After graduating high-school, Kevin Harvick pursued a career in racing.
Kevin Harvick was born on December 8, 1975 and raised in Bakersfield, California. He is married to his wife DeLana, the daughter of former racecar driver John Linville. Kevin and DeLana own Kevin Harvick Incorporated, which fields a Craftsman Truck Series team as well as two NASCAR Busch Series teams.
Kevin Harvick racing career began at a very tender age. After completing his kindergarten year in elementary school, Harvick’s parents Mike and Jonelle bought him a go-kart as a reward. As a youngster, Harvick materialized into a successful go-kart racer in the state of California.
After entering his high-school years, Harvick began competing on the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Southwest Series. Not only was Harvick competing on four-wheels, but he was a member of his high-school wrestling team. After graduating from North High School in Oildale, Harvick opted to pursue a career in racing instead of wrestling.
In 1997, the young driver joined the Grand National AutoZone West Series. A year later, he became the series’ champion while driving for Spears Motorsports. Two years prior, Harvick competed in his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at his hometown track, Mesa Marin Raceway. After qualifying 27th in his family-supported truck, he would end up finishing 27th.
He embarked upon his first full-season in the Craftsman Truck Series in 1998 driving for Spears Motorsports.
Harvick made his NASCAR Busch Series debut on October 23, 1999 at the North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina. Following a 24th place qualifying effort, Harvick finished 42nd after an engine malfunction took him out of contention.
However, Harvick’s untapped potential was noticed by Richard Childress, a six-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion as a car-owner. Childress signed Harvick as his full-time Busch Series driver for the 2000 season. On July 29, 2000, Kevin Harvick became the newest first-time winner on the NASCAR Busch Series circuit after claiming the CarQuest 250 at Gateway. He posted wins at the Bristol Motor Speedway and Memphis Motorsports Park en route to his third place finish in the final championship standings. Moreover, Harvick was the Busch Series’ top rookie in 2000.
As the 2001 season approached, Richard Childress planned to groom Harvick and ease him into the Winston Cup Series. Childress signed America Online to sponsor a car that would appear in seven Cup races. In 2002, Harvick was to compete for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year. Mournfully, the late Dale Earnhardt lost his life after a tragic accident on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. He was pronounced dead on February 18, 2001.
The grief-stricken car owner opted to turn over the legendary ride to his young driver. In just an instant, Richard Childress Racing’s past was now the future. At the age of 25, Kevin Harvick took on the grueling task of driving Dale Earnhardt’s car. However, Childress painted the typically black # 3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet all white, and changed the number to 29.
In his Winston Cup debut at the North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, Harvick drove the all white Chevrolet to an eye-opening 14th place finish after qualifying 36th.
On March 11, 2001, less than a month after Earnhardt’s tragic passing, Kevin Harvick shocked the NASCAR world when he edged out Jeff Gordon by .006 seconds for the Cracker Barrell 500 victory at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. No other driver had ever won their first Cup race in only their third career start. Just a year prior to Harvick’s emotional victory, Dale Earnhardt edged out Bobby Labonte in a nearly identical photo finish.
Harvick’s win began a long healing process for many of Earnhardt’s friends and fans.
Harvick’s rookie season continued to be a surprising success as he would win another race at the newly constructed Chicagoland Speedway in July. He would go on to win the Raybestos Rookie of the Year title, and finish 8th in the final championship standings.
However, not all drivers were impressed with Harvick’s driving style. Many veterans felt as if he was too aggressive, and that he was trying too hard to emulate Dale Earnhardt. Some drivers even called him the ‘Instigator’ or ‘Imitator’, as Earnhardt was often referred to as ‘The Intimidator’. Veterans Ricky Rudd and the late Bobby Hamilton Sr were two of Harvick’s most vocal critics.
In addition to his Rookie of the Year title, Kevin Harvick set a trend when he ran both the full NASCAR Winston Cup schedule as well as the full NASCAR Busch Series schedule. In spite of his doubled-up his workload, Harvick won his first Busch Series title in 2001 with five wins, 20 top five finishes, and 24 top ten finishes.
In 2002, Harvick opted to run a part-time Busch Series schedule as he opted to focus primarily on capturing the Winston Cup championship. Unfortunately, Harvick’s sophomore season was substandard to say the least. He finished 21st in the championship standings, scoring only one win, five top five finishes, and eight top-ten finishes. His season was most noted for a post-race confrontation with Greg Biffle following a Busch Series race at Bristol. A week later at Martinsville, Harvick was parked by NASCAR following an on-track incident with Coy Gibbs in the Craftsman Truck Series race. Kenny Wallace replaced Harvick for the Winston Cup race.
In 2003, Harvick was reunited with crew chief Todd Berrier, and the performance was vastly enhanced. Harvick won the Brickyard 400 from the pole position at the storied Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August. Towards the latter half of the 2003 season, Harvick mounted a charge towards the top of the championship standings; however, he was never able to surpass Matt Kenseth for the points lead. Ultimately, Harvick would finish 5th in the final championship standings, 252 points behind Kenseth.
Harvick struggled in 2004, as he finished the season without a single win. It was the first time in his Cup career that he failed to win a race. Additionally, he failed to qualify for the Chase for the Championship. In 2005, Harvick broke his winless streak with a victory at Bristol in March of 2005. Still, he would fail to qualify for the Chase for the Championship.
The 2006 Nextel Cup season would prove to be Harvick’s most prosperous. The California driver won five times and easily qualified for the Chase for the Championship. He finished the season fourth in the Nextel Cup championship standings, a career-high. Also, he finished the season with fifteen top five finishes, and twenty top ten finishes. In addition to Harvick’s stellar Nextel Cup season, he would claim his second Busch Series title by 824 points.
The 2007 marked a new era for the 29 team. After GM Goodwrench served as the primary sponsor for nearly two decades, the team colors switch to yellow and red as Shell/Pennzoil became the new sponsor.
Harvick won his first Daytona 500 on February 18, 2007 by a mere 0.20 seconds over Mark Martin. Three months later, Harvick claimed his first Nextel All-Star victory by holding off Jimmie Johnson. Following his 7th place finish in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond, Harvick clinched his second consecutive Chase for the Championship appearance.
Harvick finished 10th in the final 2007 championship standings.
