In 2001, Kevin Harvick practically had the hardest job that year. The Richard Childress Racing team were left reeling after the tragic accident that claimed the life of Dale Earnhardt. However, the show went on, and the outfit recruited a young Harvick to fill in the void. In a recent podcast appearance, the Stewart-Haas driver opened up on having to take over from a driver of Dale Sr’s caliber.
He said, “Your career path took a complete right turn. Into a situation that had way more eyeballs on it than anything you could ever imagined. Now, you’re under this spotlight. It’s not like I didn’t like any of those guys that were on the team, but they just weren’t my guys. We didn’t have anything in common, they were all your dad’s age. I was 25, they were all late 40s, early 50s and we didn’t have anything in common.”
What else did Kevin Harvick say about stepping into Dale Sr’s shoes?
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Without a doubt, it was a very daunting task, given Dale Earnhardt Sr’s legendary status. Anybody else would have buckled under pressure. However, Kevin Harvick did his best to try and rise to the occasion. That year, he definitely proved himself as a worthy successor, with two wins in his unexpected rookie season and 9th in the championship.
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Harvick continued, “This is probably the only place that I would ever talk about this. You’re [Dale Earnhardt Jr] probably the only one who can relate to this. For me it was, my path was, I’d always beat my own path. I always wanted to do things my own way, always wanted to be around the people that I want to be around.”
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Since then, the driver has gone from strength to strength and clinched his maiden championship in 2014. Additionally, he has finished in the Top 5 in the championship on 12 occasions. Last year witnessed a rare winless season for the #4 driver, and he will be aiming to redeem himself in 2022.
