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via Getty

via Getty

The NASCAR community is striving to move on from Kevin Harvick. Harvick bid adieu to full-time racing on Sunday after the conclusion of the Championshp-4 race in Phoenix. Harvick has given the fans and his teams countless moments of success and celebration in his tenure in the Cup Series. Before the green flag at Phoenix, the iconic #4 driver was also greeted by a standing ovation from the drivers in the driver’s meeting.

Harvick’s milestones have often been a sign of change in NASCAR. His debut came in the wake of NASCAR losing its biggest superstar, Dale Earnhardt, in 2001. Ever since he hasn’t looked back. 2014 marked the introduction of the playoff format in the Cup Series, and who won the 2014 championship? None other than Kevin Harvick. Looking back at a glorious career, we stumble upon another strange coincidence.

An uncanny deja vu marks the end of Kevin Harvick in the Cup Series

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Let’s go back to 2001 when Kevin Harvick made his debut in a championship race at the Rockingham Speedway. The conclusion was marked by Steve Park’s victory in the No.1 Chevrolet, while the qualifying race was dominated by Hendrick Motorsports‘ #24 driver, Jeff Gordon.

Fast forward to the 2023 championship-4 race in Phoenix. In what might seem uncannily scripted, the qualifying race was again taken over by a Hendrick Motorsports #24 Chevrolet. William Byron grabbed the pole on Saturday to be the best-placed driver in Phoenix. However, he ended up not winning the race. Instead, the winner this time was Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, yet again in a No.1 Chevrolet.

However weird it might seem, Kevin Harvick’s first and last championship races sure do have a lot of coincidences at play. Surprisingly, Ross Chastain is also the successor of the big Annheuser-Busch sponsorship that Harvick had been enjoying for a long time. The stars seemed to have aligned to wave goodbye to one of NASCAR’s best-ever drivers.

The coincidence coming to light has taken the NASCAR fandom into a frenzy. While some have come up with more interesting resemblances, some have just stood in awe of fate’s play.

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NASCAR fans are amazed!

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Surprised by the serendipity, NASCAR fans on Twitter voiced their theories and emotions. One fan tweeted, “His first season also ended with his manufacturer sweeping the championships. like his last”. Ford drivers across all circuits have dominated this season’s championships. Ryan Blaney, Cole Custer, and Ben Rhodes have won the national championships in the three divisions, with all of them driving Ford-manufactured vehicles.

Similarly, in 2001, Jeff Gordon won the Cup Series in his Chevrolet. On the other hand, Kevin Harvick and Jack Sprague, both driving Chevrolet backed vehicles, won the Xfinity Series and Truck Series, resulting in a clean sweep for the manufacturer.

Time is a circle,” tweeted a fan, hinting at the similarities. Another fan came up with a different theory that described the transfer of DEI’s ownership over the years, saying:

“Not even just the numbers. Someone else brought it up…if you follow the chain of ownership, Trackhouse is effectively what was DEI. So if you track the ownership, in both cases nearly 23 years apart, pole was Hendrick #24 and winner was #1 DEI.”

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It’s the matrix. Definitely“, “Love that the 1 is arguably the same car” were some of the other comments that took part in the fateful conversation.

It is great to see fans finding innovative ways to celebrate the iconic career of Kevin Harvick. Coincidence or not, the strange turn of events do seem like something that cannot be explained. What do you think of this uncanny twist of fate? Let us know in the comments below!

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