Kevin Harvick is one of the most accomplished drivers in NASCAR history. With 60 career Cup Series victories and championships in both the Cup and Xfinity Series, Harvick is sure to be a first ballot NASCAR Hall of Famer.
Harvick’s NASCAR resume speaks for itself, but who is the man behind all the accomplishments? In this article, we’ll take a look at five interesting facts about the 2014 Cup Series champion.
Kevin Harvick was the first driver to win the Brickyard 400 from the pole position
The 10th annual Brickyard 400 at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway took place in August of 2003. Prior to that, no driver had ever won the prestigious race from the pole.
That changed in 2003 as Kevin Harvick wheeled his #29 Goodwrench Chevrolet to victory after starting on pole position. Harvick led 33 of the race’s 160 laps and held off runner-up Matt Kenseth to score the victory.
It was Harvick’s fourth career Cup Series win and first from the pole position. Harvick later won two more Brickyard 400 back-to-back in 2019 and 2020, both behind the wheel of the #4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.
Kevin Harvick married his wife, DeLana, days after his Cup Series debut
Kevin Harvick’s Cup Series debut isn’t remembered as a joyful one. He made his first start in February at the Rockingham Speedway after being tapped to replace the late Dale Earnhardt, who tragically lost his life the week prior in a last-lap crash at the Daytona 500. The number was changed from Earnhardt’s famed #3 to #29 for Harvick.
On February 28, 2001, two days removed from his debut, Harvick married his girlfriend, DeLana, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Cup Series circuit was set to race at Las Vegas later that week. One week later, Harvick captured his first career Cup Series win by 0.006 seconds over Jeff Gordon at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kevin Harvick is a fan of the New York Yankees MLB team
Harvick enjoys other sports outside of racing, including baseball. The California native has expressed in the past that he’s an avid fan of the New Yankees, and has thrown the first pitch for a Yankees game twice.
On an episode of his Happy Hour Podcast, Harvick had Yankees legend Alex Rodriguez on the show to talk about the first time he threw a pitch for a Yankees game back in 2001. Harvick recalled the entire team pranking him after telling him to lightly throw the ball over the plate. After throwing the pitch, Harvick recalled seeing them all laughing at him, adding:
“I’m thinking to myself that was perfect, why are they all laughing? They had the radar gun turned on and turned the board up on the backside of the stadium and it said 32 miles an hour.”
Harvick threw the first pitch again for the Yankees in 2011.
Kevin Harvick once owned a NASCAR team
Aside from racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, Harvick was a team owner in his own right with Kevin Harvick Incorporated, a team co-owned by him and his wife, DeLana. The team fielded entries in both the Xfinity and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
KHI found a litany of success in the Truck Series, which included 43 career victories and two championships in 2007 and 2009. Both titles were won by Ron Hornaday Jr., who has the most Truck championships all-time with four.
KHI also won 10 Xfinity Series races, but eventually merged with Richard Childress Racing in 2012, no longer under Harvick’s banner. Despite the team leaving NASCAR after 2012, KHI revamped and is now a team in the CARS Tour.
Kevin Harvick has his own day named after him in his hometown
Bakersfield, California, the hometown of Harvick, honored the driver a few months after he won the championship by deeming March 18, 2015 as “Kevin Harvick Day” in the city. Harvick had won his first and only career Cup Series championship the November prior.
Around that same time, Harvick was honored by then-President of the United States Barack Obama on the White House’s South Lawn on April 22, 2015, five months removed from the championship win. Harvick also won an ESPY for “Best Driver” in honor of his championship.
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