingly for last season in your statement when you left the team. It was,

“We're not defined by our failures, but rather how we respond to them.”

Given all of this pressure to perform, what headspace do you fall into, and then how do you quickly pull yourself out of that?

Jack: I mean, I guess it depends on the severity of what's just happened, right? I think with what happened previously, that left me in a weird place for a while. It was public as well, like you could have ended… Parted ways. I was mad at the time because I felt like they also were hurting anything that I might have had going in the future by going down the path that they had chosen to go down.

However, I think when you finally have that moment of,

“Do you know what? No, I, control my destiny. I'm in charge of my life.”

I didn't want another team or team owner to be able to dictate that the amount of effort that I've put into motorsports. The amount of that my parents have put into motorsports for me as well. Previous sponsors, previous teams are not going to unravel because of one group.

That actually became my biggest motivation. Yes, that was a bad year, but there's also a reason that they hired me in the first place, and I was not ever going to let someone else totally define my entire career through one bad year. So, I mean, that was the catalyst of every gym session that I went to. Every hopeful sponsorship meeting that I went to. It was just to be the pilot of my own life.

If you have a negative emotion and that is your motivator, it can help you get to where you want to go. But, at some point, you've got to let that go as well. Reset, re-establish a new baseline of why we're doing this.

That's what we did. This year was very much just about hopefully resetting, reshowing what we can do, could do. It's obviously appreciated to INVST for their support and obviously Dale and everyone at Dale Coyne Racing for giving us the platform to go and try.

I mean, overcoming any setback, you know, it takes some effort, and it takes some consistency, and it takes a good support network really. I'd say luckily, because everything I've been through, I can do that.

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His thoughts ending the season with Dale Coyne [6:13]

Greg: It's the final race of this season. You've been on a new team. What's the season been like so far? How are you feeling going into this weekend?

Jack: The season finales are always a mixed bag. I think of a variety of things, because if you've had a great year, you want to cap it off and finish strong. If you've had a not so great year, you're probably ready to turn the page on the season. I kind of felt that last year at RLL, and then basically breaking the contracts and not finishing the way we were meant to, probably took some of that closure.

I had no idea that we were going to get this seat with Dale this year. Obviously, we worked for it and it's been a challenging year with it only being part time and then a few injuries, kind of coupled in there, but Milwaukee was a great result. So, I think for me this weekend, I just coming into it ready to thread this needle of just maximum attack - because from the competitive side, we've got nothing to lose… coupled with the fact that you don't know if you're going to get any more IndyCar races.

So, I also just really want to maximize this one, but it's more than that. I don't know if we're going to get to do another one. This could absolutely and, feasibly be my last IndyCar race. I want to leave the track, not just happy that it's been amazing to even get to this point.

I come from a village of about a thousand people, but I want to enjoy it because of my competitive nature and leave smiling that we've had, hopefully, a great weekend. You know, it's a pretty wonderful life.

Greg: It was at this point in the interview that I really wanted to unpack Jack's mindset.

Here was a guy who moved past a career ending moment, who didn't have a seat for next year, and in spite of all of that, remained optimistic about the future. You'll learn a lot from what he's about to say, so let's jump back into it.

Jack: I think where I'm at now, with everything that I've been through, of course I'm anxious for what the future might hold.

I would love to have had something already concrete out, so I know that as soon as I finish this then I’m going to jump into something else. I don't.

However, the bits that I can control is working hard, trying to strike that balance of being able to travel a bit more because I don't travel a lot, even back to the UK now because I get so in the zone here.

Honestly, even coming into this season, it actually came together so late that really the overwhelming feeling was just one of gratitude. I was just really happy that we were getting the opportunity to come and do it. Selfishly that whatever happens now, you knew you were going to get some more racing.

So that actually was probably the closure that I felt had been denied to me before. Then the difference between coming into the year and just being like, look, this is a bonus, wasn't expecting it. So, we're just going to open arm any opportunity that comes our way and invite it in.

Naturally, I've probably matured a bit, but through all the things I've been through, I probably am going into this offseason anxious because I want to get a job. Actually though, I’m probably the most kind of relaxed and mentally calm that I've ever been.

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What it’s like competing for seats with friends [9:32]

Greg: I loved the conversation in Long Beach, and I was watching it back and one of the things that you said was that you're out there racing with your ‘mates’.

In speaking about this contract and the change, how does that affect you and the way that you think about this and showing up here? It's nice, easy to say hello, but then you're also competing with them for those opportunities.

Jack: It is. I mean, ultimately, it's a fine line because we're all here for ourselves at the end of the day, for our families, for ourselves to go and try and win. That’s the heart of every driver who's on the grid this weekend.

If you said “you can win it and take it, they're going to say, yes”. Frankly, if they don't, then sports isn't their deal, because this isn't just a racing problem. It's a general sports problem. Actually, it’s probably extending past that. It's, that if someone's working in any environment that inevitably, the ladder gets smaller as you get further up. The chances are that you're either taking someone's job who you know, replacing someone you know.

Here's what it comes down to ultimately - everybody accepts and understands that. I think it is something everyone's at peace with. I think where people can draw the line and start to feel like it's been a little bit of a not managed well is when people start operating in a more ‘behind the scenes’, trying to plant the seeds, trying to twist the situation, corrupt the situation, and ultimately, occasionally, lacking transparency into what is happening.

Now, I'll give you a great example, because this happened to me. He's a really good buddy of mine. He's Conor Daly. People don't even realize how good of friends we are. We went to the car shop together when he was racing at Indy this year at Xfinity. I went to that race, I went to his truck race the day before IRP.

We're mates. I think this story also highlights the level of mutual respect we have for each other. After Rahal made their decision, I got a text message from Connor. Hey just said,

“Hey, just so you know, before, and even if you already do, like they've asked me to drive in Gateway.”

I'm like, okay, right. Unless you've been manufacturing me out of that seat, which I don't believe is the case, then I appreciate his openness, his honesty. You know, I know that's not an easy text message to send. It's not one that's easy to receive. But ultimately, that’s sports.

If this happened, if I wasn't racing full time next year and someone called me and said, we're going to replace this driver, we want you in …. and actually I won't name the team, but that did happen to me this year. It got to the point where it's like, “well, are we going to take it?”

We're not going to take it, in the end, we decided not to. I mean, I would have absolutely have reached out to the driver and said, “I haven't seeked this, but they've asked me to do it.” I don't begrudge Conor doing Gateway, you know, because it's just not a realistic expectation. I think mutual respect is also accepting that and that you wouldn't have wanted him to turn down an opportunity for all the reasons I just said.

He's had a lot of support in his career, he has a family behind him, he's got sponsors he's trying to please, and he also went through a similar situation, understands how it feels. So, I think as long as everybody is more or less up front with this as what's happening - I think if they do it with some decency and a bit of grace and that they don't, you know, peacock or try and showboat because of it - I think we all just know that's a part of how it is.

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Creating career opportunities when you can’t always drive [13:23]

Greg: There aren't as many opportunities to get behind a car and then prove what you can do and that you're capable. How do you make use of that limited time to create those opportunities?

Jack: It's a goofy example, but you want to spend quality time with sponsors, right? So, you know, maybe that's not just in an office because inevitably I think everyone goes in there knowing that there's an end goal.

We want to get to that end goal and that's hopefully creating a partnership. However, a nice quality time might be going to a basketball game, a football game, and then letting things just happen organically… even if it's still somewhat targeted. It might be something goofy - like I would never do any of these things just from a fake perspective - but, when it's their birthday, remembering it's their birthday, or having a note in your phone, or if it's Christmas time, Thanksgiving, being able just to spend some time with people.

I think that's the bit that so often gets forgotten is - not only am I, although some people no doubt, see it this way, a driver - I'm also a son, a brother, and a friend. You know, I'm so many of these things and people end up supporting people. INVST have been so great, but they also make it clear that they don't just like me because I get to do this for a job.

They like me as for me… and they like my parents. They’re coming this weekend, and they're coming out with me on Sunday night. So, as many things as can happen organically and just grow is nearly always the preferred path.

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The feeling having spent 8 years in IndyCar [15:03]

Greg: You told us that you started all of this by taking a gamble with a one year deal in 2014 with Indy Lights.

2024 is now 8 years in IndyCar.

Jack: Yeah. Wow.

Greg: How does that statement make you feel?

Jack: Old as fuck. How does it make me feel? It's a great life, man. I wouldn't change a lot on the whole. I wish that some of our strategies at different times have been a little better.

I wish I'd maybe tried doing something a little different, but on the whole, I come from a small town and I come from a small village from the small town. My mom and dad are still have a steel fabrication business, which no doubt, I'd very much be involved in if I wasn't here chasing this dream.

So, I'm about 4,000 miles away from anything that I ever thought remotely would be possible. I think one of the things is that it doesn't it doesn't feel that long to me because 17, 18, 19  - across those three years - is essentially one year's worth of racing. It just was very spread out. It was a lot of building to try and grow a long term program.

So, I think people don't always know that I’ve done 4 seasons of full time IndyCar racing, 2020 to 2023. Even this year, has only been partial season on the whole, other than wishing that some results had gone a little bit better and things like that. I mean, I've experienced some of the most amazing things and just think my life has been so fantastic because of taking that gamble on that one year deal.

I actually think the most pivotal year when I look back now was 2016. I didn't even race that year, but I still went back to the UK after my second year of lights. I had no idea what I was going to do. I actually did start working with my dad, as a laser operator, cutting stuff out of metal and just was like, “I gotta go back.

So I literally moved back to America without any any lead on a sponsor out, any anything really, no drive, no nothing. I spent a year basically of trying to do some driver coaching just to pay for my apartment. I think that belief in that “this could happen with some amazing amount of support”, but also that real at the bottom desire and work rate to make it. Hope that it could be good to me was the most critical year because that also would have been a year to have bailed out.

I think if you had better data that year, I don't think people would have begrudged it. I don't think they would have understood it. You know, sometimes racing just doesn't come together.

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Jack’s advice for aspiring drivers [17:53]

Greg: What do you have to say to any aspiring driver who watches this?

Jack: Well, I don't have like one good snippet of advice.

Greg: You gotta give them one.

Jack: Okay, this is what I told Nolan during bump day.

‘You and your core have to maintain your self belief. I don't know what that always looks like to everybody in their situation, but you cannot let that go.”

That's hard. I mean, I think everyone has bouts of that lacking clarity, lacking confidence.

It happens to me. It still happens to me, you know. You don't just say, “Oh, I found a way to be confident forever”. You don't have that. That is not a real expectation. In your core, you have to truly maintain that confidence… Coupled with the ability to stay present.

That's what I've been better at in life, I think, is “What am I doing right now to make this situation better?” Maybe, that's more effort in the engineering room. It might be more effort on post event reports. It might be - actually, right now I'm booking a future holiday, but I'm booking it now, so I know that that's just one more thing that's crossed off my list.

I felt like it was particularly apparent at something like Bump Day. You know, at the end of the day, if you get carried away and dreaming about what is tomorrow, or stuck in our what was yesterday, then you're just missing out on, what is and what is, is happening right now.

So, with maintaining that self belief, and then being present, I think is what I would offer people.

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The Big 2025 Announcement  [19:38]

Greg: Earlier, I teased a big announcement, and here it is.

Just three months after Nashville, Jack announced his 2025 Indy 500 seat. I asked him how it felt having another IndyCar race on the books.

Jack: I feel fantastic. You know, you work so long and so hard and the more that you don't have something, whether, you it’s like Fort Knox or not, that doubt starts to creep in and anxiety starts to build.

This is an anchor program for the entire year. It's just so easy now to rally around it. We have - one of the common themes is we all have a very clear goal. What does that do for me? It means that every time I go to the gym, I can think about not just wanting to be in the race and work about it - we’re going to be there and we're going to be fighting.

We're going to be putting our heads down and it's just a really uniting feeling.

Greg: If that wasn't sweet enough, it all comes full circle with INVST backing their guy as the team's primary sponsor.

Thanks for tuning in!

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We'll see you in the next one.

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