Kevin Harvick was put into one of the most unimaginable situations one could find themselves in. He responded by putting together one of the most successful and universally respected careers in NASCAR history.
On February 18, 2001 the sports world lost an American icon, Dale Earnhardt. The week that followed was filled with grief, sadness, and reflection. But if there’s one thing that NASCAR doesn’t do, its stop, and the show must go on. The proverbial show moved onward to Rockingham, North Carolina.
As teams set up shop in the garage area, there was a particular iconic car missing. It had been replaced. The number had at least. During the week Richard Childress, Earnhardt’s car owner, had replaced the now iconic #3 with the much less iconic #29. Childress tapped a 25-year old, fresh faced kid from Bakersfield, California to replace Earnhardt. His name, Kevin Harvick. Harvick was originally scheduled to make his Cup Series debut later in the year for Richard Childress Racing driving the #30 car.
Harvick would perform extremely admirably in his rookie season. He collected 2 Wins, 6 Top 5s, 16 Top 10s, an Average Finish of 14.1 and finished 9th in points despite not competing in the first race of the season. His second season was a step back however. Harvick only won one race and only notched single digit top tens, and ended up 21st in the final points standings. His first couple of seasons had been good but not great, which was the story of Harvick’s entire RCR tenure. Year after year of having potential championship expectations but never being able to reach the mountain top.
On November 9, 2012, ESPNs Marty Smith revealed that Kevin Harvick would be leaving Richard Childress Racing at the end of the 2013 season. A relationship that had begun under the most incredibly tragic of circumstances was coming to a dramatic, sour, and toxic end. Harvick would officially be headed to Stewart-Haas Racing for 2014 and beyond.
To put it simply, Harvick could not have made a better decision. Harvick would finally snatch a Championship in his first year with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014. Harvick would go on to be one of the most dominant drivers of his era alongside his longtime rival Kyle Busch, and fellow Champion, Martin Truex Jr. Those three drivers went on an unbelievable tear from 2014-2020. But this isn’t about them, this is about Kevin Harvick. In Harvick’s first 7 seasons with SHR, he won 35 races. He won just 23 races in 13 seasons with RCR.
After a 9 Win campaign in 2020, Harvick started to slow down a little bit. He went winless in 2021. Stewart-Haas Racing as a whole took a step back that year, only winning one race all year when Aric Almirola won at New Hampshire. It was followed by a 2 Win campaign for Harvick in 2022, winning at Michigan and Richmond in back to back weeks. But the struggles for SHR would continue, only collecting three checkered flags, with the third being Chase Briscoe’s first career win at Phoenix in the spring.
Unfortunately, Harvicks career would come to an end with yet another winless season, not just for Harvick though, as the team also went winless in 2023. Harvick may not have won in his final season but he surely did not go down without a fight.
Harvick was far and away one of the best cars and had a legitimate shot to win in his final start at Phoenix Raceway, fittingly enough, his best track throughout his career.
Harvick retires with 60 career wins, which is good for 9th on the all-time wins list. He had 251 Top 5s and 444 Top 10s, over 16,000 career laps led, and a very impressive career average finish of 12.8. Harvick will be joining the FOX commentary booth in February to give Mike Joy and former teammate Clint Bowyer some help. Harvick will most definitely be a first-ballot Hall of Famer when he is eligible in a few years.
Whether it was through the lens of love, hatred, or merely just toleration. There is no doubting that Kevin Harvick is one of the most respected drivers to ever set rubber on a racetrack.
