Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Kevin Harvick Interview

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

On this episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Kaitlyn Vincie is joined by a special guest, Kevin Harvick, to discuss his election to the NASCAR Hall of Fame class of 2027 and tell the viewers his journey throughout his early life and career. Kevin reveals stories about taking over for Dale Earnhardt at Richard Childress Racing, winning his first career Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2001, winning the 2007 Daytona 500, notable moments from the biggest races he competed in, how he navigated challenges to make racing a career, the biggest influences on his career, and the contributions he wants to make to the sport. 0:00 - Intro :26 - Kevin Harvick Joins The Show! :48- Election To NASCAR Hall of Fame 2027 2:20 - Early Racing Career 5:52 - Making Racing A Career 16:28 - Driving For Richard Childress Racing 22:15 - First Cup Series Win At Atlanta 33:49 - Winning 2007 Daytona 500 35:32 - Success At Phoenix Raceway 38:34 - 3 Cup Series Wins At The Brickyard 41:38 - 2020 Southern 500 Win 46:25 - Driving For Stewart-Haas Racing 54:05 - Influences On Career 58:04 - Contributing To The Sport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. You talk about the NASCAR Hall Fame. It's all about, you know, the respect of the folks that have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame. I mean, I was really the only one there that could emotionally be in the game 100%. Those moments in that first year were life-changing. When you win the Daytona 500, that's as big as it gets in our sport. Welcome to Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour, presented by NASCAR on Fox.

I'm not Kevin Harvick. Caitlin Vinci here to interview Kevin Harvick. We have a little role reversal here today. I like this. I like this. Yes. I like... I usually in charge anyway. I mean, I try to be.

But it was only fitting after it was announced last week that Kevin is officially going to be inducted into the 2027 NASCAR Hall of Fame that we hear from Kevin with a lot of your stories from your career. Well, thank you. Yeah. It's been, you know, I think it's been a little weird. Yeah. Just because of the whole process. And, you know, I think that when you actually got to voting day, it was, it was definitely, okay, well, this is actually real. and it's not just a conversation anymore.

So I sat in my truck in a parking lot about two blocks away. I felt they wanted me to sit outside of the room so that you could be there when the voting was over. And I felt like that was just really, really arrogant for one. And it just feels weird to be in that position where, you know, odds are in your favor, but you don't want to, you don't want to disrespect the process. And I think that when you talk about the NASCAR Hall of Fame, it's all about, you know, the respect of the folks that have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame, the people that are on the ballot and not doing anything to disrespect that process. So it all worked out.

We got there, did the media and everything afterwards, and here we are. Here we are. And there's a reason, many reasons he's getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. I'm going to read these numbers because I know he will not. Kevin has a 60 Cup Series win, championship in the Cup Series in 2014, one in all four crown jewel events in NASCAR, Daytona, Charlotte, Indianapolis, and Darlington, a two-time O'Reilly Auto Parts champion and across NASCAR's three national series, a combined 121 wins.

Gosh, you really suck. Yeah. I can't believe they're putting you in the whole thing. It was average. It was average. That's amazing. And when you hear those numbers, it just encapsulates what you've done in your career. But I kind of want to start at the very beginning, because we have a lot of fans who maybe

weren't a fan when you started out in the sport. perhaps. So your parents gave you a go-kart as a kindergarten graduation present. Were you skeptical of this or is this something you wanted you'd asked for? I'm not sure. That's a great question. I know that I was always very interested in racing. Like from a young age, I would go to the shop with my dad when I was two, three, four, five years old. And they, you know, he was a fireman. And so on his off days, he worked on local racing teams and people's cars. because Mason Marin at that time was something that a lot of people raced and had different series and big money races and all the things that happened at the track. So he worked on cars on the side and I'd go roll around on the creeper and find every bolt and nut that I could shove inside the frame rails or any hole that was available.

And they'd go to the racetrack and everything would fall out. So I grew up around the shops and my dad would take me to the shops and hang out around the race. race cars. And so I had a, you know, a lot of fun. And in those days, you weren't really supposed to be around, but I was always around. And, you know, I think back to sneaking into racetracks and because we go race our go-karts. And I actually went to one of the last races at Riverside, Kathy Corelli, Rick Corelli's wife. Yeah. We were racing go-carts in Riverside. And they raced on one of the races before the Sunday race. And I actually snuck in the back seat and was there for the last race at Riverside. They'd put a blanket over the top of me. And then I'd go into the

pits and hang out in the back of the back of the race truck. But I did that a lot. And so I grew up at the racetrack in the in the grandstands. My grandpa and uncle would, we went to every race that was at Mason Marin and watched whether it was local race, money race, whatever it was. and spent a lot of time at the tracks growing up. You were successful in the go-carts, winning seven national championships and two grand national championships. What do you remember, though, from just like that blue collar racing, West Coast short tracks?

What was that culture kind of like as you were coming through? Yeah, you know, we started as a hobby in that dirt field that ended under a barbed wire fence on the first day. That was how my first driving experience ended. And, you know, that really progressed. And it was really a hobby as we, as we started racing carts, but we always wound up being pretty good at it. And, you know, found success.

And, you know, my dad would, he would, we couldn't really afford to race nationally or at the level that we needed to regionally. So he figured out a way to build go-kart stands or fairings or whatever it was to try to lower the costs and a lot of local support from Bakersfield, from friends and family and, you know, different people that just would, would help us get. from place to place at time to time throughout the year. So we, I mean, we traveled in our, at one point, we had my grandpa's pickup with a little house trailer that we towed behind it.

We'd load the go cart up with a couple of milk crates in a cart and tow the house trailer and stay in the house trailer on the weekends. But that was, that was how we raced pretty much the whole time as I was a kid. That's really neat to hear those original stories. High school you started racing late models. At what point did you think, like, maybe I can make this a career? Like, was there a turning point where you thought, I kind of want to do this as a real job? Yeah, so we built the first late model.

My dad built the first late model over the course of about two years. And he would go to the chassis shop when he had extra time and build the chassis on his own because we couldn't afford to just buy it. So he would build it. And then the cars that he would work on, he'd take. you know, they used parts and different things. And so they built it over, you know, the first year and a half. And, and, um, first year wasn't great. Uh, you know, it was, I think I ran seven races because I wrecked in six of them. And, you know, I think, you know, the, the, the, really the,

the turning point in that was probably, we used to have the go cards and everything in our house. And, and so when we got the late model, there wasn't room to put the car and the race car in the garage. And, he had bought this 55 Chevrolet for me for us to to restore and build. He took me out there one day and he said, all right, we got to make a decision as to whether you want to race or not. And he took me in the garage and he said, we've got this late model that you've had. And we've got this 55 Chevy over here that you've got to decide, do you want to restore this Chevy and live a normal life or do you want to keep this race car?

Crossroads. and try to race on the weekends and see where it goes. So, of course, we sold the 55 Chevy and started the late model career at the local track. And really, that evolved into, I was wrestling at the time because wrestling was really the only, the only sport that I could do during the winter and race. And so I had a great wrestling coach. I talked to my wrestling coach still to this day. and we laugh about it all the time because he would he would come to me and say hey if you're going to be a great wrestler you need to quit racing and you know so he didn't really he didn't really

understand and nobody at the school really understood so we ran the first year and as we went through the first season um we got to the second season and i was like mate you know if i'm gonna if i'm gonna keep racing i got a reckless so uh the next year we we tore off one right front fender and And I don't know how many races we won of the season races and won the championship. So over the first course of the year, I didn't get to race a lot. And I learned really quickly to take care of my cars and equipment. And, you know, the interesting part was, and I still wrestled. But the interesting part was a lot of kids at school were like, you know, racing.

What is racing? You know, it's not football on Friday night. And it's not baseball on the weekends. And so by the time that we had gotten done with the second season at the local track, school actually had its own grandstand section that all the kids would come sit at the grandstands because it kind of had become a thing in town that this young kid was going to race against all the adults and win the races. And so on Saturday night, all the kids would come to the racetrack.

We'd race and then we'd go do our thing after the races. and everybody kind of got involved and really wrapped their arms around it. So we taught them about racing and it became a thing at school. It became a thing. Little did they know they were watching a future Hall of Famer. That's really neat. Moving ahead, you made your Crafts and Truck Series debut in 95, moved up to Grand National 97.

A few short years later, you established a relationship with Richard Childress in 2000. You joined forces. What did it mean to you to have the support of someone like him at a young age? Yeah. Well, it was a, it was, that whole period was really interesting. Yeah. You know, the, the family race business had turned into a business. And my dad was always, you know, pretty hard on me about working on the cars and doing it myself. And that actually created a lot of tension as, as we got through that, that point. Because in, in 94, I went on my senior trip and he did not like that. So I went to, where was the senior trip taking? place? Mexico. Oh, yeah. Quite a trip. Different, different times. Yeah. Yeah. So we went to Mexico for my senior trip and I got home and he had sold the car. Oh, wow. Yeah, we had won like first four or five races and he had sold the car and he said, well, you're not going to win a championship because you missed a race. And so I bought a touring car, Southwest Tour car, which would what would be a super late model today. And so we did that in 95.

had a investment guy from Northern California say, hey, I want to help. And so we started a business and got a real shop and had two or three race cars and started racing in the Southwest tour and doing it ourselves. And so that all dried up in 96. And so we built in that time, we had built our first craftsman truck in our shop. And we ran that first race in 95. And then as we got into 95 and 96, we had started to run the West Coast races and then we crashed the truck. Walker Evans spun me out in Monroe, Washington and totaled the truck. And the money started to, you know, it started to be way more expensive than, you know, the gentleman that was helping us had anticipated. And so we got to 96 and didn't race a lot, just kind of here and there.

And in 97, one of the guys from town had gone to work for Connie and Wayne Spears. And, He's like, hey, you know, I think if you came down here and worked, you might get an opportunity to drive. And so I went to, in 97, went to work for Wayne and Connie as a mechanic. So they paid me $25,000 a year to come work. And so I lived in Palmdale, Lancaster area, right outside of Aqualdaucosa, where the race shop was at Wayne and Connie's house. And so that was kind of the breaking point of the family. business. And I just felt like we weren't going to get to where I needed to be. And that was probably the decision that really kind of turned the tide into thinking that, okay, if you're going to make it,

this is what you got to do. And so that created a lot of tension, you know, but with my dad and all the things that we had going on because he felt like I abandoned it. I felt like, you know, I needed to make a move. And so, went to work for Wayne and Connie got the opportunity to drive the Winston West car and did well. And then Dan Press was the driver and not doing well in the truck. And I was there every day. So they started, they put me in the truck in Louisville, Kentucky for the first truck race. And I think we finished 11th in that second truck. And really from that point is kind of when I took over the, took over the car or the truck. And, you know, 98 ran the truck full time and the Winston West car, won the. championship in the West car and ran, you know, okay in the truck. And then the opportunity started to come. And then I had to make another hard decision. Didn't handle it well with Wayne and Connie, but made another decision to leave at the end of 98 to go drive for Brad Doherty. And Jim Herrick in the 98 craftsman truck, they were in Ohio, got myself in my first pickle

because I was just at a point where I was like, you know, I got to keep progressing and taking the opportunities as they come. I've signed a letter of intent sitting at the table for a three-year contract and, you know, got to the end of 99 and the whole sport had blown up and changed because there was a whole generation of drivers, huge influx of money coming into the sport. and so at one point I had Cal Wells, Richard Childress, and Joe Gibbs asking what what you were going to do. Yeah, about your future. We grew up, I grew up in a house that rooted for Earnhardt. And so, you know, between myself and my father, it was, okay, I need to, if you're going to race somewhere, you need to go race at RCR.

But Cal Wells had started his cup team. and there was a real opportunity on the table to go drive that McDonald's car for Cal Wells. And I'll never forget it was myself and Hornaday and my dad sitting outside on Ron's deck. And I looked over at him and I'm like, well, what should we do? He's like, well, you can do it. So you just need to go drive the cup car. And Hornaday was like, I don't think that's a good idea. I really think you should spend the time to try to learn and do the things.

And so, you know, we had the first meeting with RCR and went to meet Richard and I took my dad with me. And we had that first meeting and were able to, you know, make the decision to say, okay, I think we need to go to RCR. And so I had to go to the truck team and say, okay, I'm out. And they're like, okay, well, that's great. Well, here's what it's going to cost. Cost to get out. I had just bought my first house. Oh, no.

And so I had a loan on my house and I had to take a second out to buy myself out of my contract because Richard would not participate in buying the contract out. He's like, if you want to drive here, you're going to have to figure it out on your own. So took a loan out. We cut a deal to, I think it was 200 grand to buy myself out of my contract in hopes that it all worked out at RCR to go drive the two Bush car, which they were starting for myself. and Mike Dillon. So we got that worked out and lived off of Delano's credit cards from about the end of the end of 99 until, you know, I made my first paycheck in the next season and the rest is history. Just as they say.

A lot of moving parts and pieces, though, that you had to manage trying to just get to being with Richard Chilress. Yeah. At that point, you know, it's, it was always, you always had, you wanted to be loyal to the people that you were driving for, but you couldn't be so loyal that you didn't take the next step and opportunity. And there were some tough decisions that went along with all that. So there was an initial plan for you, obviously, once you joined Childress, but in 2001, everything about the sport as the world knew it changed after Dalyernhardt, you know,

senior tragically passed on an on-track incident, the Daytona 500. You were tapped to be the driver for the number 29 at that point. Did you feel in some ways that that was stepping into an unfathomable position? It was very unique because 2000, you know, we won a few races in the Bush car, but Dale wouldn't go test. And, you know, it's just a crazy chain of events that took place in that whole process. And so 2000, Kevin Hamlin was like, hey, I'm going to take, I'm going to take Kevin to go test. Because Dale won't go test.

So we just started doing it. Right. Like we would just. So I tested the three. car everywhere that they wanted to test. We did a whole development program at Kentucky Speedway with all the new suspension things that we had already been developing in the in the bush car. And we you know, we started to take that to the to the cup car. So in 2000, I actually, I actually went to the designated team, three team tests and drove his car with with the race

team. And also was doing all the GM development work for, you know, some of the, the things were changing a lot on the suspension side at that time. And so I had worked in the team with the team that was actually with that car. And I think that during that time, it was really interesting because I didn't know Dale well, but had interactions because of the things that we were doing. And he wasn't somebody that I hadn't met. But, you know, the, The first interaction that I had with Dale was actually with Hornaday. We had decided that we were no good at golf and we needed to start finding a new hobby. So we decided that we were going to shoot Skeet.

And so the first interaction that I had with Dale was actually just walking straight into his office unannounced with Ron. And we walk in the door at DEI and walking in the office, he's got crap all over his desk and got his glasses on. And he's got his glasses down. On the bridge of the nose. Yeah, looking at all the stuff that he has. And he says, what are you two idiots want when we walked in the door? And so we just sit down. I mean, Hornaday is just Hornaday, right?

So we sit down at his desk and he says, Ron says, well, we're not very good at golf. And we want to learn how to shoot ski. And he's like, well, shouldn't you guys be working on your race cars? And, you know, so we went through that whole process. And eventually, you know, he called one of the guys from Remington. a trick shooter, Danny, I can't remember Danny's last name, and said, hey, can you take these morons to go learn how to shoot these guns so they don't shoot their feet off and we can keep them driving their race cars? And so, you know, that's where I got my first gun, you know,

was Dale took us up to the, to the gun room and gave Hornaday and I each gun and loaded us up with ammunition. And the only reason I bring that up is, you know, that was my first real interaction with him before we had announced the AC Delco piece of it in Michigan. And the second interaction was in the lounge of the trailer. And he's sitting in the lounge of the trailer in his underwear with his gloves on. Apparently he liked to break his gloves in before he would get there. And Richard just barges up in there. And he's sitting there in between getting dressed for practice and breaking his gloves in. And so we go. We go. up in there and you know had a good conversation about taking over the A.C. Delco car

and all the things that were getting ready to happen that day. And so, you know, that led into the next year of doing the testing and all the things that we got to do with the three car. So doing all that, when everything happened, I pretty much knew what was going to happen. I had told my wife, you know, on Tuesday, what was going to happen, what I thought was going to happen. Right. Because it was just, you know, he, we had all kind of worked together. And, you know, I think that there were cars that already had my seats in them.

But during that time, it was really interesting because we had just put together a whole program to go run seven cup races. Atlanta was actually going to be the first cup race that I ran with the 30 car in America Online. as the sponsor and so much different during those times. We had flown to America Online. We had gone to, I think it was singular wireless at the time. And we actually had we had to turn two sponsors down. Oh, that doesn't happen. And, well, that was normal during those days.

Yeah. You had to pick of the litter as far as what you wanted to put on your car. And so, you know, we had put all seven of those races together with America Online. And then in 2002 was going to be my first cup season. was going to be myself and Dale and Mike Skinner on the cup side. And so, you know, we had announced all that in Daytona and got all that done. And then everything happened, you know, at Daytona and had to immediately start unwinding all that stuff because I was going into the, into the 29 car to replace Dale. And so it was a very different twist of how things got

started. And you won your first cup race a few short weeks later and just your third start, which is essentially unheard of nowadays, obviously, at Atlanta. Unless you're SVG. Unless your SVG. It was an incredibly healing moment for the sport. It was larger than just racing. Can you put into words what that moment was like for you? It was, you know, when, when Dale had the accident, and, you know, it was a, that's a pretty tight-knit group of people at RCR. And, you know, we had, we all knew each other pretty well. So, you know, I think that getting into that car was not as hard as most people would think because I looked at it from, okay, what do we have to do to go out on a racetrack and be as

competitive as possible? and those guys weren't really learning who I was. They knew who I was from a testing standpoint, but had no idea who I was from a racing standpoint. Todd Barrier was a massive part of that. He was my Bush Series crew chief at the time, and he was a very integral part of gluing the two sides together and kind of helping keep everything flowing from the standpoint of,

here's characteristics. He's going to be a wacko crazy guy when you get in the middle of these races. And so dealing with all of the things that he already knew who I was and the things that I dealt with, but they kind of knew as well. But it was, it's like I already knew what was going to happen. I mean, we had the sit-down conversation.

Rick Masked, they would have put Rick Masked in that car at Rockingham if I didn't want to do it. But I already knew that that's what was going to happen. just based on what it was. And then it just became, okay, I'm really the only guy here that hasn't been here for a long time. How can I be just the leader of just going out and doing what I need to do on the racetrack and try to keep everything pushed in the directions that it needed to go? And everybody was obviously what they were, right, from an emotional standpoint.

and, you know, the first week we went through the funeral. We went through everything that happened and just trying to navigate all that. And I was pretty determined to make it work for everybody just because, I mean, I was really the only one there that could emotionally be in the game 100%. So we go to Rockingham. And actually, Delane and I got married the week of Rockingham. So we ran the first race and left the racetrack, went Wednesday, and it was probably one of the best things that ever happened,

just because right in the middle of all this, you've got something to celebrate. That's outside of what you do on a weekly basis. And so we had all the teams and everybody at the wedding, had a reception and party and all the things that come with. And we did that in Vegas because it was kind of the most neutral spot for her family to get to. and my family already being out there,

and you could bring all the race teams, and it fit the race schedule. So we got married and went to Vegas and got our first top 10, and that led to Atlanta that next weekend, and all the pieces just came together, and we were competitive and doing all the things that we needed to do all day

and wound up in Victory Lane with just a crazy set of circumstances with the finish. and, you know, I think at that point there was so much going on. We kind of hid from all the things that were outside of the race car because we were at the racetrack so much. We would go test the bush car. We would go test the cup car.

Then we'd go to the racetrack and then we'd do it all over again. And the sponsors and people around the scenario were like, we just need to get to the racetrack. We don't need to overwhelm everybody with the things because nobody really knew how to handle it. I'm sure. At that point, as far as should you be in public, should you just have a good rent shirt on, should you do the things at the race strike, should you have merchandise?

There were just so many awkward scenarios that you had to work through. And so we just got to race. And it was just week after week after week after week, race, race, race, race, race. And we, you know, you go out and you win that first race. And it's all of a sudden, you know, I never really realized the magnitude of the situation. I knew it was, you know, the first press conference. and was massive and weird and, you know, overwhelming and all those things. And I knew it was an important scenario because, you know, we were practicing.

And Rich was like, no, we're not going to practice today. You're going to go to the press conference and we got to get this done. And so we did the press conference at Rockingham. And that was the biggest press conference that I ever did. You win the first race, biggest race that you'll ever win for more reasons than you ever realized at the time. but you know you go back and you just look at just the things that happened those first few weeks of the season with Steve Park and Michael Waltrip and you know the cars that won the race is during that time you know it's just very ironic of how things started off that season with Dale Dye and his cars winning

me winning the you know the race at Atlanta and so it was You didn't know whether to be happy. You didn't know whether to be sad. You know, you didn't want to disrespect people by over-celebrating. And so, you know, now you look back at it however many years later, and you realize just the impact that it had on the sport, it had on RCR, in the start of the healing process of things that were happening. But, you know, I think when you look back at that and immediately,

what it was accepted that it was okay that I drove the car. I mean, at Rockingham, Dale Jr. came up in the holler. He's like, hey, you know, we're here to support you and in driving the car and helping everybody get through this situation. And it was Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace. And, you know, because you never really, in those scenarios, you don't really know, are you disrespecting somebody? Are you not disrespecting?

How do you handle it? And so, you know, you had, you had the support from the family, obviously, with, with Dale. Which is huge, yeah. And, you know, that's a, that's a major burden off of your back as to try to figure out, is that right or wrong. But it could really, you know, you listen to Richard in, you know, today's world, that's really what kept RCR going, right? Because we got back on the racetrack. We won races. And ultimately, that's what it needed to do in order to survive because it did survive so much.

many years with Richard Dale doing the things that they had did. So, you know, those, those moments in that, in that first year were life changing, but also a healing process for the sport and the things that happened that year. That's a tough situation for somebody to enter. As things started to progress, did you feel like you were no longer viewed as someone who was, you know, tapped to be the next driver after Dale and you were Kevin Harvick, the race car driver in your own right? That took a while. It took a while. Yeah. I was never really thrilled about, you know, the, and I don't know that the Goodrich brand ever really

internally accepted me driving that car. You know, I sat in a meeting at the corporate office one day and the guy, the marketing director at the time looked straight across at me. He's like, I'm just not really sure that you're the good wrench mold. I'm not sure you're the right guy to be driving this car. And, you know, really from that day forward, when that guy, when he told me that, I'm like, well, maybe I'm not the guy to drive that car, but I can drive this car. Yes, you can.

I can do it. And really from that point forward, one of my biggest goals was to get that brand off the car just because of that conversation. And in 2003, it started to happen. You know, we had a great relationship with the Rhesus brand that had started. and so you started to see those brands start to change because at that point, I wasn't, they weren't supportive of me and I wasn't, I was not supportive of them at all because of the interaction that we had had in that corporate building that day. And so, you know, it was, it took a couple years. Like 2002 is really when you figured out, okay, we got a lot of stuff

screwed up. And you started to see the repercussions of what happened in 2000. one and then it because it was you know from the brand standpoint i wasn't del earnhardt right like i'm 25 and he was 50 and so all the things that that were expected internally i didn't like um because they wanted to treat me like him and i didn't want to be like him and so it there became a lot of internal battles we had crew chief changes we had branding changes and and because the second year we had to decide what the car was going to look like. Well, they wanted it to be back to their colors and, you know, everybody internally was like, well, we're not driving a black car. Like, that's just not going to happen. So it evolved into the silver, you know, the gray and gray silver

car with a little bit of black and fluorescent orange and it had the, you know, it had the paint scheme, so it still had the slope of the three in it. So a lot of those types of battles started to happen because of the massive branding that the three car had, but it wasn't, it wasn't Dale anymore, right? Like it's, and it was a really difficult time to decide, okay, when do we start to migrate to change the marketing and make it so that it was your car. And so that really 2006 is when it really transitioned into Goodrich, starting to back off of the car and Reese started to come on the car. and in 2007, it obviously all changed when, you know, Shell and Penns Oil came to be on the car. So it was, those first five years were difficult because they wanted me to be somebody who I wasn't.

And I didn't want to do that. And, you know, you didn't want to be disrespectful, but I felt it was more respectful to not do that. Because that was his brand. Those were his fans. Those were his people. and it was two different generations of who we were and how we acted and the things that we did. So there were a lot of things that I could have done differently. But at that point, I was pretty bullheaded after the conversation that I had with the good wrench folks in that office of basically being told that you're not their guy.

And it was like, I might not be your guy, but I can drive that car. And I want to go through quite a bit of the success you had in your own right, obviously. you mentioned 2006 and 2007. You won the Daytona 500, edging out Mark Martin in one of the closest margins of victory since electronic scoring started in 1993. What do you recall about that win? Well, it was a pretty wild finish.

I think I was like 15th or like 15 to go. I was like 32nd, 31st, 30th, somewhere in the back of the pack. We'd got a hole in the nose. And so really you're like, well, there's no change. but that was just never how I raced, right? Like you just never know what the cycle of the events are going to be as you go through that time. And, you know, so we had a good restart and made our way through the field.

And I think that Red came out with an accident at like seven laps to go. And we had worked our way up into the top 10. And so restarted the race and I was the first one to pop out of line and Matt Kinzeth and Jeff Burton and a bunch of them that I thought would follow me. And they did just the way that it worked out. And we had just a massive run there the last couple laps to take the lead and finish the race off with a win. But, you know, you're looking back on it now with everything that Mark fought at Daytona.

And we laugh about it now. And I think that it was great for us, devastating for them. But, you know, when you win the Daytona 500, that's as big as it. gets in our sport. And we've had that one I felt like we kind of snuck up on them in one. I felt like we've lost a few of them just with the different scenarios. But that's how that's how it works at that race. And so, you know, we were only able to win that race once. But what a what a great experience in the fashion that we were able to win it. And the things that we were able to do. And, you know, put your name on on that Harley J. Earl trophy next to, you know,

just the legends that have won that race was pretty neat. One of many crown jewel wins. So that's Daytona. I want to go to Phoenix because it became a defining racetrack in your career. Almost unbeatable there. Nine wins. Why did that place just suit you so well? I'm sure you have many good memories.

Yeah, that's a great question. You know, we spent a lot of time on the flat tracks at RCR. And, you know, you look at Loudoun and you look at Phoenix. and, you know, we probably, for me, I grew up at Phoenix. And, you know, that's kind of, I raced my Southwest Tour car there, I raced our family truck there, raced the Winston West car there. So, you know, that was always a place that just kind of took a little bit of more pride

in just because it was, I mean, that was kind of our, the Copper Classic and those races where you got to be around the cup cars at the end of the year. that was just a that was a big deal for west coast racers being a part of those weekends and so you know those were always the places they're like man if I'm going to get my shot this is the this is the place that I got to shine at so I had a lot of experience there we always raced the truck and bush cars and whatever whatever we could race on those weekends because I wanted to race in front of our fans from the west coast and so I had a lot of

and seat time there and kind of knew all the characteristics of the track. But pair that with the effort that we put into the flat tracks at RCR. It just kind of became the perfect storm to be able to have that success. And it carried on. And everybody leaned into it and knew how important that place was. It wasn't just another short track for me. So Rodney and Todd and Gill, they all knew how important it was. And we always took our best swing at going to those races.

and it paid off in a number of different ways. We got our first ever win there for KHAI. I think the first winning cup was in 2006. And so it was, it was, it made me mad more than anything because I wanted to win every race there. And on Saturday, it was the most frustrating thing ever on Saturdays because of the fact that, you know, you just, you never, it never worked out as many times as it should have.

So it used to make me so mad. kept me coming back. And so Sunday was super successful. And we had some, you know, some other truck wins there. And so it was, it was definitely a place that was very, we were very fortunate to have a lot of success at. And for me, very fortunate to do it on the West Coast because you had so many fans there. Yes, Phoenix was definitely a special place for you. So too was the brickyard. That race isn't too far away coming up this summer. It carries so much prestige, of course, amongst the drivers. It's sacred ground, if you will. You were able to win there. three times. How did you do that? How did you make that happen? I can tell you the ones that I lost.

I mean, I hate the fact that Jamie McMurray got the one in 2010. I felt like that was definitely one that got away from us there at the end. But at RCR, we're really at Stuart Haas as well. And I think it's pretty common with the teams. You put a lot of effort into that race because it is the brickyard and it is Indy. You know, that's as close as I came to living out my childhood dream because I grew up in Bakersfield, California, Rick Mears fan. If you didn't, if you didn't root for the Mears gang, you were, you were not from Bakersfield. So wanting to be at the Indy 500 and be successful and, you know, to go there in 03 and win the first brickyard and be able to celebrate that was always something as a kid that you wanted to do. And, you know,

And, you know, to go back and do that a couple more times at Stuart Haas. And I was actually there doing the podcast stuff not too long ago. And I looked down and I'm like, you know, I really messed up. The last race that I won here was in COVID. And I forgot to go take the picture. Oh, shoot. So there's no pictures of me with the trophy on the art of bricks that exists because I never, I never went and took the picture, but, you know, at that time, I was bad about that because, like you said, at the beginning, I'm not going to read you my own stats or tell you what I did if, you know, if it was fine. But I'm not going to be the guy that that pats myself on the back for all the things that we did. But the brickyard was very successful for us and always super competitive and able to have a lot of success there and be able to experience it in my career when it was full of people.

that's a different place when it's when it's full of people and and you have such a knowledgeable group of race fans that that live in that area and show up at that race is is different level of fans so your interactions with the fans are very different because of how much they know about racing in general sprint cars stock cars indie cars you name it they they know about it and so always top three areas that were in our fan club as far as the amount of fans that we had. And I think that that brickyard success was part of that. But I always think that, you know, there's just places that you go that people gravitate to you. And I think that early success really set that tone for indie.

But yeah, that was for me as a kid, kind of living out your childhood dream to be able to go there and win is pretty neat. It is very neat. You mentioned COVID, which reminds me the 2020 Southern 500. It was a veteran masterpiece drive. How do you feel like that win was a complete performance? Well, what a weird time. Yes, it was. To go through COVID.

And our sport really set the trend for getting back to normal and very bold in trying to make it happen. And Darlington was the first race back. And, you know, I think that it's another one. of those moments where you don't realize the impact of what you did until you get done. And for me, I mean, I'm, you drive the racetrack, there's nobody on the road. You get to the racetrack, they take your temperature and you go sit in your motor home and your stuff's already all in there, sanitized and you carry your stuff out to your car and you get in your car by yourself. And so, you know, just really, really strange times. And so we beat them up

pretty bad that day, if I remember correctly. And I think that, you know, we won the race. And that was really when I realized what we were in the middle of when I got out of my car because you're always just in the car, you don't care, right? Like you just, whatever the scenario is, once the window net goes up and the motor starts, you just, you don't realize what's going on in the world. And, you know, that was another one of those moments where you just get in there and you have the same emotions and feelings and everything that you just want to race and you don't

realize there's nobody watching at the racetrack. Not physically there anyway. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of people watching on TV, but there is nobody watching. Nope. At the track, not soul. Not one person watching at the track. And, you know, I got out with all that same emotion. And, and I got up on a car and I celebrate. And I'm like, what the hell am I? You can hear yourself echoing through the, through the racetrack. Because once the engines are off, you know, you go back and you listen to the national anthem, it felt like one of those old war movies where they're playing the music in the in the abandoned city waiting for somebody to drop a bomb right and that was what it felt like before that race you know they've got the national anthem

playing through the speakers and it's just echoing around just eerily uh throughout the complex well that was what happened again and i get out and i'm like oh that that was weird uh celebrating for my with myself and here comes regan with his six-foot pole on a micrifice yeah microphone on a foot pole asking his questions and I and I get done with the interview and they're like on the other side of the wall. All right. Go to Victory Lane. You got to take three pictures. The PR guy on the, other side of the wall. So I go and I kind of gather my thoughts up and just looking around thinking this is the weirdest thing I've ever done in my life. And Josh Williams, who's SVG spotter now, all I heard was, good job, Harve. Like he was standing.

right there. He's standing in a spotter stand. So I get in a car and I drive down a straightaway. I'm like, well, so much for the backwards victory lap because there's not a soul here, but I'm already pointed that direction. So I drive down and, you know, go down into pit lane and pull into victory lane. And there was three hats and a trophy and one photographer and take the pictures. And same thing, PR person way over there. All right, take the trophy and go to your motorhome and do the, media session. And you do the media session on Zoom. And I get done with all that. And I get my car and drive home, nobody on the road still. And my phone rings, and it's Kevin McCarthy from White House,

and Speaker of the House at the time. And he said, hey, I just want to let you guys know how impactful this was for our country to be able to get life back to normal and sports back going. Second call was from Joe Girardi. Because, you know, Major League Baseball at that time. And Joe and I were, you know, good friends. And, you know, he was like, you know, this, I'm so happy that you you guys did this and the things that you did will get our sport going back in the right direction.

And, you know, from there, it was just one phone call after another, you know, just thank you for getting life back going. And I didn't have a lot to do with that, but participating in the event. Oh, yes. You know, it's just another one of those moments where you kind of fall into it because you're the guy that won the race. And so it's, you know, our sport can do that. We did that after 9-11, you know, at Dover the week after 9-11. And, you know, rallied the country and did the things that we did to in so many different moments, whether it was Dale dying or 9-11 or COVID, you know, we could go back and dig out a whole bunch of those moments that our sport does it so great.

Monumental moments for sure. You've been a part of several of them. So those were some of the pinnacle races, but I want to focus in on Stewart House racing for a minute and when you won your championship, of course. How to being a part of that organization unlock another level for you in some ways. Well, it was a pivotal moment in my life and career at that point. Delana and I, Delana knew I was miserable, you know, kind of with the scenario of everything that was happening at RCR and not because you didn't like the people. It's just we couldn't get to where we wanted to be from a performance standpoint. And there was so much animosity that it had carried over into home. And she's like, look, at this point, you got to do something different.

And so we had kind of come up with a, you know, a plan to try to explore what I needed to do next. Really not from, you know, personal level, you know, with myself and Richard, but how do you do it the right way to not to not be disrespectful? And, you know, it was, that was probably the toughest conversation. That was definitely the toughest conversation that I've ever had with Richard outside of the Earnhardt scenario. because, you know, it was a year and a half before my contract was up at RCR. But I knew if I didn't go in and tell Richard myself and do it face to face, he would never, ever, ever respect me again. And you saw that with Tyler Redick, right?

Like, you know, the way that that all got handled. And I did not want to disrespect Richard from the standpoint, from a personal relationship standpoint, because he gave me so many opportunities. but it was just at a point where I'd spent 13, at that point, 12 years of my life there. And it was starting to get, it was just starting to get messy, you know, from that standpoint. So we cut the deal to go to Stuart Haas and I told Richard a year and a half early. And then it got out as we got towards the, you know, the end of that season.

And it got out, actually got out the weekend that we won Phoenix that year in 2012. was when the news broke that I was going to, going to Stuart Haas. And I was at a point where I'm like, well, if I got to sit out a year, I'll sit out a year. But I felt like if I handled it correctly, that that wouldn't be the case. And we could put our best foot forward as a group

to work through the end of a scenario because, I mean, that's just who Richard is. You know, he wants to finish what he starts and live up to his word. And I felt like I know who he is and I need to do the same thing out of respect to him. And luckily I did it that way because we worked through the end of 2013 together and, and, you know, we're able to win races and do all the things that we were able to do at the end of that,

that portion of my career together. And I think until this day, I mean, that's what saved our friendship. He was mad at me for, he was mad for, you know, a couple years. And, you know, eventually, you know, after winning the championship and, and he was one of the first, people to tell me congratulations and tell you that, you know, you did the right thing and hated that it didn't work out at RCR, but at that point it all made sense to people with the effort that Tony and Gene had really put forth to basically say, well, we don't have anything. Who do you want to hire as your crew chief? And so, you know, Rodney was the choice, and he was at Michael Walter Bracing.

And it took us about a year and a half to convince him because everything was, you know, there was so much out there of who I was as a person outside or inside the race car and just, you know, super aggressive with everything that I did. And it just, some people didn't like that. And it just caught them the wrong way. So once we convinced Rodney that that's,

wasn't going to be the case, it was like, okay, we're going to clean house with everything that we do. We sold the race teams. sold my shop, sold my house, did everything different. Keelan was obviously coming along in 2012. We had Keelan and just decided that we were going to move to a different town. We moved to Charlotte to get out of the center of everything. Sold our house and just started over and said, okay.

And Rodney was a big part of that to say, okay, well, I don't want you to yell at me on the radio. I'm like, okay, well. Yeah. Yeah. But it really gave you a great perspective on the things that you needed to change. And I felt like if I got the same stuff that I could beat Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson in their own cars if we had the right equipment and the right people around us. And we had, we didn't have a budget. Thank God.

And we built. And that's what Tony and Gene wanted to do. They were struggling a little bit with where they were at Stuart Haas at that point. And so Rodney came over and we built that whole team from that day forward of deciding who the crew chief was. And it was all built on people who wanted to be there. And I think that's super important for any race team or driver. If the people are bad mouth in their driver or don't like the scenario or don't like how they act, then they don't need to be on the team.

And we got a group of people that just totally believed in what we were building. And Tony and Gene left us alone. pretty much the whole time. And we won a lot of races and a championship and had some of the greatest people together that you could possibly ask for with the relationships. We were all very similar in age, which was very important. I felt like because most of us had kids and we're kind of going through the same things in life. But that chemistry and camaraderie that you have as a group of people directly affects what you do on the racetrack.

and being able to navigate that. And the expectations were so high as to what was expected from you. And everybody had bought into that. They didn't want to let the other guy down. So if you weren't busting your ass and doing everything that you could do to make that what you did on a weekly basis, you felt bad about it. And I think everybody on that team felt that exact same way. And ultimately, you know, we just won a lot.

and it was very successful and fun. We worked hard and had fun and, you know, those relationships were much different than what they were to RCR because you didn't have all the, you didn't have all the combated, combative situations, you know, where it was this power struggle of who wanted to do this and I wanted to do that and I was just throwing a fit or it was,

you know, I went about it a much different way and learned that if I had a win about it that way at RCR, probably would have been more constructive, but the only way to win over there was to be combative to get the things that you needed. So, you know, I think that you learned, if you look back on it now, I'd probably do things differently at RCR,

but having all those lessons from RCR to what we did at SHR was exactly the flip in things that you needed in order to make it, so that it was about winning and not about who you made mad that week or what you said on the radio and all the things, all the chaos that came with everything before that. You can't really achieve great things without good people around you that are part of your support system. When you reflect back on your career and you think about all these moments, who are kind of the core people that maybe you would want to express some gratitude at this point?

Well, I think I've always had a great group of people around me personally. So, you know, from Delana, Fred and Cindy in the office and Josh, you know, Fred and Cindy have worked for me for almost 30 years now. So, you know, when you look at that, we had a core group of people when and then Josh came in a little bit after that. And we had this core group of people that when things got tough, those were the only people that we talked to. Yeah, that's smart. It wasn't getting outside of our house. And people didn't know much about us. They didn't know how we operated.

they never knew where we were coming from and what was coming next because it was it was just that tight and you know so if you thought you knew us you didn't really know us but but we always had that group of people that was very close-knit and very loyal to to what we did and it was it was always about what's best for our family and what were we going to do to win so and money you know Because in the end, money is, you know, I mean, the money is what makes the race teams go around. And we had our own race teams. We had people that we were driving for. And so you had all these different things to navigate.

So it was having that close-knit group of people was super important. You know, Richard had a massive, as big an impact because he was so good at all the things off the racetrack, selling the sponsorship, shaking the right hands, being a respectable person. Your words only thing that you have. That's Richard, right? I mean, that's just who he is as a person. That's what keeps RCR going to this day is Richard Childress because of those relationships and the respect that he has

from the business world and within the sport. But there's a lot of politics that he taught us how to play within the games of the dinners that you needed to go to, the things, the trips that you needed to go on, the things outside of what you do from just showing up, at the shop and getting in the race car on the weekends. There's just way more to it than that. So that was very impactful. And I think that, you know, when you look, Mike Helton was a massive influence on my career, Mike Elton and Jim Hunter. Jim's passed, you know, since.

And but, you know, I think that as Mike would put it, he would yell at me and then he'd call Jim to make sure that I wasn't devastated. So, you know, I, and that's why, you know, I think, when you see like at homestead when we had the honorary race there with mobile one and and they said who you want to drop the green flag I'd pick Mike Elton because there's just there's people that impact your life in in ways that are just different than than everybody else he was the guy that would you know spank my butt when I did something wrong but he was also the guy to put his arm around you and say you know keep keep doing yeah keep doing what you're doing just do it in a different way but But I think Mike Helton, Jim Hunter, Richard Childress, and Stewart was always very supportive of everything that we did.

Ironically, didn't really know Gene that well. Gene wasn't around a lot during my time at Stewart-Hoss Racing. I think the first time I actually ever met Gene was at the press conference when we announced that I was going to come drive his car. So, you know, I think that those are probably the, I mean, there's a lot more, you know, that had massive impacts on the end of it. And, you know, I think that every moment leads to the next one. And I've been fortunate to go through a lot of that. You've contributed to this sport a lot outside of just what you did in the driver's seat. I think about the team ownership side, series ownership, track ownership, driver development.

Why has it been so important for you to keep evolving this sport and growing it in the right way? Well, it gave so much to me, right? Like it made my whole life into what it is today. But I feel like we're pretty good at it. And I think a lot of that comes from the passion. And I think that and the love of the sport, the love of racing in general. I like the people. I like the things that come with everything that we get to do inside of the car.

but I love everything outside of the car. I like the chase of the sponsor. I like the things that fixing things like our short track system like we've done with the cars tour. Because it was there when I needed it and it got so broken over the past 20 years and being able to have an impact on hopefully continuing to move those things in the right direction. It just gives me something to do. but it's something that I enjoy. Yes. You know, being able to share the knowledge of the things that you've experienced.

I mean, we've negotiated everything from television contracts to sponsors to driver contracts to client contracts. You name it. We've done it when it has to do with this sport. And being able to share that knowledge is something that I was fortunate to be around to, whether it was from Richard or Rusty Wallace or Dale Jarrett or whoever it was, you had people that would help you if you were in a situation or you had a question. And being able to share that with the next generation and, you know, I think being a dad and, you know, with Keelan and experiencing the things from a grassroots level and trying to

navigate his career, so many times the parents get just completely screwed over, get taken advantage of from a lot of different people. And so being able to help people navigate the sport is something that we can do and have done a good job at and continue to do on so many levels. So I like sharing that because that's healthy for racing, which is what you really want, right? Like when you get done, hopefully you've made an impact enough that it can change the direction of certain things and help scenarios and people, whatever it is to get better. NASCAR and the motorsports community is very fortunate to have Kevin Harvick. Thank you so much for sharing all of your stories.

You are so deserving of this honor. It's been an honor to work with you. So I appreciate you taking time to do this. And we look forward to seeing you officially inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Thank you. Hey, y'all. It's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if?

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