Many congratulations to Kevin Harvick the brand new and richly deserved NASCAR Champion !
I don’t think anybody can argue that Harvick has earned his championship as he tied with Logano for most race wins and was consistently running at the front of the grid all year. So in my eyes, Harvick is a very worthy champion especially after a few near misses throughout his career.
Harvick rose quickly through NASCAR’s lower series after his debut in the 1995 Truck Series and in 1998 he was the Winston West champion. In 1999 he made a brief appearance in the Busch Series for Richard Childress which led to a full time drive in 2000. His debut year was a great success as he finished 3rd overall, gained 3 wins and was crowned Rookie Of The Year. He was due to run a 2nd full time season in 2001 and was one of the favourites to be champion.
Sadly fate had other ideas as after Dale Earnhardt’s fatal Daytona crash, the then 25-year-old Harvick was thrust into the spotlight as his replacement. Despite the new livery and race number 29 Harvick found himself driving the great man’s car just one week after his death and one can only imagine his feelings at the time. It didn’t take long for him to make his mark though as just four weeks after Earnhardt’s death Harvick won his first race at Atlanta and there can’t have been a dry eye in the house as he saluted the crowd with three fingers on his victory burnout. From that day up to the current day Harvick remains one of NASCAR’s most popular drivers and has a huge fan base along with Dale Earnhardt Jr. He went on to be crowned Rookie Of The Year in 2001 and has also won the Busch (Nationwide) Series twice in 2006 and 2011.
Harvick is now 38 and is one of NASCAR’s elder statesmen….not that he is any slower. Consistently year in year out he is amongst the front runners but despite coming close he never quite got his hands onto the championship trophy. Arguably he has been unlucky to be around at the same time as NASCAR greats Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon who have won 10 titles between them.
Harvick was looking for a change and for this year he signed to drive for Stewart Haas Racing driving the number 4 car. Some including myself saw it as a risky move to join a team that had under achieved since Tony Stewart’s title in 2011. It didn’t take long to prove the doubters wrong however as he was on the pace from the very 1st race and continued to be so all year.
Taking a leaf out of Jimmie Johnson’s book, Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers upped their game considerably in the final 10 races that make up the chase. He had his scares but round by round he managed to progress until he was one of the final 4 at Homestead in the winner takes all last race helped by a dominant win 7 days earlier at Phoenix. He entered the race as the undoubted favourite and it seems that the majority of fans were behind him. The entire team held their nerve throughout the race despite falling down to 12th at the final pit stop and all was set after the final caution for a shooutout between Harvick, Hamlin and Newman.
Hamlin fell away on old tyres at the re-start and it was left to Harvick and Newman to fight out a frantic last few laps. Newman was driving better than at any point in his long career but in the end the sheer speed of Harvick’s car was enough and he won the race just ahead of Newman. Kevin Harvick at long last and at his 14th attempt was NASCAR champion to his and his wife’s disbelief. He seemed almost in shock as he was interviewed by ESPN afterwards and then raised aloft the huge NASCAR trophy on the stage….he actually forgot he had won the race.
So NASCAR has a brand new champion in Kevin Harvick. He has not always been my cup of tea if I’m honest but I do believe after everything he has done for the sport after what can only have been a terrifying start in 2001 he has earned it and nobody can argue he is a worthy champion. We now enter the 3 month off season licking our lips at the thought of it all beginning again at Daytona in February.
Congratulations Kevin Harvick and all at Stewart Haas!
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