Kevin Harvick’s Ex-Mentor Recalls When the ‘Baddest Man in the Universe,’ Dale Sr, Almost Forced Him to Cry

Dale Earnhardt is undoubtedly one of the most famous figures in the NASCAR scene. On the race track, he has gained notoriety as ‘The Intimidator’ because of his ruthless nature. However, there have been occasions where that side of him has been brought out to play, away from the track. One of the rare victims of this has been former NASCAR crew chief Todd Berrier, and recently, Todd spilled the beans on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour.

Recently, he made an appearance on Kevin Harvick’s Pod, where, among other subjects, he spoke about working alongside the late great Dale Earnhardt. Admittedly, he never really got a chance to be his crew chief, but he did work in some capacity at Richard Childress Racing. Todd Berrier joined the RCR stable in 1997, so he definitely would have encountered Earnhardt. And guess what? It looks like he didn’t make a great first impression on the 7-time champion.

Berrier told Harvick, “I’m standing at the back of the car, and I’ve never really met him. He comes down, and he’s like, ‘What the f are you doing here?’ Trying to make me cry. I’m a 22-year-old kid. I’m like, ‘I’m just going to take this generator back’. He said, ‘I got the generators; just go on. You don’t need to be here. Get on’. I got through that; I didn’t cry, but you’re thinking about doing it.”

“This is the baddest man in the universe, trying to run you off. Then my next race was the All-Star race at Charlotte or something. We’re pushing the car out for qualifying or something. He comes up behind me and grabbed a hold of me and said, ‘I thought I told you that we didn’t need you around here anymore’. Then kind of smiled, and then on out, I was fine”

This incident occurred at Rockingham when he got an invite from Earnhardt’s crew chief, Andy Petree. Apparently, Todd’s job was to unload the backup car and test it out. From there, the drivers would do a couple of laps before they practiced some pitstops. This also happened to be the first time Berrier had ever been to the track, and that too for a job where he would stand by the car with a generator, just in case of an emergency.

Todd Berrier has worked alongside Kevin Harvick in the past

When Kevin Harvick drove for Richard Childress Racing, he had a tough job on his hands, as he was hired in the race after Dale Earnhardt had his fatal accident. Stepping into the big shoes of someone with a legendary persona like Dale Earnhardt Sr is enough pressure in itself. Beginning his first Cup race after a week of Dale Sr’s passing in the Dura Lube 400 at Rockingham, he was seen in the renumbered No. 29 Chevrolet. Harvick has since soaked it up and performed admirably.

In 2003, Todd Berrier was given the role of Harvick’s crew chief. And this was not the first time the two had partnered. Together, they had won the Busch championship in 2001 and the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis. The team that year performed so well that it jumped to fifth in the 2003 point standings, coming within 252 points of Matt Kenseth.

Their partnership lasted until 2009, and in the following year, Berrier partnered with Jeff Burton for the next two years. During his tenure with Harvick, they racked up eight Cup Series wins together. This also includes a Daytona 500 triumph during the 2007 season. From a championship perspective, Harvick and Berrier had a best finish of 4th in 2006 and 2008, respectively.