If Kevin Harvick had announced his retirement on Jan. 12, 2002 instead of Jan. 12, 2023, he would have already had a plenty strong-enough case for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Thankfully, he didn’t then. He did now, dropping the news via social media on Thursday morning that the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season will be his last as a full-time racer.
In that video, the once-fresh-faced kid from Bakersfield, California, who once shouldered a load that no one should ever be asked to carry, was now a weathered-eyed grown man. And as he spoke the words that announced his retirement plans, he looked like someone who was excited to finally set that weight down. After all these years of chippiness, smart remarks and sarcasm, punctuated by winks, laughs and pearls of downright wisdom, the racer who was long ago ironically nicknamed Happy looked and sounded, well, happy.
All I could think of was a quote from the late Bobby Hamilton. It was at Martinsville in 2001, Harvick’s 30th Cup Series start. He’d had a run-in with Hamilton, then a 12-year series veteran, that ended his day penalized by NASCAR. The rookie shrugged it off on national TV. Hamilton responded, “The problem you have here is you have a young kid with a lot of talent trying to fill Dale Earnhardt‘s shoes and thinks he is Dale Earnhardt, and he wouldn’t make a scab on Dale Earnhardt’s butt right now. He just needs a little more time.”
He got that. More than two decades of it. Harvick used that word, “time,” a lot during the media rounds that followed his announcement.
“From a personal side, I’m just out of time. I need things to do where I have more options with my kids,” he said to Sirius XM’s NASCAR channel shortly after the announcement. He spoke of daughter Piper, 5, and son Keelan, 9, who now races karts. He expressed regret that he hadn’t been able to attend his son’s races as much as he would have liked last year. “I’ve always told you that when it started affecting my kids, it was probably going to be the deciding factor, and in the end that’s really what the deciding factor was.”
He turned 47 last month, a milestone that was celebrated one month after the close of his 22nd season racing at NASCAR’s highest level and his 13th with multiple race wins. His 60 victories are tied for 10th on the all-time wins list. Among those triumphs are three Brickyard 400s, two Coca-Cola 600s, a pair of Southern 500s, a NASCAR All-Star Race victory and one of the gutsiest last-lap dashes ever seen in the Daytona 500. Do yourself a favor and enter a web search for “Kevin Harvick’s 2007 Daytona 500 Last Lap On-Board Camera.”
He won the Cup Series title in 2014, to go with a pair of Busch (now Xfinity) Series championships, a NASCAR Winston West title and even an IROC championship. He ranks 10th all-time in Cup Series top-five finishes (245), fifth all-time in top-10s (430) and 11th all-time in laps led (15,901). He has finished in the top five in the final season championship standings a stunning 13 times, including eight of the past ten years.
But not even all of those years and all of those wins or even that avalanche of trophies and statistics have been enough to overshadow what he did in 2001. Certainly not for those of us who witnessed it firsthand.
On the morning of Feb. 18, 2001, the day of the Daytona 500, he was known only as the California late-model racer who had been handpicked by Richard Childress to perhaps one day slide into one of RCR’s two Cup Series Chevrolets. But first, he was to continue to prove himself in the Busch Series, where he’d just won three races in his first year with Childress. He was engaged to be married to DeLana Linville, the daughter of a North Carolina short track legend. The stage was set for a very typical slow-burn ladder climb with the end goal of perhaps becoming teammate to Earnhardt, the biggest star in the sport.
By the time the sun had set that night, though, Earnhardt was dead. Five days later, in Rockingham, North Carolina, Harvick was behind the wheel of the Monte Carlo that have been prepared for The Intimidator. It was painted white instead of black and the number on the door was 29 instead of 3. For the remainder of that season, Harvick was asked to do the impossible. Not only was he expected to drive NASCAR’s most famous ride, he was to do so while being thrust into the roles of grief counselor and legacy defender.
He was 25.
Somehow, he won his third race in that car, a dramatic 0.006-second photo finish over Earnhardt’s last great rival, Jeff Gordon. The image of his pit crew — Earnhardt’s pit crew — weeping as he did a reverse victory lap with three fingers extended into the air, will always be one of the single most memorable moments in the 75-year history of NASCAR.
He backed that up with a second victory at brand-new Chicagoland Speedway that summer. He finished the season ranked ninth in the standings and earning Rookie of the Year honors. All while winning five races and a championship in his Busch Series car. All the while, he feuded with veterans and banged doors with his youngsters. See: 2002 Bristol, coming off the hood of Greg Biffle‘s car like Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka to land on Biffle’s head.
At the time, so many of us agreed with Hamilton. The kid was trying too hard to be Intimidator II, right? The strain of it all had frayed his nerves and shredded his common sense, right? There was no way he could keep that kind of intensity turned up to 11 without burning out over the course of a career, right?
We were wrong, on all accounts. Even Hamilton corrected himself years later, laughing as he said, “This seems to have worked out for him pretty well, hasn’t it?”
Harvick himself spent years dodging questions and conversations about that first year. You couldn’t blame him for that. Every racer wants to be remembered for what they did, not what they were forced to do in the shadow of those who came before. It is why he ultimately left Childress to drive for a fellow chip-on-his-shoulder kindred spirit in Tony Stewart, where Harvick finally won that elusive championship.
Every racer also wants to be remembered for their legacy. For Harvick, that legacy is about all of those victories, but it is also about the kid who grew into the role of a leader among his peers. Always outspoken, always pointed, and looking back, pretty much always correct. When he hangs up his helmet in November at Phoenix Raceway, where he has the most wins all time with nine, he will become one of so many among his generation to have retired in recent years. Finally ceding the garage to the youngsters whom he not so long ago had a war of words with over their failure to have truly earned the attention they were receiving as superstars of the sport.
The twist being that years ago he started a sports management business to represent athletes all over the sports world, but especially youngsters with potential. Now he will go to work hoping that his racing-obsessed son might one day be one of those athletes.
But in the end, no matter what he has done and no matter what he might do in the future, we should all take this year, Harvick’s final year, and thank him for that one year so long ago. When that kid shouldered so much on all of our behalf.
Ohio State opened as a 9.5-point favorite over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T, per ESPN BET odds.
If that line holds, it would be tied for the second-largest spread in a CFP national championship game and the fourth largest in the CFP/BCS era. Georgia was -13.5 against TCU in the 2022 national championship, while Alabama showed -9.5 against none other than Ohio State to decide the 2020 campaign. Both favorites covered the spread in blowout fashion, combining for a cover margin of 63.
Notre Dame is 12-3 against the spread this season, tied with Arizona State (12-2) and Marshall (12-1) for the most covers in the nation. The Irish are 7-0 ATS against ranked teams and 2-0 ATS as underdogs, with both covers going down as outright victories, including their win over Penn State (-1.5) in the CFP national semifinal.
However, Notre Dame was also on the losing end of the largest outright upset of the college football season when it fell as a 28.5-point favorite to Northern Illinois.
Ohio State is 9-6 against the spread and has been a favorite in every game it has played this season; it has covered the favorite spread in every CFP game thus far, including in its semifinal win against Texas when it covered -6 with overwhelming public support.
The Buckeyes also have been an extremely popular pick in the futures market all season. At BetMGM as of Friday morning, OSU had garnered a leading 28.2% of money and 16.8% of bets to win the national title, checking in as the sportsbook’s greatest liability.
Ohio State opened at +700 to win it all this season and is now -350 with just one game to play.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Quinshon Judkins ran for two touchdowns before Jack Sawyer forced a fumble by his former roommate that he returned 83 yards for a clinching TD as Ohio State beat Texas28-14 in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday night to advance to a shot for their sixth national title.
Led by Judkins and Sawyer, the Buckeyes (13-2) posted the semifinal victory in the same stadium where 10 years ago they were champions in the debut of the College Football Playoff as a four-team format. Now they have the opportunity to be the winner again in the debut of the expanded 12-team field.
Ohio State plays Orange Bowl champion Notre Dame in Atlanta on Jan. 20. It could be quite a finish for the Buckeyes after they lost to rival Michigan on Nov. 30. Ohio State opened as a 9.5-point favorite over the Irish, per ESPN BET.
“About a month ago, a lot of people counted us out. And these guys went to work, this team, these leaders, the captains, the staff,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “Everybody in the building believed. And because of that, I believe we won the game in the fourth quarter.”
Sawyer got to Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers on a fourth-and-goal from the 8, knocking the ball loose and scooping it up before lumbering all the way to the other end. It was the longest fumble return in CFP history.
Ewers and Sawyer were roommates in Columbus, Ohio, for the one semester the quarterback was there before transferring home to Texas and helping lead the Longhorns (13-3) to consecutive CFP semifinals. But next season will be their 20th since winning their last national title with Vince Young in 2005.
Texas had gotten to the 1, helped by two pass-interference penalties in the end zone before Quintrevion Wisner was stopped for a 7-yard loss.
Judkins had a 1-yard touchdown for a 21-14 lead with 7:02 left. That score came four plays after quarterback Will Howard converted fourth-and-2 from the Texas 34 with a stumbling 18-yard run that was almost a score.
Howard was 24-of-33 passing for 289 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Ewers finished 23-of-39 for 283 yards with two TD passes to Jaydon Blue and an interception after getting the ball back one final time.
Bill McCartney, a three-time coach of the year in the Big Eight Conference who led the Colorado Buffaloes to their only national football title in 1990, has died. He was 84.
McCartney died Friday night “after a courageous journey with dementia,” according to a family statement.
“Coach Mac touched countless lives with his unwavering faith, boundless compassion, and enduring legacy as a leader, mentor and advocate for family, community and faith,” the family said in its statement. “As a trailblazer and visionary, his impact was felt both on and off the field, and his spirit will forever remain in the hearts of those he inspired.”
After playing college ball under Dan Devine at Missouri, McCartney started coaching high school football and basketball in Detroit. He then was hired onto the staff at Michigan, the only assistant ever plucked from the high school ranks by Bo Schembechler.
Schembechler chose wisely. As the Wolverines’ defensive coordinator during the 1980 season, McCartney earned Big Ten “Player” of the Week honors for the defensive scheme he devised to stop star Purdue quarterback Mark Herrmann.
“When I was 7 years old, I knew I was going to be a coach,” McCartney told The Gazette in 2013. “My friends, other kids at that age were going to be president, businessmen, attorneys, firemen. Ever since I was a little kid, I imitated my coaches, critiqued them, always followed and studied them.”
In 1982, McCartney took over a Colorado program that was coming off three straight losing seasons with a combined record of 7-26. After three more struggling seasons, McCartney turned things around to go to bowl games in nine out of 10 seasons starting in 1985, when he switched over to a wishbone offense.
His 1989 team was 11-0 when it headed to the Orange Bowl, where Notre Dame dashed Colorado’s hopes of a perfect season. McCartney and the Buffaloes, however, would get their revenge the following season.
After getting off to an uninspiring 1-1-1 start in 1990, Colorado won its next nine games to earn a No. 1 ranking and a rematch with the Fighting Irish. This time the Buffaloes prevailed, 10-9, and grabbed a share of the national title atop the AP poll (Georgia Tech was tops in the coaches’ poll).
McCartney won numerous coach of the year honors in 1989, and he was also Big Eight Coach of the Year in 1985 and 1990. His teams went a combined 58-11-4 in his last six seasons before retiring (1989-94).
The Buffaloes finished in the AP Top 20 in each of those seasons, including No. 3 in McCartney’s final year, when the team went 11-1 behind a roster that included Kordell Stewart, Michael Westbrook and the late Rashaan Salaam. That season featured the “Miracle in Michigan,” with Westbrook hauling in a 64-yard TD catch from Stewart on a Hail Mary as time expired in a win at Michigan. Salaam also rushed for 2,055 yards to earn the Heisman Trophy.
McCartney also groomed the next wave of coaches, mentoring assistants such as Gary Barnett, Jim Caldwell, Ron Dickerson, Gerry DiNardo, Karl Dorrell, Jon Embree, Les Miles, Rick Neuheisel, Bob Simmons, Lou Tepper, Ron Vanderlinden and John Wristen.
“I was fortunate to be able to say goodbye to Coach in person last week,” Colorado athletic director Rick George, who worked under McCartney and was a longtime friend of his, said in a statement. “Coach Mac was an incredible man who taught me about the importance of faith, family and being a good husband, father and grandfather. He instilled discipline and accountability to all of us who worked and played under his leadership.
“The mark that he left on CU football and our athletic department will be hard to replicate.”
McCartney remains the winningest coach in Colorado history. He retired at age 54 with an overall record of 93-55-5 (.602) in 13 seasons, all with Colorado.
He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013. His family announced in 2016 that McCartney had been diagnosed with late-onset dementia and Alzheimer’s.
“Here’s what football does: It teaches a boy to be a man,” McCartney told USA Today in 2017. “You say, ‘How does it do that?’ Well, what if you line up across from a guy who’s bigger, stronger, faster and tougher than you are? What do you do? Do you stay and play? Or do you turn and run? That’s what football does. You’re always going to come up against somebody who’s better than you are.
“That’s what life is. Life is getting knocked down and getting back up and getting back in the game.”
In recent years, McCartney got to watch grandson Derek play defensive line at Colorado. Derek’s father, Shannon Clavelle, was a defensive lineman for Colorado from 1992-94 before playing a few seasons in the NFL. Derek’s brother, T.C. McCartney, was a quarterback at LSU and is the son of late Colorado quarterback Sal Aunese, who played for Bill McCartney in 1987 and ’88 before being diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1989 and dying six months later at 21.
Growing up, Derek McCartney used to go next door to his grandfather’s house to listen to his stories. He never tired of them.
When playing for Colorado, hardly a day would go by when someone wouldn’t ask Derek if he was somehow related to the coach.
“I like when that happens,” Derek said.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
