Kevin Harvick Biography

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2008 Paint Scheme

Biography
Kevin Harvick enjoyed a year like no other driver ever has in NASCAR history, capped by winning Winston Cup Rookie of the Year for finishing 9th in the standings in 2001. While other drivers complained about the length of the 36-race Cup series, that was just an appetizer for Harvick, who also competed in each of the 33 Busch Series races, ultimately winning the championship.

He added two more races in the Craftsman Truck Series "just for fun," competing in a total of 70 NASCAR races this season. He also established himself as perhaps the most promising young driver on the Cup circuit and is a bona fide championship contender for 2002. After replacing Dale Earnhardt following the 2001 Daytona 500, Harvick won two Cup races -- including his March 11th victory at Atlanta in only his third career Cup event -- five Busch races, the Cup Rookie of the Year and the Busch championship.

It wasn't the way Harvick wanted to come up to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Although he was on the fast track to stardom, being groomed to move up from the NASCAR Busch Series to the big leagues over the next year by Richard Childress Racing, Dale Earnhardt's tragic death at Daytona catapulted Harvick into the spotlight sooner than expected. Originally scheduled to run seven Winston Cup races in 2001 with a run at the Rookie of the Year title in 2002, Harvick ran both series full-time, becoming RCR's second driver for the remainder of the season, driving the white No. 29 Chevrolet.

Harvick's rise up the ladder of the stock racing hierarchy has been meteoric. He started his racing career at the age of five in go-karts, competing on and off for in that venue for 10 years, winning seven National Championships and two Grand National Championships.

At 18, he began running a part-time schedule in the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series. After two years of dabbling, he completed his first schedule in 1995, winning Rookie of the Year honors.

Moving on to the NASCAR Winston West Series, he continued his winning ways, taking the series championship in 1998. At the same time, Harvick was also running part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, which he switched to full-time in 1999, finishing 12th.

By 2000, the racing gods could not help but take notice. RCR tapped Harvick to drive in the Busch Series, and he rewarded their investment with three wins and eight top-five finishes en route to a third-place finish in the standings and Rookie of the Year honors. Along the way he set a series rookie record for most points scored and tied the rookie record for wins. This impressive performance was supposed to be a springboard to launch him to a run at the 2001 Busch Series championship, and from there on to a long and productive Winston Cup career. He's just making the jump up a little sooner than expected.

Awards

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Winston Cup/NEXTEL Cup Career Statistics