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Kevin Harvick Drops a Bombshell Retirement Revelation in Conversation With Dale Earnhardt Jr

Published 12/01/2021, 6:51 AM EST

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Earlier in the season, there were rumors of Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driver Kevin Harvick calling it quits after 2021. Harvick, who is 45-years-old and currently the oldest driver in the Cup Series, was reported to retire after 25 years in NASCAR.

But he had squashed those rumors after signing a deal with SHR until 2023. Yet, on a recent appearance at Dale Earnhardt Jr’s podcast, Harvick revealed that there was a lot more than truth to the reports of his retirement.

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When Earnhardt revealed he thought Harvick was going to be ‘done’, Harvick replied, “I was (done), 2021 was originally ‘it’.” 

He added the retirement was planned as far ahead as one can see at that moment, “As far as you know how it goes, as far as the financial planning, and how life was gonna look…it was all set up.” 

Harvick reveals the conversations about what’s next then led him to extend his contract. He said, “We started having conversations about what we were gonna do next, and that led to ’22, ’23.”

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The reason Kevin Harvick reconsidered retirement

Harvick reveals that it’s his team, the core group of people that made him think twice. He described, “In my case, that’s probably the biggest reason why I still race. I like racing with Rodney, I like racing with my team, I like racing at SHR.”

“And until they all say, ‘I wanna be done with it’, I feel like that’s what I have the most fun with at the racetrack – being with those guys”

He emphasized he is at a point in his career when it is all about racing with the people he likes to surround himself with.

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“I think at this point in my career, its really just about being on the racetrack with a group of people that you like being around.”

Overall, the key takeaway from his conversation with Earnhardt is that Kevin Harvick is still very much in love with racing.

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And it’s all the more important that he gets to do it with the people he loves and those who love him.

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Written by:

Shaharyar

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Shaharyar is a Formula 1 & NASCAR writer at EssentiallySports. A graduate in Journalism from Amity University, he has been a passionate follower of motorsports for better part of the decade. A Max Verstappen and Ferrari supporter, he dreams of a pairing of the two in future.
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