When Kevin Harvick made his NASCAR Cup Series debut, to say that it was difficult would be an understatement. There is an expression that goes, ‘trial by fire’. Harvick didn’t have a trial by fire, he had a trial by inferno, especially considering the circumstances. He made his debut in 2001 in the second race of the season for Richard Childress Racing in the #29 car.
As it turns out, he was essentially coming in after the great Dale Earnhardt had just passed away. Of course, the #3 number was retired out of respect and Harvick drove the #29. But Dale Earnhardt was an icon of the sport, so being the driver to replace him after his tragic passing could not have been easy.
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Richard Childress acknowledged that Kevin Harvick was a real trooper
In Childress’ words in the ‘I AM KEVIN HARVICK’ documentary, “I don’t know any other driver that could have handled the pressure that he was under.” Then Harvick’s wife, DeLana, shed some light on Harvick’s mentality, saying, “He has this uncanny ability to sort of block everything out.”
Meanwhile, Harvick confessed, “Everybody was an emotional wreck. Richard had just lost his best friend. I needed to be the one that was strong-willed and we’re moving forward. Whether I was confused like I was emotionally, not knowing what to do. Didn’t really matter. What you presented was all that people saw. You have to have this ability to turn it all off and just still be a competitor.”
The pressure was immense, simply because it was Dale Earnhardt. Had fate dealt some different cards, Dale Earnhardt would have been the one in the car. Meanwhile, Harvick would have either been left waiting in the wings or been given limited appearances for RCR.
How did the future 2014 Cup Series champion deal with the aftermath?
Of course, in light of this, Harvick really felt the weight of expectations on him. According to DeLana Harvick, their personal lives became “unbelievably abnormal”. Kevin Harvick himself noted that he instantly became a recognizable figure. It got to a point where he used to have reporters outside his house, knocking on his door. As a matter of fact, he confessed that he had to literally hide from people in order to have some semblance of normality.
The situation was so stifling that he and DeLana were considering canceling the wedding. However, Richard Childress insisted that they needed some happiness in their lives, and this was as good a time as any. From there, his life and career took off skywards.
