NASCAR’s Kevin Harvick came of age at Kansas Speedway. Sunday marks his final race here

NASCAR’s Kevin Harvick and Kansas Speedway grew up together.

Harvick was a raw 25-year-old when he was thrust into the national spotlight and asked to do the near-impossible: fill the void left by the passing of the sport’s icon, Dale Earnhardt, who died in a crash on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Harvick would go on to enjoy a Hall of Fame career of his own. He would win 60 Cup races in the next 23 years, ranking 10th all-time, as well as the 2014 Cup championship. And much of his success occurred at Kansas Speedway, which opened during his monumental rookie year of 2001.

It was a year of firsts for both Harvick and for the sparkling new track that evolved into a twice-a-year spot on the NASCAR calendar and spurred a revival of western Wyandotte County.

“There wasn’t anything but a highway and a racetrack when I visited Kansas Speedway for the first time,” Harvick reflected. “I was there before the track was actually done. It was a big year in my career, but also, there was a lot going on in the changing landscape of our sport from a standpoint of racetracks.

“You look at it now, and it’s one of my favorite places to go, because not only the racetrack facility and the casino, and the restaurants and all the things you can do in such a close proximity is really amazing to see where it started.”

Harvick, the only driver to start all 35 Cup races at Kansas Speedway, will make his final appearance on the track on Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Hollywood Casino 400 playoff race. Harvick, 47, announced at the start of the season that this would be his final year of competition, and he would move into the Fox television booth as a race analyst in 2024.

Harvick is one of four drivers to have won three Cup races at Kansas. He’s also finished second five times, more than any other driver and he’s led 949 laps, more than anyone else.

“It’s been a good racetrack for us through the years,” said Harvick, in his 10th year driving the No. 4 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing after 13 seasons with Richard Childress Racing. “The results have been good, and we hope the results are good when we come back. We’ve been through a couple of tracks and configurations. You have those places that work for you, where things work out more often than not.”

Kevin ‘The Closer’ Harvick earns 1st win

Harvick’s first Cup win came in just his third career start on March 11, 2001, three weeks after Earnhardt’s death. Team owner Richard Childress changed the No. 3 Chevrolet, made famous by Earnhardt, to the No. 29, and Harvick rewarded him with an emotion-charged win at Atlanta.

Harvick would do double-duty in a season cloaked in mourning for Earnhardt. He also competed full-time in the Busch (now Xfinity) Series, won that series championship, posted a second Cup win at Chicago and earned Cup Rookie of the Year honors.

“The sport needed somebody,” said Clint Bowyer, a future teammate at RCR and Stewart-Haas and future partner in the Fox booth. “Kevin had to fill some pretty unfillable shoes with the passing of Dale Earnhardt. He was the next guy in line and got put in the game a little early … probably earlier than he was ready for. The truth is, he answered the call and was up to the task.

“Not only did he get in that car and win races, he helped RCR continue on, and because of that, I had a job.”

Harvick, who gained the nickname The Closer for his ability to overtake opponents on the final laps of races, was often compared favorably in racing style to Earnhardt, best known as The Intimidator.

“I like to look at it as I race like myself,” Harvick said earlier this year. “Everybody tries to make comparisons, and I think for me, I have always tried to stay true to myself and do the things that got you to this point and fight for what you think is right. Do the things that it takes on the racetrack that put yourself in a position to be competitive and win.

“Sometimes it hasn’t been right and sometimes it has been wrong. You learn from those situations and try to do better next time. It has taken me a long time to do that.”

Harvick’s perseverance certainly paid off. Consider these numbers. His 1,290 starts across NASCAR’s top-three series — Cup, Xfinity and Trucks — are the most all-time and 85 more than the runner-up, Kyle Busch, who has 1,205 starts.

Harvick’s 121 wins across NASCAR’s top-three series rank third all-time, only to Busch (229) and Richard Petty (200). And his 775 consecutive Cup starts rank third all-time only to Jeff Gordon (797) and Ricky Rudd (788).

“The race wins and performances and all the stats are great, but having the respect of your competitors, the people in the garage, those in the industry, and how you conduct yourself is more important than how many times you’ve actually been in victory lane or finished second or championships that you’ve won” he said.

“Being able to have that is important to me and shows a lot of character how you’ve presented yourself and how you’ve gone about it. To me, that’s the really the most important thing.”

Success in NASCAR

When Harvick, of Bakersfield, Calif., made the trek from kart racing and late models on the West Coast to North Carolina NASCAR country, he never envisioned the kind of success he’d enjoy for the next 23 years.

“When you’re young, you don’t understand how life works in general,” he said. “As you have those hopes and dreams to become a professional race car driver, you don’t realize how unrealistic that is actually is. To be able to have all that play out and do what I used to do as a hobby and call that a career, and have it work out for 23 years at the highest level of NASCAR racing … it was pretty cool.

“To create so many relationships throughout the years led to my next career, in the TV booth.”

His contemporaries believe Harvick will bring as strong a voice to the television booth as he did on the racetrack.

“He has a very loud voice within the industry that is very well respected,” two-time Cup champion Joey Logano said. “He has decided to stay involved and continue to build the sport for the next generation. That says a lot about a person to me. This, to me, is a true Hall of Fame move that’s probably even bigger than a few race wins that he’s had. The fact that he cares enough to continue means a lot to me.”

Until then, Harvick has nine more races to savor at least one more trip to Victory Lane. He was one of three drivers without a win to qualify for the 16-car playoff field, though a controversial penalty might have cost him a chance to win last week at Darlington. That consigned Harvick to a 19th-place finish and dropped him to 14th in the standings heading into Sunday.

He has to win either at Kansas or next week at Bristol to have any chance at advancing to the Round of 12. If not, he will be content with his career and legacy in the sport.

“That’s what we strive for and want to do each year, win races, make the playoffs, win championships,” Harvick said. “That’s always the goal, what we’re all out here for.

“It’s also not going to be the end of the world if it doesn’t happen.”

What others are saying about Harvick

Here’s a sampling of what other drivers have to say about Kevin Harvick:

Jimmie Johnson, seven-time NASCAR Cup champion: “Kevin has offered so much in so many ways. He’s not only a fierce competitor but is someone who grew up in the sport and grew up in it and cares for it. He’s looked through the ownership lens and certainly the driver lens. He’s been with multiple organizations and different leaders. He’s a very well-rounded, intelligent driver/businessman. I have a ton of respect for what’s accomplished inside and out of the car.”

Martin Truex Jr., 2017 NASCAR Cup champion: “Kevin and I have raced each other really hard but really respectful over the years, so I’ve always enjoyed racing with Kevin. We are sort of the last of the old guys you could say, and I guess I’ll be one of the only ones at the end of the year after he retires. I’ll miss racing him for sure, but know he’s got fun things ahead of him with Keelan’s (Harvick) racing career taking off and other things he might have planned. Once Harvick is done at the end of the year, I guess I’ll be the old guy.”

Clint Bowyer, former teammate and future partner in the Fox booth: “The man’s done it all. He’s been a car owner. He’s been a championship car owner, and he’s won a championship himself. He’s checked all the boxes in NASCAR with his career and certainly will go down as one of the best.”

Tony Stewart, three-time Cup champion and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing: “I competed against Kevin for a long time and was so happy to finally have him a part of our race team. He’s incredibly reliable — consistent and calculated on the track with a drive to always be better. That’s what you want in a teammate. He knows what he needs to be successful, and his will to win helped elevate our entire company.”

Joey Logano, two-time Cup champion, on Harvick’s transition from racing to broadcasting: “Everyone in this industry is blessed that Kevin Harvick isn’t going away. Kevin cares about this sport. He cares about the people in this sport. He talks about the guys in the garage as much as the drivers or the fans. He cares about the sport in so many ways that (reporters) don’t see. I get to see, but also in ways that the world is going to see in the Fox booth next year.”

Chase Briscoe, on being Harvick’s teammate in his final year: “It’s been a huge thing for me. I can’t think of a better guy for me to be a teammate with. Any question I’ve ever had on the racetrack or off the racetrack, business related, racing question, he’s always my first phone call. For me to be able to be teammates with a guy that’s obviously going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer and to see how he ticks and what he does behind the scenes has been big for me.”