Kevin Harvick Makes an Unlikely Fan Despite a Disappointing End to a Magnificent Race

The last time Kevin Harvick snapped a winless streak was in Michigan last year when he brought an end to a 65-race winless drought by cruising down the victory lane. However, since then, he has not seen the face of victory. Unfortunately, 2023 is the last season before he retires. Hence, the 47-year-old speedster was in desperate need of a win to end his career which has lasted for over 23 years, as the cherry on the cake.

And that victory kept dangling in front of the Bakersfield native as he held on to the lead during the ending laps of the 188-lap-long race of the YellaWood 500. But he failed to grab it as Ryan Blaney made a strategic pass to his inside and cleared him in the last lap. But Harvick’s run earned him a fan, who admitted that he was jumping on his couch as Harvick posed a major threat to every other driver on the grid.

Kevin Harvick left Talladega with a disqualification and the support of a devoted fan

Approaching the end of his eventful career, Kevin Harvick was going for his 61st Cup Series win in Talladega but settled for a second-place finish. But NASCAR robbed him of his achievement as the bolts to the wind flaps of his #4 Ford Mustang were loose during the post-race inspection.

Being Harvick‘s last season, his fans must have wanted to see him drive down the victory lane for one last time. Although there are races ahead of him where he might be able to do that, the odds are not entirely in his favor. Nevertheless, Kevin Harvick gained the respect of a NASCAR legend with the way he drove his Cup ride on Sunday.

In a conversation with Nate Ryan of NBC Sports, Kyle Petty admitted that he was bouncing on the couch with excitement when Harvick was in the lead position. He cried out, “That’s no joke dude. I was absolutely pulling for him. Because of all the tracks we’ve run, I would probably put every other track ahead of this one as a racetrack where I would have thought Kevin Harvick would have had a shot at winning and would have run competitive.”

Kyle Petty did not care at all about the disqualification. Nearing the end of one’s career, a driver would usually just try to run and survive in a race at a track like Talladega. But that’s just not who Kevin Harvick is. Kyle said, “He drove that car and he put that car in position and he did everything that he could as a driver to win that race.”

“He should be proud of what he did. I’ve seen a lot of guys go to Talladega for their last race and you were lucky to find them on the TV screen. They were just looking to get out of there with a car and get out of there and move on to the next race but he put it up front,” he added.

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Even though Harvick’s Talladega outing was not as he had expected, his wife DeLana was relieved that the #4 SHR sensation would never have to go to Talladega again.

DeLana Harvick heaved a sigh of relief as her husband was out of danger

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At the Daytona and Talladega superspeedways, NASCAR continues using restrictor plates to be put at the intake of the engines to bring the horsepower of the race cars to as low as 450 HP. Someone new to the sport might wonder, what is so special about these two tracks, that forces NASCAR to take measures that reduce the speed of its cars when speed is the biggest thrill of the sport?

Talladega is famous for historical wrecks. With its high banked turns, cars tend to reach death-defying speeds, which often leads to life-threatening crashes. Among the drivers who suffered devastating crashes in Talladega are Bobby Allison and Tiny Lund. To make things worse, Lund lost his life after an incident at the Talladega 500 back in 1975.

Hence Kevin Harvick’s wife was happy that he would not have her husband go back to the madhouse named Talladega ever again. On that note, she tweeted, “Alllllmost 🙃 While it didn’t end like we hoped, I’m taking Pops home in one piece never to return and I am ohhhhhh so grateful. 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 #4EVER”

NASCAR icon Elliott Sadler concurred with DeLana and retweeted, “You took the words right out of my wife’s mouth when I retired … we were so happy as a family to never have to go back to that place again ..” It’s no surprise that families of NASCAR drivers feel relieved in knowing that they will not have to worry about Talladega ever again.

Read more: Kevin Harvick’s Spotter Cost Him His Dream Darlington Finish and Maybe a Championship