Wednesday, June 13, 2001
Harvick taking the ride of his life
Earnhardt's successor will drive here Saturday
By Tom Groeschen
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Kevin Harvick will be labeled forever as the driver who replaced Dale Earnhardt. But Harvick also has become a star himself, with top billing for Saturday's NASCAR Busch race at Kentucky Speedway.
Four months ago, Harvick's celebrity status would have been unthinkable. He was preparing for just his second season in Busch, the No.2 NASCAR tier behind Winston Cup. But after Earnhardt was killed Feb. 18 at Daytona, the relatively unknown Harvick was promoted to replace him.
“I didn't have much time to dwell on it or think about what people would say,” Harvick said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “The thing to remember is that we can't replace Dale. I'm just trying to go out and be my self.”
Harvick, 25, will arrive at the Outback Steakhouse 300 as the Busch series points leader. But his Winston Cup performance has earned him nationwide respect. He already has one Winston victory and stands a respectable ninth in the driver points race.
Car owner Richard Childress, who also owns Harv ick's Busch team, had Earnhardt's famous black No.3 car transformed into a white No.29 for Harvick. The GM Goodwrench sponsorship, as well as Earnhardt's crew, remained intact.
“We all knew each other, anyway, so they were fine with it,” Harvick said of Earnhardt's crew.
Harvick finished 14th in his first Winston race at Rockingham, N.C., amid a sea of black Earnhardt hats and shirts and fans waving three-finger salutes.
Three days later, Harvick got married. He and his bride, DeLana, had a little more time to prepare for that than the Earnhardt situation.
“We were in the middle of a huge transition with racing, let alone getting married,” Harvick said. “Then we go right to Las Vegas that weekend.”
Harvick honeymooned in Vegas by finishing eighth in that race. Then it was on to Atlanta on March 11.
“And then we won at Atlanta,” Harvick said. “It was quite the change, and a lot of it was like a blur.”
Harvick silenced most doubters with his victory at Atlanta.
“He did not have a track record that suggested he was going to be a superstar,” said Dick Berggren, a Fox TV pit reporter and Speedway Illustrated magazine editor. “He didn't do much in the (NASCAR) truck series (in 1999). He was the Busch rookie of the year last year, but he wasn't spectacular.”
Berggren has changed his mind.
“I'll tell you what, the guy's all business,” he said. “He's taken this whole thing in a very calm ... way. He's going to go a very, very long way.”
Harvick, from Bakersfield, Calif., was ready for the arduous 2001 season. He just didn't know it.
“Over the winter, I worked out in the gym more than I ever have,” he said. “I got in the best shape of my life. It's a good thing I did.”
That's because Harvick, who remains committed to a full Busch season, eventually will run 69 of a possible 70 races in the combined Winston Cup-Busch campaigns. The only race he will have missed is the Daytona 500.
This weekend, Harvick will drive the Busch event Saturday and then Winston Cup on Sunday at Pocono, Pa. He and fellow Winston regular Kenny Wallace will jet back and forth for practices, drivers' meetings and races.
Harvick has practiced several times at Kentucky Speedway over the past two years, including a Busch test a few weeks ago.
“I love it,” he said. “It's wide, and it's got a lot of banking off the corners. There are a few bumps here and there ... character marks, you could call them.”
The Earnhardt questions follow Harvick to every new venue, but Harvick understands.
“Things have actually slowed down a little, as time goes on,” he said. “None of us knew how to handle it at first.”
Harvick did not know Earnhardt well, having joined the Childress team only two years ago.
“The biggest thing you could learn from Dale was a never-give-up attitude,” Harvick said. “Whether you're winning or down a lap, al ways keep going. And if you're knocked out, try to get back in the race.”
When Childress announced Harvick's promotion, he gave the biggest endorsement he could.
“Kevin is a good race-car driver, and Dale thought so, too,” Childress said.
Still, it seemed strange. Here was Childress, car owner for six of Earnhardt's seven Winston Cup championships, sending a rookie out to do The Intimidator's work.
“I think everybody sort of wondered if Richard Childress knew what he was doing,” Berggren said. “He obviously did know.”
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Harvick taking the ride of his life
