Kevin Harvick had a solid year with Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Here, you can check out Harvick’s 2023 season in review!
[autotag]Kevin Harvick[/autotag] has crossed the start-finish line at Phoenix Raceway for the final time as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor. Harvick didn’t end his final year with a victory, as he only had six top-5 finishes and 14 top-10 finishes; however, it is more so about celebrating his long career since he joined the Cup Series in 2001.
The driver of the No. 4 car ended his full-time career with a seventh-place finish at Phoenix, which is undoubtedly his best race track. In fact, Harvick concluded the campaign with 157 laps led (17th best) and a 14.7 average finishing position (10th best); however, where did it all go wrong for him during the 2023 NASCAR season?
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was eliminated in the Round of 16 after a horrible race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Harvick failed to have a single top-10 finish in the Round of 16 and was eliminated alongside defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano. Still, the lack of a victory in his farewell season might be the most disappointing outcome.
Harvick ended his full-time Cup Series career with 60 wins, 251 top-5 finishes, and 444 top-10 finishes in 826 starts. He won the 2014 Cup Series championship and will be a member of the NASCAR Hall-of-Fame eventually. Overall, Harvick didn’t have the best 2023 season, but it is still one that he will remember forever.
Kyle Busch isn’t buying what Kevin Harvick is selling. In his final season as a NASCAR Cup series driver, Harvick and his management team put together a content plan aimed at telling the story of a 30-year career. In doing so, Harvick has reflected …
Kyle Busch isn’t buying what Kevin Harvick is selling.
In his final season as a NASCAR Cup series driver, Harvick and his management team put together a content plan aimed at telling the story of a 30-year career. In doing so, Harvick has reflected on the highs, lows, accomplishments and defeats. And don’t forget all those famous feuds and feisty interviews.
But amazingly, from those rivalries have come relationships. Harvick is no longer trading barbs with Joey Logano, shoving Brad Keselowski into confrontations, or bending sheet metal with Busch.
It’s taken time, but maturity prevailed. So, when asked if that’s something he’ll be most proud of – going from foes to friends with some of his competitors – Harvick could only smile and give another quotable moment.
“A lot of that is show, though,” he said. “You have to remember this still is a show. I think on the days when things aren’t going your way, it’s still okay to be a showman, and it’s still okay to cause those fires and make those things happen. So, it makes it more fun. Makes it exciting.”
This is where Busch offers a laugh and some amusement of his own. Busch would have liked to have been clued into Harvick’s thinking when the two of them were at it seemingly every week for quite a few years.
“Yeah, he might want to tell us first,” Busch chuckled. “I’d be more willing to go along with it if it was more for show. So, I call bull**** on that.”
Busch does agree that the word “rivalry” is applicable to he and Harvick’s relationship in the early 2000s. There is a 20-minute YouTube clip of Busch and Harvick run-ins to help his case.
Ironically enough, the YouTube clip starts with an incident that Busch first brings up when reflecting on their turbulent times. It was 2005 at Dover Motor Speedway in what is now the Xfinity Series, and the two collided off Turn 4 when running side-by-side.
“I came off the corner (and) got loose and I hit Harvick,” Busch said. “We were battling for third, I think, and got in the wall and I ended up like T-bone on his hood down the frontstretch. He gassed it up and downshifted and just pushed me all the way down the straightaway and tried to slam me into the inside wall.
“From then on, we kind of just did not like each other. We withstood each other before that, and then right there was kind of like the OK, basically, we hate each other. And that was early.”
Mike Joy, who was in the broadcast booth that day, even remarked, “… this wreck is still going on.” The two cars stayed hooked together until coming to a stop in the grass between Turns 1 and 2.
In the years that followed, there were hard battles and contact, but the next hardcore moment, as Busch described it, was in 2011 at Darlington Raceway (pictured top). It started off Turn 2 when Busch got a run to the inside of Harvick and the two made contact. Harvick then gave Busch a shot in the bumper in Turn 3, which knocked Busch up in the hill and left the door open for Clint Bowyer to make it three-wide off Turn 4.
Busch, on the outside and Harvick, in the middle, made contact. There was more contact down the front stretch before Busch hooked Harvick in the right rear. After the race, the confrontation continued coming to pit road and ended when Harvick stopped in front of Busch, got out of his car and tried to go to Busch’s window. But Busch made a quick escape by pushing Harvick’s car out of the way, which hit the pit wall, and driving away.
“I think that stemmed a lot from … he was pissed that I stole some people from him at KHI (Kevin Harvick, Inc.),” Busch said. “So, the whole time KBM started and got going, I had his people that helped me start it and get it going. The resentment – he did not like that so he took it out on me.
“I feel like he did and then KHI drivers did. It was just all full out.”
Oh yes, don’t forget an underlying factor in the rivalry: Busch and Harvick were competing owners in the Craftsman Truck Series. Kyle Busch Motorsports debuted in 2010 and, along with Kevin Harvick, Inc., became one of the most dominant teams in the series.
The pair were rival team owners in the Truck series until 2011. Motorsport Images
The 2011 season ended up being the last for KHI. However, before the doors closed, Busch had a few issues with Harvick drivers along the way.
Elliott Sadler and Busch made contact in the Truck Series race at Bristol, which resulted in Busch retaliating. Busch and Ron Hornaday had a massive blowup at Texas Motor Speedway when the two made contact side-by-side in Turns 1 and 2, both hitting the wall and then Busch running into the back of and hooking Hornaday in Turn 3. Busch was parked from competing for the rest of the weekend.
Given how explosive things were between the two for so long, Busch and Harvick becoming friends, who were capable of having hard but clean battles on the track while conversing about the burgeoning racing careers of their sons, was quite the twist. Busch felt the “big turn point” came to happen after KHI came to a close and by the time Harvick joined Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014. Since there has been more give and take between the two.
“I don’t know if Tony [Stewart] sat him down or if Rodney [Childers] sat him down, but Kevin had a change dynamically of how he was going to go race,” Busch said. “I wouldn’t say it calmed him down, but it made him more able to work with on the racetrack rather than being archenemies.
“From 2014 on, we’ve been fine. We give each other space; we know when each other is faster. Like in 2018, when it was the Big Three, it was me, Kevin and Martin [Truex Jr.]. Martin would win, Kevin would win, Kyle would win. Martin would win, Kyle would win, Kevin would win. It kept going, and we never really had the moments that we were at each others throats. We were racing another hard but clean, and may the best man win.”
Harvick won his first and only Cup Series championship in 2014. Busch earned his first championship a year later and followed it with a second in 2019.
During the 2018 season, Busch, Harvick, and Truex combined to win 20 of 36 races, and there were multiple instances of the trio trading wins on a weekly basis. Busch and Harvick led the series with eight victories each that season.
The numbers between Busch and Harvick continue. Not only are both champions of the Cup Series, but Busch and Harvick also accomplished the same in the Xfinity Series. As owners, both have claimed championships in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Busch, who is still active, sits at 63 career Cup Series victories. Harvick retired with 60 career victories, which has him eighth on the all-time wins list, right behind Busch.
Kevin Harvick is open to running in the NASCAR Xfinity or Truck Series during the 2024 season. Find out what Harvick had to say about it!
[autotag]Kevin Harvick[/autotag] officially retired from full-time competition in the NASCAR Cup Series when the checkered flag was waved at Phoenix Raceway in November. It represented the end of an era as Harvick was the final full-time driver to compete in the full-season format with no “Chase” or “playoff” system along the way.
“I think that’s something I would have to lean on somebody like [Dale Earnhardt Jr.] to say, ‘Is that worth doing it?’” Harvick said. “I think the Xfinity stuff is something – I want to make sure that I do a really good job for FOX. Until I get done with that, and once I get done in June and say, ‘Maybe we can fit this in; this looks like a good weekend and we could do it?’
Harvick also said that if he were to race in the Xfinity Series, he would want a guaranteed spot in the field instead of needing to qualify on time. The 2014 Cup Series champion may not race full-time in NASCAR ever again; however, his journey may not be done yet. Harvick could be driving a stock car in NASCAR sometime during the 2024 season.
Joey Logano could barely get out the words without laughing. It’s the last day of August and NASCAR Cup Series playoff media day, and Logano has gone from stop to stop fulfilling his obligations. During one, Logano was given the task of asking the …
Joey Logano could barely get out the words without laughing.
It’s the last day of August and NASCAR Cup Series playoff media day, and Logano has gone from stop to stop fulfilling his obligations. During one, Logano was given the task of asking the retiring Kevin Harvick anything he wanted.
Logano went all in.
“So, I wrote down, ‘In Pocono, if we were to fight, how bad was I going to kick your ass?’” Logano said, referring to their 2010 feud. “We can joke about those moments now. We joked about the firesuit thing this time (around) in Pocono. So, it’s fun to have that relationship with Kevin.”
Harvick also found great amusement in the interaction, which he revealed after being informed Logano made it known what he wrote down. But Harvick also revealed he had a quick-witted answer for Logano.
“I told him, ‘You know the first thing I would have done is gone straight for your knees because that’s how they told us to break big people down,’” Harvick said. “From the bottom up.”
There were plenty more of these stories and memories for Harvick during his final season. At every turn, as Harvick’s been honored from racetrack to racetrack and reflected on his 23-year career, the industry has done the same. Harvick’s peers were either praising his accomplishments and legacy or sharing personal anecdotes.
Logano and Harvick famously “butted heads” in 2010, but their mutual anger was soon turned into a positive, opening the door to a better relationship. Motorsport Images
It’s only fair and humorous to remember the feuds and rivalries that Harvick had along the way. His run-in with Logano wasn’t the first or the last that Harvick had, but it was one of the most memorable.
Pocono Raceway in early June 2010 was the site of Logano’s now infamous “his wife [DeLana] wears the firesuit in the family” jab. Logano made the statement in his television interview, frustrated after Harvick spun him while racing for fifth place with two laps to go.
Harvick turned around and made shirts that sold for charity, which were then brought back this year. They were a popular item, and in the series annual visit to Pocono, Harvick presented Logano and his foundation with a $12,000 donation from the sale of those shirts. And the Loganos received their own shirts, which read, “I wear the firesuit in this family.”
“I’m glad we figured it all out because here’s the thing — sometimes you grow up in front of everybody,” Logano said. “Yeah, Kevin wrecked me that day, and I was mad about it, and I probably shouldn’t have brought his wife into the middle of it or made it that personal. But the fact they made a joke out of it … I still regret saying it, but at least some good things came out of it.
“They raised a bunch of money for their foundation, and they paid it forward to us. So that’s pretty special.”
Another clash between the two occurred in Daytona in 2015. Logano and Harvick traded shots coming down pit road — and then words outside their cars — after what was then known as the Sprint Unlimited. A disagreement over bump drafting etiquette was the cause.
Those are just two moments in time. Today, Logano and Harvick have nothing but great things to say about each other and have gone from foes to friends.
“Honestly, I know exactly when it happened,” Logano said of the change in their relationship. “It was when he started driving a Ford. Ford brought us together. How about that? The love of Mustangs.”
Harvick wasn’t as sure as Logano as to when the ice started to thaw but said it’s better for everyone to be a good human, put the past in the past, and get to know the people you spend 40 weeks a year competing (and living alongside) at the racetrack.
“That’s what’s been so much fun about this year and really, Joey and I have had a good relationship over the past several years,” Harvick said. “Who would have thought we’d go back and rehash that moment, right? To go back and rehash that moment and make something fun out of it, and show that we are human and we do move on, and you still can have relationships with people that you may have been enemies with or not liked at that particular time especially when you get to know them.
“Joey is one of those people that he’s all NASCAR and he’s all racer. He wants this sport to be great, and it’s just getting to know people and moving on and maturing. That’s one of those moments.”
So, why did the personalities of Logano and Harvick clash early on in their careers?
“They clashed because there are a lot of similarities there,” Logano said. “I’m not saying I’m Kevin Harvick or he’s me in any way — we both do our thing in our own way, but there are some similarities of the competitiveness and how it gets to that point. It’s just, eventually, we butted heads.
“Now, I think we respect that. We both have kids now, and life has changed a little bit. And now, we joke about it. Now it’s funny.”
And there were even more laughs from Logano when asked if he ever thought he and Harvick would get to this point — or have a relationship at all.
“Nope,” he said. “Nope. Never thought that I would get to the point where I’d even talk to him, and now I get along with Kevin as good as anybody else on the racetrack. Maybe better.”
Kevin Harvick reveals the chances of competing in a NASCAR Cup Series race again following his retirement. Find out what Harvick revealed!
[autotag]Kevin Harvick[/autotag] saw the checkered flag at Phoenix Raceway in November 2023 and it represented the end of an era. Harvick got out of his No. 4 car for Stewart-Haas Racing and officially closed out his full-time NASCAR Cup Series career after announcing his retirement. It was a bittersweet day for many involved but one that was expected since January.
However, will that be the last time that Harvick races in the Cup Series? Harvick joined Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his podcast, The Dale Jr. Download, and talked about the possibility of competing in NASCAR again, with a comment on the Cup Series. For those who were hoping for a positive response, there is some bad news.
“The driving piece for me is still there,” Harvick said. “I don’t know what that means yet or what I’m going to race or what that exactly consists of. It won’t be a lot.”
“I’m not sure yet. The door is open. I’m not going to drive Cup ever again. I can’t be competitive, I can’t make myself go there and say, ‘I’m looking for a top 30.’ That’s what it would be. You would be lucky to run 30th.”
A few drivers, such as Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman, have continued racing in the Cup Series despite not being full-time anymore. It seems likely that Harvick won’t be doing the same. The 2014 Cup Series champion had a great run in NASCAR’s top level but it is hard to blame him for not wanting to compete again.
Kevin Harvick thought the emotion of his final NASCAR Cup Series weekend as a driver was over by the time the race was run until there came a question about his children. On the pace laps before the start of Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway, son …
Kevin Harvick thought the emotion of his final NASCAR Cup Series weekend as a driver was over by the time the race was run until there came a question about his children.
On the pace laps before the start of Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway, son Keelan and daughter Piper came over Harvick’s team radio. The two were given the headsets to wish their dad well and congratulate him on what was a Hall of Fame career.
“Well that’s not normal,” Harvick said. “I know that they probably loved that, so…”
At that point, Harvick began to get choked up. He gave a thumbs-up and then turned to be with his family, team, and others who had gathered at his car.
Harvick finished seventh in his final Cup Series race. It was one last competitive showing for the veteran, who led 23 laps and earned his 21st consecutive top-10 finish at Phoenix (dating back to 2013).
“Just kind of a relief, to be honest with you, there with just so much going on before the race and this week,” Harvick said. “It was pretty cool to lead some laps there in the last race, though. I’m just proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing, everybody that works on this car and has worked on this car for a long time.
“I’ve just got to thank all the fans and NASCAR, my family and everybody for all the support. It’s been a great ride, and I can’t complain.”
Harvick could only laugh and say he “figured” the crowd on hand Sunday reacted well when he took the lead. The car got too tight as the sun went down, and he didn’t challenge for the victory in the final stage. It was a winless season for Harvick, just the fifth tie that’s happened in his career.
“The fans have been great, just wishing us well [and] to do the best we can on the racetrack,” he said. “It’s been an up-and-down year, but we’ve had some good runs, and we were at least competitive. We didn’t ride around in the back. That’s the main thing, just doing all we can do.”
A 23-year career ends with 60 victories, including in all four crown jewel events. Harvick won at Indianapolis in 2003, 2019 and 2020, the Daytona 500 in 2007, the Coca-Cola 600 in 2011, and the Southern 500 in 2014 and 2020.
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He won the Cup Series championship in 2014.
“This whole year has been incredible with the fans and the garage and everybody [with] all the support,” Harvick said. “We wanted to tell a story of 30 years, and I think we did a pretty good job at that.”
It took more than an hour for Harvick to leave pit road after the race. Tyler Reddick, teammates Ryan Preece and Chase Briscoe were among those who came to spend time with him. Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart also made his way into what could be described as a mosh pit of people around the No. 4 car.
In the pre-race driver’s meeting, Harvick was given a standing ovation. There was also a group photo taken before everyone dispersed for the final time ahead this season.
“It really hasn’t been about wins or losses, but you never want to flop around,” Harvick said of his season. “To be able to lead laps in the last race kind of tells you how competitive we still are and I think with some tweaks and adjustments to some of the things at Stewart-Haas, you could go right back out there and be where you need to be with everything that we have going on. Josh [Berry] is going to do a great job. I can’t wait to see Josh drive this car around.
“Busch (Beer) is still in this sport. Mobil is still in this sport. It gave everybody time to do and evaluate what they wanted to do, and that’s really what I wanted. I wanted to leave here and be able to look at all of you guys, look at the fans, walk in the TV booth, and walk into any trailer in that garage, whether it’s a driver, a crew chief, NASCAR, whoever it is, and be able to end on good terms and I think we did that.”
Harvick will be in the Fox Sports booth beginning in 2024, and that chapter of his life begins this week.
“I do already have calls next week with the folks from Fox and starting to work on end of the year things for what we want to do there,” Harvick said. “But I still think the responsibility is just as big to go up there and try to give the fans as much information as possible and do a good job for Fox and everybody with this sport to tell the best story that we can. We have a lot of great drivers, a lot of great personalities, and I hope everybody gets to see that.”
Kevin Harvick’s full-time NASCAR Cup Series career has officially come to an end at Phoenix Raceway in 2023.
[autotag]Kevin Harvick[/autotag]’s full-time career in the NASCAR Cup Series has officially come to an end at his best race track. Harvick concluded the 2023 NASCAR season with a seventh-place finish, which is a fitting conclusion as Phoenix Raceway has been good to him in the past. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has won on nine different occasions, which is more than any other competitor.
Harvick finished in second place during Stage 1 and in third place during Stage 2. The driver of the No. 4 car had really good speed and the looks of a non-Championship 4 competitor who could win the event. Instead, that honor went to Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain as he became the first non-Championship 4 competitor to win the season finale.
Now, Harvick will move to the FOX Sports booth starting in 2024. Before that happens, it’s time to look at the final statistics of his full-time career. Harvick ended the 23-year stretch with 60 wins, 251 top-5 finishes, and 444 top-10 finishes in 826 starts. Harvick also ended his career with one Cup Series championship, which came in 2014.
Kevin Harvick started what could be his final NASCAR Cup Series press conference as a driver by recognizing the media who has covered his illustrious career. It was notable for a number of reasons. Harvick had a tempestuous relationship with the …
Kevin Harvick started what could be his final NASCAR Cup Series press conference as a driver by recognizing the media who has covered his illustrious career.
It was notable for a number of reasons. Harvick had a tempestuous relationship with the media throughout the years, but his maturity as time went on made him a welcome interviewee and one of the best in the garage.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver retires from competition after Sunday’s season finale. Should Harvick win the race, it would require another appearance in the media center. If not, Harvick has fulfilled that obligation for the last time.
Next season, Harvick becomes a member of the media as he joins Fox Sports in the broadcast booth.
“Obviously, it’s been a great ride,” Harvick said. “And it’s something that I love to do, and as you look back on it and realize all the things that you’ve been able to be a part of and be fortunate to be somewhat successful at, it’s been fun. I’m not going far. I guess I’ll just be sitting on the other side of the table asking the questions.
“But it’s been a great ride, and appreciate everything you guys have done for me, whether they’re good questions or bad questions. I guess [it] doesn’t really matter, but it’s been fun. I appreciate what you guys do.”
Harvick became a full-time Cup Series driver in 2001, thrust into the series following the death of Dale Earnhardt. It took time before it started to feel like his car and team, but in the 13 years spent at Richard Childress Racing, Harvick earned 23 victories — among them, the 2007 Daytona 500.
For the past 10 years, Harvick has driven for Stewart-Haas Racing. While doing so, he solidified a Hall of Fame career with a championship in 2014 and an additional 37 victories.
“All the weeks leading up to this particular one were really not that hard,” Harvick said of the finale. “I think this week was a little more difficult just because it is the last week with your guys and the people and everything that you do is actually coming to an end. Up until this point, I don’t think anybody really thought it was real, and this week it’s pretty real.
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“This week has been definitely different than everything leading up to this just because of the fact that there isn’t a next week. There’s been a next week up until this week. It’s very different, the things that we have to do going forward, but it’s all planned out, and I think as I talked to Dale [Earnhardt] Jr., he was in a very similar situation where the TV piece of it was planned out. The race team piece of it is planned out. We have a management company. We have golf cart stores. All of those things are already functioning.
“It would be much different if you weren’t closing the book. I feel very fortunate to be able to open the book and obviously, our first chapter was a little bit different than most people’s, but it’s the time that we chose to be able to say, ‘OK, this is it.’ This is going to be the last week coming to Phoenix and racing here for the last time. When you used to come here and race just for a hobby, and you looked forward to coming to this particular racetrack on Cup weekend and in February for the Copper Classic every year. As a west coast racer that’s what you did. It is a lot different than [in] weeks past because there isn’t a next one.”
With his driving career over, Harvick will also be able to attend more of his son Keelan’s and daughter Piper’s race events.
“For weeks, Piper has been like, ‘Dad, why do you have to go to the next one? You’re already retiring,’” Harvick said. “She’s pretty much over it. Keelan is terrified just because of the fact that he knows I’m going to be at way more races than what I was before, and he knows that I’m going to be all over him a lot more than I am right now. Right now, he can go off and do his thing and race, and dad’s not there to critique every single move that he makes, so that party is over, but I think it’s fun.
“Piper told Cheddar earlier [when] he asked her, ‘What are you looking forward to the most?’ She said, ‘Well, dad is going come watch me race.’ That’ll be fun.”
NASCAR is facing a new shocking reality with Kevin Harvick retiring in 2023. Find out the very interesting facts about Harvick’s retirement!
[autotag]Kevin Harvick[/autotag] will retire from full-time racing in the NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway this weekend. While it is very fitting that Harvick’s career comes full circle at Phoenix, there are also some shocking realities that the NASCAR world will face when the checkered flag flies on Sunday afternoon. Both are simply mind-boggling facts.
When Harvick officially retires at Phoenix, zero current Cup Series drivers will have raced under the full-season points format in their first full-time season. Also, Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch will become the longest-tenured full-time Cup Series driver, which started during the 2005 NASCAR season.
When Kevin Harvick retires after this weekend’s race at Phoenix Raceway…
– No current NASCAR Cup Series drivers will have raced under the full-season points format in their first full-time year. – Kyle Busch will be the longest-tenured full-time driver starting in 2005.
These are simply two shocking facts. Every full-time Cup Series driver will have been a part of a postseason system while it feels like Busch was just breaking into the top level with Hendrick Motorsports. The NASCAR community will miss Harvick as a full-time driver and it shows just how fast time can fly in the world.
Kevin Harvick’s last full-time NASCAR Cup Series race comes full circle with Phoenix Raceway to close out the 2023 season this weekend.
In January, [autotag]Kevin Harvick[/autotag] announced that he would retire from full-time racing in the NASCAR Cup Series at the conclusion of the 2023 season. Once that happens, Harvick will join the FOX Sports booth in 2024 next to Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer. Well, it is almost November and the sun is beginning to set on the Stewart-Haas Racing driver’s career.
Harvick will go to Phoenix Raceway for his final full-time NASCAR race this weekend. Ironically, Phoenix happens to be his best race track as he has nine wins at the venue over his career. In fact, the next closest driver in the wins list at Phoenix is Jimmie Johnson but he has five less than Harvick. In March, he was on track to add a 10th win before a caution with 11 laps to go.
It is quite fitting that Harvick will end his career at a place where he has seen so much success. The 2023 NASCAR season may not have gone his way but it is still a good ending for one of the sport’s legendary drivers. Harvick will look to close out his full-time career with a victory at Phoenix and no one would truly be shocked if he could go out on top.
