“I’ll do Whatever it Takes”- Kevin Harvick on “the Only Conversation” he Had with Richard Childress after Dale Earnhardt’s Tragic Death in 2001

In 2001, Kevin Harvick had pretty much the hardest job in NASCAR. He made his NASCAR Cup Series debut, all the way back in 2001, for Richard Childress Racing. Of course, RCR was a top team in the series, and him coming in as a rookie was uncommon. However, there was an even bigger reason why the job was more difficult. Harvick was coming in soon after the tragic fatal accident of Dale Earnhardt, and his shoes were very big.

Ahead of the 2001 Dura Lube 400, Harvick met with team owner Richard Childress. Recalling the first meeting, he mentioned, “Richard’s sitting behind the desk, looks like he’s not slept, probably hasn’t slept in 3 or 4 days. He said ‘Kevin, we want you to drive the car. You’ve done all the testing, you know all the people.’ He’s like ‘We totally understand if you don’t want to drive it’. I said ‘I’ll do whatever it takes for RCR and the company until everybody gets back on their feet. And that was really the only conversation that happened.”

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How has Kevin Harvick performed in his career since then?

Of course, Harvick did his best to fill in the void that Earnhardt left in RCR. In just his third race for the team, he snatched his maiden Cup Series victory at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Owing to this, he has more than done enough to repay the faith and prove to Richard Childress that he made the right choice. Who knows, maybe Dale Sr himself may have been watching up in heaven and looking on proudly at his successor.

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Later on, Harvick snatched a second Cup win at the Chicagoland Speedway, on his way to 9th in the standings. From there, he went from strength to strength, sticking with the Richard Childress organization until 2013. 2014 onwards, he moved to the Stewart-Haas Racing, and in his first season, clinched the title. From then, all the way until 2021, he was consistently in the Top 8 in the championship. Sadly, the streak was broken in 2022, when he ultimately finished in 15th.