This weekend, the NASCAR fraternity heads to the Martinsville Speedway for the next race. The short track has been on the calendar since 1950 and has been a mainstay ever since. Of course, during that time, the race track accumulated a lot of memories. Some memories are iconic, some are pleasant, and others are less than pleasant, as Kevin Harvick and Richard Childress can attest.

Kevin Harvick joined Richard Childress Racing in unprecedented fashion. He was the replacement driver for Dale Earnhardt after the latter tragically passed away at the 2001 Daytona 500. So from day one, the pressure was always on Harvick, but he rose to the occasion. The fiery young driver finished ninth in the standings in 2001 and won his first race at Atlanta in just his third attempt! However, this relationship would take a sour turn as the years went by.

What happened between Kevin Harvick and Richard Childress Racing?

The rumors started in 2009. Kevin Harvick was winless since the 2007 Daytona 500 and an SI report claimed that Harvick was interested in moving to Stewart-Haas Racing after his contract expired in 2010. However, Harvick and RCR had recently secured Shell-Pennzoil as their sponsor, and Childress wasn’t ready to face such massive losses so soon into their deal. In 2010, Harvick signed a multi-year extension, but his stay was short-lived.

In January 2013, Stewart-Haas Racing announced they would sign Kevin Harvick for the 2014 season. This made 2013 an awkward year, to say the least. Harvick had already opted out of RCR for the Truck Series, racing with NTS Motorsports for limited races. Things came to a boil during the Martinsville race when he got into the thick of it with RCR’s Ty Dillon, Childress’ grandson, leading to a pit road fiasco and a fiery interview after the race.

During the race, Kevin Harvick and Ty Dillon were battling it out as Dillon made some aggressive moves on the veteran. Dillon ran into Harvick’s bumper and then attempted to spin him multiple times. Eventually on Turn 1, Dillon right rear hooked Harvick, leading to a caution flag as both the Trucks made their way down to pit road where Harvick played instigator. The NTS Motorsports driver intentionally stopped in Dillon’s pit lane, preventing the latter from entering. This caused the pit crew to fume, and one of them was seen throwing a sledgehammer at Harvick’s Truck!

Afterwards, a furious Harvick declared, “(Dillon) just dumped me. Exactly the reason why I’m leaving RCR because you’ve got those kids coming up, and they’ve got no respect for what they do in this sport and they’ve had everything fed to them with a spoon. So I cut him slack all day, and he just dive-bombs me in there, dumps me. It’s a shame you’ve got to get taken out by some rich kid like that.”

Harvick’s rant was evidently the culmination of years of wanting to leave RCR but without ever being able to explain rationally why he wanted to. After Dillon’s moves, Harvick did not see any reason to hold back. However, his Cup Series tenure with RCR ended on a positive note, with a win during their penultimate race at Phoenix Raceway, but his career redemption the following season was a sight to behold.

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Redemption following a nasty exit

Well, Kevin Harvick’s time at RCR was fruitful, but it wasn’t exactly filled with Championships. In his 10 years with the team, Harvick was a sublime driver, winning 3+ races in a season on three separate occasions (2006, 2010, and 2011). However, his consistency coincided with other greats in that era. Notably, Jimmie Johnson won five consecutive championships from 2006-2010, with Harvick finishing amongst the top-5 on three of those occasions. A switch to Stewart-Haas Racing, going from #29 to #4 and pairing up with Tony Stewart, saw them take the Cup Series grid by storm.

Harvick entered 2014 with a chip on his shoulder, and in the first year of NASCAR’s new playoff format, he turned out to be unstoppable. Harvick won five races that year, including the last two races in a row, cementing what would be his first and only Cup Series Championship. Harvick was so wrapped up with the new Chase format as he was zoned in on just finishing ahead of competitor Ryan Newman, that he didn’t even realize he got the checkered flag! “I forgot we won the race—how about that?” Harvick chuckled.

Despite the nasty Truck Series fallout at the end of his time with RCR, the driver is always indebted to them for giving him his Cup Series start. He retired from full-time racing in 2023 and did not forget to pay tribute to his roots in that season. Harvick ran a special #29 car for the All-Star Race as a nod to his time at Richard Childress Racing. In conversation with FOX Sports just before his final race, Harvick said, “There are some fans that don’t know that I drove the 29 car and I think that’s an important piece… Part of this last season was to educate everybody on my career and my path and the things that we’ve done that weren’t just about the last few years.”

Evidently, Harvick holds his time at RCR close to his heart. He will always cherish being able to give a team that went through the trauma of losing Dale Earnhardt some respite, as they were able to unearth another gem in the process.