Kevin Harvick began racing in karting after his parents Mike and JoNell bought him a go-kart as a kindergarten graduation gift in 1980. Harvick became a highly successful driver on the go-kart circuit. Kevin Harvick 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. Kevin Harvick then graduated and became a full-time driver and earned the honor of Rookie of the Year in 1995.
Kevin Harvick 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.
Kevin Harvick made his Craftsman Truck Series debut in 1995 at Mesa Marin Raceway that also happenned to be the first ever Truck Series race in NASCAR history, in his hometown of Bakersfield, where he started and finished 27th in his family-owned #72. Kevin Harvick 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 Kevin Harvick joined the NASCAR Busch Series, driving for Richard Childress and winning three times and the Rookie of the Year award.
On October 23, 1999, Kevin Harvick made his first Busch Series start in the Kmart 200 at the now defunct North Carolina Speedway. Kevin Harvick 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, Kevin Harvick 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. Kevin Harvick 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 would fail to qualify at the beginning of the 2000 season, North Carolina Speedway.
For 2001, Childress planned to develop Kevin 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, Kevin 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, Kevin Harvick performed a tire-smoking burnout on the frontstretch with three fingers held aloft outside the driver's window.
Kevin 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).
Kevin 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. Kevin Harvick became the 2002 IROC Champion in his first season in the series, winning at the California Speedway.
In the 2003 season, Kevin 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, Kevin 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. Kevin 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.
On April 15, 2006 Harvick won his first Busch Series race of the 2006 season. Kevin Harvick 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, Kevin 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 Kevin 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.
Kevin 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.
In 2007, the team again split primary sponsors, with Hershey's and GM Goodwrench, being joined by new primary sponsor Shell and their Pennzoil brand. On Sunday, February 18, 2007 in the season opening Daytona 500, Kevin 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 prestigous Brickyard 400 joining Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Bill Elliott and Jimmie Johnson.
On February 22nd, 2007, four days after Kevin Harvick won the Daytona 500 in his inaugural race with Shell-Pennzoil as a primary sponser, Kevin Harvick 's team was asked by NASCAR to downsize the Shell logo on his fire suit and wear a more prominent Pennzoil logo. This is an effort to play down any percieved competition with SUNOCO. SUNOCO asked NASCAR to talk with Harvick's team after he won both the Busch Series and Nextel Cup Series races wearing a prominent Shell logo on his fire suite.
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