Harvick calls ‘time,’ to race final NASCAR season
Kevin Harvick received the same answer nearly every time he asked other athletes how they decided to retire: Harvick would just know it was time.
The driver thrust onto the global stage when he was named Dale Earnhardt’s replacement just days after Earnhardt’s fatal 2001 crash will make this 23rd season his last in NASCAR. The 2014 Cup champion heads into his final year tied for ninth on NASCAR’s career wins list with 60 race victories, has 13 consecutive playoff appearances and is one of the final active drivers from the sport’s halcyon days.
“It’s great to be able to go out on your own terms and plan it how you want it to go, but the biggest thing that sticks out to me is my kids,” Harvick told The Associated Press ahead of his Thursday announcement. “Being home with them and seeing the impact that you have with them when you are home, being able to be part of that daily process and be that father figure, it’s just time.”
Harvick will turn his attention to Kevin Harvick Inc., his growing management business, the enjoyable time he has spent in the television booth, some bucket list racing and, most important, his young racing family.
He and his wife, DeLana, were adamant they would not raise racers, but the slow early days of the COVID-19 pandemic gave father and son too much free time and 10-year-old Keelan is now karting on the international level. The young racer spent part of 2022 racing in Italy — sometimes traveling abroad without either parent — and Harvick figures he saw his son race only three times last year.
And then there’s Piper, their 5-year-old daughter who now wants Dad’s attention when she’s in her own go-kart.
“You know, Keelan, he needs that father figure in his life, especially as he goes down the racing route,” Harvick told the AP. “And then Piper probably asks to go to the go-kart track more than he does, and having to send her to the track by herself really frustrates me.
“You don’t want her not to have the opportunity to learn like he did. She makes twice as many strides in a day while I’m there than she would in a day when I’m not there. So there’s just a time when you have to ask yourself, ‘What’s the most important thing for me and my time and my family right now?'”
Harvick had already overcome the NASCAR odds of breaking into the Southern-based sport from Bakersfield, California, when Richard Childress Racing said he would be a Cup rookie alongside seven-time champion Earnhardt in 2002. But when Earnhardt was killed on the final lap of the season-opening Daytona 500 in 2001, Harvick’s career was upended.
He was in the rebranded No. 29 Chevrolet five days after Earnhardt’s death — less than a week before the then-25-year-old’s planned wedding to DeLana — and that hectic season in the spotlight was a blur. Harvick won in his third start while splitting time between his new Cup ride and the Busch Series championship he was chasing.
Harvick competed in 69 NASCAR national races that season with a pair of Cup victories and five wins en route to the Busch title. He was busy but grew jaded by all the attention, the endless Earnhardt comparisons and the pressure of replacing a superstar during a yearlong grieving period that had engulfed NASCAR.
Perhaps that is what made Harvick so tough.
He fought with his rivals often in his early career and was suspended for a Cup race in 2002 for his actions in a Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway a day earlier. That incident forged a relationship between Harvick and Jim Hunter, a NASCAR executive who helped him navigate the politics of the sport.
But Harvick never softened, not even after having children.
After a 2014 playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway in which Harvick was a bystander to a pit road disagreement between Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski, Harvick shoved Keselowski into Gordon and Gordon’s crew, triggering a melee.
Harvick for days refused to discuss his role in the brawl, relenting only when he finally accepted that Keelan needed to hear him accept responsibility — even though Harvick had zero remorse.
He doesn’t know whether his grittiness developed from those first difficult years after Earnhardt’s death, but Harvick acknowledged an internal pressure to do things his own way and carve out his own legacy that really ramped up around 2006. Some of Earnhardt’s sponsors began pulling off the car, and Harvick had to stand on his own and prove his worth.
“We’d gotten through the tough years of transitioning from what Dale liked to what I liked, and through all those battles and conversations, you put your guard up and become a jerk,” Harvick told the AP. “Looking back at it now, you can see that you could have handled things differently, but it was digging my heels in thinking, ‘I need to do this my way now,’ and that created some tensions. But I wouldn’t trade anything other than Dale’s death because all those things that came in the next five years were part of surviving and being successful and building something and learning what was right and what was wrong.”
His approach led to strained relationships, including a period with seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. Both had come to North Carolina from California, and both crashed on Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr.’s couch as they struggled to make it in NASCAR.
But as Johnson surged to title after title and Harvick fought through lean years with RCR, the relationship fractured and Harvick shoved Johnson in the chest after a 2015 playoff race when Johnson tried to speak to him about an on-track incident.
“We’ve had issues, we’ve been great, we’ve had friendship, we’ve been through it all,” Johnson told the AP. “I think there’s a great deal of respect between both of us. I truly admire his path and what he’s overcome. Coming from the West Coast as the starting point, climbing through the ranks, we lose Dale and he’s thrust into that position … there’s just a lot of layers there, and I respect his work ethic and dedication and career.”
Harvick, who added a second Busch title in 2006, counts the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500 among his crown jewel victories. He also won NASCAR’s first race back during the pandemic, held in front of empty grandstands at Darlington Raceway in May 2020, when NASCAR became the first major sport to return to competition.
“With championships across several NASCAR series and a NASCAR Cup Series win total that ranks in the top 10, Kevin Harvick’s legacy as one of the all-time great drivers is secure,” NASCAR president Steve Phelps said in a statement. “Beyond his success inside a race car, Kevin is a leader who truly cares about the health and the future of our sport — a passion that will continue long after his driving days are complete.”
Harvick told the AP that his handling of the 2013 parting with Richard Childress — in the works for a full year before he moved to Stewart-Haas in 2014 — is the biggest regret of his career and said he is grateful the relationship has been repaired.
Harvick has forged a strong bond at SHR with co-owner Tony Stewart, crew chief Rodney Childers and his entire No. 4 team. Harvick and Childers are the longest active driver-crew chief pairing in the Cup Series at 10 years. Among their 37 wins is a pair of victories last season that snapped a 65-race winless streak — the second longest of Harvick’s career.
It was Stewart, a three-time Cup champion and Hall of Famer, who encouraged Harvick to make an early announcement about his retirement and enjoy his final year. Stewart shunned all sendoffs and appreciations in his final season, something Harvick told the AP that Stewart now regrets.
Harvick opens the season early next month with the exhibition Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles, followed by his final season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 19.
“I want Kevin to savor every lap this season, to compete like hell and to take it all in,” Stewart said. “He’s made all of us at Stewart-Haas Racing incredibly proud, and we want to make his last season his best season.”
Harvick said with certainty that he will not compete in the Cup Series after this year but also said he is not completely finished racing. He already has plans for the souped-up late model he plans to prepare for himself the day Keelan is old enough to race against his father.
“He’s a cocky 10-year-old right now who thinks he can beat anyone,” Harvick told the AP. “We’ll see when the time comes.”
The first 12-team College Football Playoff is down to the final two contenders: Notre Dame and Ohio State.
The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish and eighth-seeded Buckeyes will meet Jan. 20 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T. Whichever team wins will end a championship drought. Notre Dame aims for its first title since 1988. Ohio State’s lull isn’t nearly as long, as the Buckeyes won the first CFP championship a decade ago, but given how consistently elite they are, it seems like a while.
Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and Ohio State’s Ryan Day are also aiming for their first championships as head coaches, and Freeman’s past will be in the spotlight. Freeman and the Irish lost to the Buckeyes and Day in each of the past two seasons. But after a masterful coaching job this season, Freeman now will face his alma mater — he was an All-Big Ten linebacker for Ohio State under coach Jim Tressel — with everything on the line. Day, meanwhile, can secure the loftiest goal for a team that fell short of earlier ones, but never stopped swinging.
Here’s your first look at the championship matchup and what to expect in the ATL. — Adam Rittenberg
When: Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN
What we learned in the semifinal: Notre Dame’s resilience and situational awareness/execution are undeniably its signature traits and could propel the team to a title. The Irish have overcome injuries all season and did so again against Penn State. They also erased two deficits and continued to hold the edge in the “middle eight” — the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half — while dominating third down on both sides of the ball. Notre Dame can rely on front men such as quarterback Riley Leonard, running back Jeremiyah Love and linebacker Jack Kiser, but also on backup QB Steve Angeli, wide receiver Jaden Greathouse and kicker Mitch Jeter. These Irish fight, and they’re very hard to knock out.
X factor: Greathouse entered Thursday with moderate numbers — 29 receptions, 359 yards, one touchdown — and had only three total catches for 14 yards in the first two CFP games. But he recorded career highs in both receptions (7) and receiving yards (105) and tied the score on a 54-yard touchdown with 4:38 to play. A Notre Dame offense looking for more from its wide receivers, especially downfield, could lean more on Greathouse, who exceeded his receptions total from the previous five games but might be finding his groove at the perfect time. He also came up huge in the clutch, recording all but six of his receiving yards in the second half.
How Notre Dame wins: The Irish won’t have the talent edge in Atlanta, partly because they’ve lost several stars to season-ending injuries, but they have the right traits to hang with any opponent. Notre Dame needs contributions in all three phases and must continue to sprinkle in downfield passes, an element offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has pushed. And they finally did start seeing results against Penn State. The Irish likely can’t afford to lose the turnover margin, although they can help themselves by replicating their third-down brilliance — 11 of 17 conversions on offense, 3 of 11 conversions allowed on defense — from the Penn State win. — Rittenberg
What we learned in the semifinal: The Buckeyes have a defense with championship mettle, headlined by senior defensive end Jack Sawyer, who delivered one of the biggest defensive plays in Ohio State history. On fourth-and-goal with just over two minutes remaining, Sawyer sacked Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, forcing a fumble that he scooped up and raced 83 yards for a game-clinching touchdown, propelling Ohio State to the national title game. The Buckeyes weren’t perfect in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, and they struggled offensively for much of the night against a talented Texas defense. But Ohio State showed late why its defense is arguably the best in college football, too.
X factor: The play two snaps before the Sawyer scoop-and-score set the table. On second-and-goal from the Ohio State 1-yard line, unheralded senior safety Lathan Ransom dashed past incoming blockers and dropped Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner for a 7-yard loss. After an incomplete pass, the Longhorns were forced into desperation mode on fourth-and-goal down a touchdown with just over two minutes remaining. All-American safety Caleb Downs, who had an interception on Texas’ ensuing drive, rightfully gets all the headlines for the Ohio State secondary. But the Buckeyes have other veteran standouts such as Ransom throughout their defense.
How Ohio State wins: Texas took away Ohio State’s top offensive playmaker, true freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who had only one reception for 3 yards on three targets. As the first two playoff games underscored, the Buckeyes offense is at its best when Smith gets the ball early and often. Notre Dame is sure to emulate the Texas blueprint, positioning the defensive backs to challenge Smith. Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has to counter with a plan that finds ways to get the ball into Smith’s hands, no matter what the Fighting Irish do. — Jake Trotter
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