KEVIN HARVICK

'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/Reese's Chevrolet in Cup racing full-time and the #21 AutoZone Chevrolet part-time in the Busch Series, and in the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series, where he drives cars and trucks that his own team fields. Harvick is the owner of the #2 and #33 Camping World Chevrolet Silverados in the Craftsman Truck Series, and the #33 Old Spice / RoadLoans.com and #77 Dollar General Chevrolet in the Busch Series.

Beginnings

Harvick began racing in karting after his parents Mike and JoNell bought him a go-kart as a kindergarten graduation gift in 1980. His father would make a minor change on the race car he was racing and would not tell the young Harvick what it was. It taught Harvick to be ready for anything. Soon after Harvick became a highly successful driver on the go-kart circuit. He started part-time racing in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series in 1992 and competed while completing high school. Always the competitor, when not racing in the winter months Harvick comepeted on his high school wrestling team at North High School in Oildale. He won a section title in his weight class his senior year. He then graduated and became a full-time driver and earned the honor of Rookie of the Year in 1995.^[1]
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.¹

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.

Busch series

On October 23, 1999, Harvick 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. The race would be his only start that year. The following season, Harvick 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 three wins, eight top five finishes and 16 top ten finishes. 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 also scored two pole positions and finished third 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. Harvick posted five wins, twenty top five finishes and 24 top ten finishes. Ironically, he would claim the NASCAR Busch Series Championship at the same racetrack that he failed to qualify at at the beginning of the 2000 season: North Carolina Speedway.
In 2002, Kevin Harvick would spent the season concentrating on running the Cup Series and would only start four races. He would only have one top ten in those four starts at Texas Motor Speedway. He finished 64th in the Driver's Standings.
In 2003, Richard Childress teamed 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 three wins, 16 top-fives and 24 top-tens, with Kevin posting all three wins. They would give Richard the NASCAR Busch Series Owner's Championship that season, with the Driver's Championship 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 drove in 19 of the 34 races and Johnny drove 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 Championship. Kevin also scored eight pole positions and finished 16th in the Driver's Standings.
In 2004, Harvick was again 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 combined for one win, 13 top-fives and 20 top-tens in the #21 Hershey's sponsored Reese's Peanut Butter Cup car. Kevin drove 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, Harvick was paired with rookie Brandon Miller, as Clint Bowyer would take over the #2 AC Delco Busch series car from Ron Hornaday, Jr. Harvick and Miller combined for three wins, 15 top 5's and 19 top 10's to give the #21 its 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, Harvick 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. Harvick had nine wins, 23 top-fives and 32 top-tens. He clinched the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series Championship on October 13, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Dollar General 300. It was the earliest clinch of the championship ever in the Busch Series, locking up the title with four races still to be run. He ended the season with a record 824 point margin in the final standings.
In 2007, Harvick began started the season by winning the Orbitz 300 at Daytona, claiming his first win in a restrictor plate race, as well as the first win for new sponsor AutoZone in NASCAR Busch Series competition. He also took the checkers at New Hampshire International Speedway, winning the Camping World 200 presented by RVs.com. He won the inaugural NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Winston/NEXTEL Cup series

For 2001, Childress planned to develop Harvick into the Winston Cup Series (now NEXTEL Cup) with up to seven races in an America Online sponsored third car, number 30. He planned to race Harvick for a full schedule in 2002. Chidress's plans changed when Dale Earnhardt was killed during the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Childress tabbed Harvick as Earnhardt's replacement.
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), the number changed from 3 to 29, and the pit crew wore generic uniforms. In the third race of the season, the car was painted white and red, while Harvick wore a white and red uniform. His pit crew continued to wear the traditional GM Goodwrench Service Plus uniforms.
On March 11, 2001 at the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500, only three weeks after Earnhardt's death, Harvick won his first career Winston/NEXTEL Cup victory in just his third start by narrowly edging Jeff Gordon at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He won the race 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. After the win, Harvick performed a tire-smoking burnout on the frontstretch with three fingers held aloft outside the driver's window.
Harvick recorded his second Winston Cup win of his career on July 15, 2001 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. At the end of the season, he finished with two victories, six top five finishes, and 16 top ten finishes. Harvick was awarded with the NASCAR Rookie of the Year award, and secured a ninth place finish in the 2001 points standings. He also won the Busch Series championship, becoming the first driver to win the Busch Series Champion, while also driving full-time in the Winston Cup Series with a top ten finish. Harvick would end the season winning six pole positions, and driving in 70 races: 35 Cup Series, 1 NASCAR Nextel Cup All-Star Challenge Event, 33 Busch Series races, and one NASCAR Craftsman Series (at Richmond International Raceway).
Harvick began the 2002 season with a fine for a post race incident with Greg Biffle at Bristol Motor Speedway. Later, he was suspended for rough driving following a Craftsman Truck race at Martinsville, Virginia. Harvick scored his first career Nextel Cup pole position; this coming at the Daytona International Speedway. Later in the season, he scored his third NEXTEL Cup victory, finishing first at the Chicagoland Speedway. He finished 21st in the 2002 points standings with one victory, five top five finishes, and eight top ten finishes. Harvick became the 2002 IROC Champion in his first season in the series, winning at the California Speedway.
In the 2003 season, Harvick teamed with crew chief Todd Berrier and won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in August. Harvick and his team jumped from 21st in the final 2002 points standings, to 5th in the 2003 standings, coming within 252 points of first place Matt Kenseth. While winless in the 2004 season, Harvick placed third in the most popular driver voting, behind Jeff Gordon and winner Dale Earnhardt Jr.
In the 2005 season, Harvick won the 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. The following year, 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.

2006 season

Kevin Harvick awaiting Happy Hour prior to his win at Phoenix

On April 15, 2006 Harvick won his first Busch Series race of the 2006 season. He followed the win with a weekend sweep of the Busch Series and NEXTEL Cup races at Phoenix International Raceway. Later in the season, Harvick won the NEXTEL Cup race at Watkins Glen International.
On September 9, 2006, Harvick, only needing to finish 40th or better to clinch a spot in the Chase, did better by slipping by Kyle Busch in turn four going into the final lap and holding onto the lead to win the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway. This was 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 for 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. At the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kevin would finish 5th in the race and slip to fourth in the final standings to eventual 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson.

2007 season

In 2007, the team again split primary sponsors, with Hershey's being joined by new primary sponsor Shell and their Pennzoil brand.^[2]. On Sunday, February 18, 2007 in the season opening Daytona 500, Harvick claimed his first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series victory in a restrictor plate race with a dramatic final lap pass over Mark Martin by .020 seconds in a green-white-checkered finish, the closest margin at the 500 since electronic scoring started in 1993. The race was on the sixth anniversary of the death of his predecessor at Richard Childress Racing, Dale Earnhardt. He would become only the fourth NASCAR driver to sweep both the Busch and Cup races in the opening weekend at Daytona (along with Bobby Allison (1988), Darrell Waltrip (1989), and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2004) ). Harvick also tied Benny Parsons for the fewest number of laps led by a Daytona 500 winner, who did it in 1975 (the year Harvick was born) with four laps. He started 34th (lowest ever by a winner at the track), and became the first Busch Series Champion to win the Daytona 500 the following year. With the win, Harvick also became only the sixth driver to win both the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 joining Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Bill Elliott and Jimmie Johnson.^[3]^[4]
On February 22nd, 2007, four days after Kevin won the Daytona 500 in his inaugural race with Shell-Pennzoil as a primary sponsor, Harvick's team owner, Richard Childress Racing, was asked by NASCAR to downsize the Shell logo on his fire suit and to have Harvick wear a more prominent Pennzoil logo, in an effort to play down any perceived competition with SUNOCO. SUNOCO asked NASCAR to talk with Richard Childress after Harvick won both the Busch Series and NEXTEL Cup Series races wearing a prominent Shell logo on his fire suit.^[5]
Kevin's 2007 season so far has had its peaks and dips, and he came to Lowe's Motor Speedway hoping to win his first NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, using an RCR car built and raced in 2006 but with the new GM RO7 engine installed for this race. He finished second in 2006 to Jimmie Johnson. Jimmie Johnson made one last attempt at a pass on the outside in Turns 3 & 4 during the race, but Harvick slid up the track to block Johnson and that was all Kevin needed to do to win his first million dollar check at Lowe's. Kevin's total winnings added up to $1,021,539. He said that he would share the money with his crew.

Teams Harvick Has Run For

References

1. Harvick's Biography Retrieved on February 18, 2007
2. http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/cup/10/07/kharvick_sponsor/index.html] [http://jayski.com/schemes/2007/29cup.htm
3. Cross' Words: Daytona Retrieved February 18, 2007
4. Harvick edges Martin for Daytona 500 title
5. Harvick's Shell logos called into question ''SCENEDAILY'' (2007-02-22). Retrieved on February 23, 2007.

External links

★ Racing-Reference Stats

★ Kevin Harvick's official web site

★ Richard Childress Racing's official web site

★ Kevin Harvick's MySpace profile

★ Coca-Cola Racing Family's Kevin Harvick profile

★ Kevin Harvick - Bio, Stats, Images, Charts

This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.

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KEVIN HARVICK

Beginnings

NASCAR career

Busch series

Winston/NEXTEL Cup series

2006 season

2007 season

Teams Harvick Has Run For

NEXTEL Cup/Winston Cup

Busch Series

Truck Series

See also

References

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