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Kevin Harvick Biography
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Kevin Harvick (born December 8, 1975 in Bakersfield, California) is an American race car driver and car owner, competing in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series for Richard Childress Racing, driving the #29 Shell/Pennzoil/{(Rheem AC and Wather Heaters)}Reese's Chevrolet in Cup racing full-time and the #21 Chevrolet part-time in the Busch Series. Harvick is the owner of the #33 Allstates Employer Services Chevrolet Silverado in the Craftsman Truck Series, and the #33 Old Spice / The Outdoor Channel and #77 Dollar General Chevrolet in the Busch Series. He is known for replacing the late Dale Earnhardt after Earnhardt was killed in Daytona in 2001, and for his aggressive driving style.
Beginnings
Harvick started racing in karting after is Parents Mike and JoNell purchased him a Go-Kart as a kindergarten Graduation gift. For ten years until around 1992, Harvick was highly successful. He raced in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series part-time in 1992 and until 1995, while completing high school. He became a full-time driver in 1995, and became "Rookie of the Year" in that series that year.
He then moved up to the NASCAR Grand National Division, AutoZone West Series in 1997, and in 1998 became champion of that series while driving for Spears Motorsports. He received his first national exposure during the winter of 1997/1998 on ESPN2's coverage of the NASCAR Winter Heat series at Tucson Raceway Park.
NASCAR career
Harvick made his Craftsman Truck Series debut in 1995 at Mesa Marin Raceway, in his hometown of Bakersfield, where he started and finished 27th in his family-owned #72. He drove four races in the 72 the next season, his best finish an 11th at Mesa Marin. In 1997, he signed to drive the 75 for Spears mid-season, posting two eighth-place finishes. He ran the full schedule the next season, posting three top-fives and finishing seventeenth in points. In 1999 he drove for Liberty Racing, finishing 12th in points.
In 2000 he joined the NASCAR Busch Series, driving for Richard Childress and winning three times and the Rookie of the Year award.
Cup Series
For 2001, Childress planned to develop Harvick into Cup with up to seven races in an America Online sponsored third car, number 30, during the 2001 season with plans to run a full schedule in 2002. Those plans changed when Dale Earnhardt was killed during the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Childress tabbed Harvick as Earnhardt's replacement. Earnhardt had reportedly told Childress if he didn't move Harvick to the Cup series, he (Earnhardt) would steal him for his own DEI team. The fact that Earnhardt thought this highly of Harvick seemed to be a factor in Childress's decision.
For the first two races afterwards, the cars ran a reverse white and black scheme (what was black became white, and what was white became black), and the pit crew wore generic uniforms, but starting with the third race, they were painted white and red, and Harvick had a white and red uniform, while the pit crew kept the traditional GM Goodwrench Service Plus uniforms, and the number changed from 3 to 29.
On March 11, 2001, Harvick won in his third Nextel Cup event by narrowly edging Jeff Gordon at Atlanta Motor Speedway by only six one-thousandths of a second (.006), proving to be one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history since the introduction of electronic scoring in 1993. Harvick would score his second Nextel Cup victory on July 15 of thatseason at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. At the end of the season, he had 2 victories, 6 top fives and 16 top tens. He also went on to score Rookie of the Year honors while securing a 9th place finish in the 2001 points standings, as well as winning the Busch Series championship. Kevin became the first driver to win the Busch Series Champion while also driving full-time in the Winston Cup Series and finishing in the top 10.
Harvick began 2002 with a fine for a post race incident with Greg Biffle at Bristol Motor Speedway and would later be suspended for rough driving following a Craftsman Truck race at Martinsville, Virginia. Harvick scored his first Nextel Cup pole position at the Daytona International Speedway and scored his third Nextel Cup victory at the Chicagoland Speedway. He finished 21st in the 2002 points standings with 1 victory, 5 top fives and 8 top tens. Kevin won the 2002 IROC Champion in his first try in the series, winning at the California Speedway.
In 2003, Harvick teamed with crew chief Todd Berrier and won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in August. The year jumped Harvick and his team from 21st in the final 2002 points standings to 5th, coming within 252 points of Matt Kenseth. After going winless in 2004, Harvick won the 2005 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway despite starting towards the rear of the field. Harvick won without the assistance of crew chief Todd Berrier, who was serving a four-week suspension for a rules violation.
In 2006, he continued driving the #29 car for Childress in the Nextel Cup Series. With General Motors' financial situation, GM Goodwrench cut back sponsorship, and was joined as primary sponsor for one-third of the schedule by Hershey's, with various brands (primarily Reese's) on the car. On April 15, Harvick won his first Busch Series race of the 2006 season. He followed this with a weekend sweep of the Busch Series and Nextel Cup races at Phoenix.He won the Nextel Cup race at Watkins Glen International, and swept the weekend at Richmond International Raceway. After the 2006 running of the Sylvania 300 on September 17th, 2006, he became the NEXTEL Cup points leader for the first time in his career after winning his 9th career race.
The team will split primary sponsors again in 2007, with Hershey's and GM Goodwrench being joined by new primary sponsor Royal Dutch Shell
Chase for the Nextel Cup
On September 9, 2006, Kevin, only needing to finish 40th or better to clinch a spot in the Chase, did better by slipping by Kyle Busch in turn 4 going into the final lap and holding onto the lead to win the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway. This would be his
third win of the season and his second "sweep" of the season, having won the Emerson Radio 250 the night before. This allowed Harvick, along with teammate, Jeff Burton, their first berth, and first for Richard Childress Racing, in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. On September 17, 2006, starting from the pole, Kevin won the first race of the chase at New Hampshire International Speedway, in the Sylvania 300. He dominated the race and by winning, was able to take the lead in the point standings fro the first time in his career.
Harvick would have a substandard chase run, falling to sixth in the points standings, until finishing third in Texas and following that up with another dominating performance in the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 12, 2006, winning the race, and moving into third place in the point standings.
Busch Series
On October 23, 1999, Kevin made his first Busch Series start in the Kmart 200 at the now defunct North Carolina Speedway. He would start 24th and finished 42nd due to an engine failure. It would be his only start that year.
In 2000, Kevin would sign with Richard Childress Racing to drive the #2 AC Delco Chevrolet for his first full Busch Series season. Despite missing the second race of the season at North Carolina Speedway, due to the team being new and not being in the top 35 of the previous seasons owners standings, Kevin would go on to win the NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year with 3 wins, 8 top 5's and 16 top 10's. On July 29, 2000, he would gain his first win in the Carquest Auto Parts 250 at Gateway International Raceway. He would also post wins at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 250 on August 25 and at Memphis Motorsports Park in the Sam's Town 250 on October 29. He scored 2 pole positions and finished 3rd in the Driver's Standings.
In 2001, Kevin Harvick would begin to start a precedent that would be followed to this day, running both the NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series in the same season. When Richard Childress placed Kevin in the GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, upon the death of Dale Earnhardt, after Daytona, and the #2 AC Delco, Kevin was in a whirlwind of media attention. This did not seem to phase him though as he would go on to post 5 wins, 20 top 5's and 24 top 10's. Ironically, he would claim the NASCAR Busch Series Championship at the same racetrack that he would fail to qualify at the beginning of the 2000 season, North Carolina Speedway. Kevin would end the season winning 6 pole positions and driving in 70 races, 35 Cup Series, 1 NASCAR Nextel Cup All-Star Challenge Event, 33 Busch Series and 1 NASCAR Craftsman Series (at Richmond International Raceway).
In 2002, Kevin Harvick would spend this season concentrating on running the Cup Series and would only start 4 races. He would only have one top ten in those 4 starts, being at Texas Motor Speedway. He finished 64th in the Driver's Standings.
In 2003, Richard Childress would team up both Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter, whom Richard had moved over from the #2 car in favor of Ron Hornaday, Jr. driving the #21 Hershey's sponsored PayDay car. The two would combine for 3 wins, 16 top 5's and 24 top 10's, with Kevin posting all three wins. They would give Richard the NASCAR Busch Series Owner's Championship that season, with the Driver's Championsip going to Brian Vickers. It would be the first time that the championship would be split between two teams, and to date, the last. Kevin would drive in 19 of the 34 races and Johnny would drive in the other 15. Both drove a Payday sponsored car in the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Ford 300, with Kevin driving the #21 and Johnny driving the #29, a gift by Richard Childress thanking them both for the Owner's Championsip. Kevin also scored 8 pole positions and finished 16th in the Driver's Standings.
In 2004, Kevin would again be paired with another driver, rookie Clint Bowyer, as Johnny Sauter would take over the #30 America Online Nextel Cup Series car for Richard Childress. They would combine for 1 win, 13 top 5's and 20 top 10's in the #21 Hershey's sponsored Reese's Peanut Butter Cup car. Kevin would drive the #29 EGSR/Coast Guard Busch Series car in the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Ford 300, which he would claim his second win of the season. He finished 20th in the Driver's Standings. The #21 car finished 4th in the Owner's Standings.
In 2005, Kevin, paired this time with rookie Brandon Miller, as Clint Bowyer would take over the #2 AC Delco Busch series car from Ron Hornaday, Jr. Kevin and Brandon would combine for 3 wins, 15 top 5's and 19 top 10's to give the #21 it's second 4th place finish in the Owner's Standings. Kevin would also drive the #29 Reese's Chocolate Lovers car to victory in the first "sweep" of his career on Monday, April 4, 2005 in the rain-delayed Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway to go along with the Food City 500 win the day before, to give him a record tying 4th Busch Series win at the track (with Morgan Shepard). Kevin finished 18th in the Driver's Standings.
In 2006, Kevin decided to run both of NASCAR's top two series full time. In the Busch Series, Kevin would be scheduled to run 35 races, with three different cars (#21, #33, #29) and two different teams, Richard Childress Racing and his own team, Kevin Harvick, Incorporated. To date, with 34 of the 35 races completed, Harvick has 9 wins, 23 top 5's and 31 top 10's. He clinched the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series Championship on October 13, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It was the earliest clinch ever in the Busch Series, locking up the title with four races still to be run.
source: wikipedia.org
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