Former NASCAR driver and commentator Kevin Harvick has spoken about the tough situation Tyler Reddick and his family faced after their son’s health emergency, highlighting the human side of the sport that often gets overlooked amid the high-octane glitz and glamour.

Reddick entered the race weekend at Kansas while his four-month-old son, Rookie, was admitted to the cardiovascular intensive care unit at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, after he showed signs of heart failure. The tense situation prompted Reddick’s wife, Alexa, to take to social media, urging fans to pray for Rookie. She wrote:

“After a run around for months with the pediatrician office I knew what was going on was something bigger. Always trust your mom gut. Our sweet Rookie was showing signs of heart failure that were being missed.

“Please please pray for this sweet guy that God heals his heart. With God, Rookie, and his amazing doctors here at Levine’s I believe He can. We are in the cardiovascular ICU while we get some answers and work on improving heart function. I usually don’t share our personal lives but I’m hoping you take the time to pray for him today.”

Only after an improvement was noticed in Rookie’s condition did Reddick and Alexa decide it was safe to race at Kansas. Highlighting the severity of the situation, Harvick pointed out how drivers are often called out for their performance in the car, emphasizing that even they face tough situations in life. He said on his Happy Hour podcast:

“A lot of people just want to critique and criticize people for what they do in the race car. And a lot of times they forget that these are families and humans and have to deal with, you’ve got to deal with the circle of life while in the middle of this intense cycle of events that happen on and off the racetrack.”

He added:

“It can become extremely difficult to navigate life and perform at a high level. I felt like they were a little bit off this weekend, made a mistake, got back in the field, and got themselves back up in contention and had a chance at the end. But Tyler drove his b–t off. But, man, it is tough to navigate everything in life and race at the level that you want to race at. So we hope everything is good with Tyler and his family.”

Despite the grave challenge in his life, Reddick finished seventh at Kansas after starting from twelfth place.