The 2023 NASCAR season is coming to a close soon. Wins, losses, crashes, fights, and rants have comprised a major part of the season as they have previously. But as we move to 2024, not everyone looks to be moving to the next chapter of the sport. The most notable name among these will undoubtedly be that of former Cup Series champion and soon-to-retire Kevin Harvick. The Stewart-Haas Racing stalwart had announced that he would be retiring at the end of this season and does not plan to change his mind anytime soon either.

Harvick has supplied the fans with uncountable memories, nail-biting finishes, and an iconic career that has had it all. As we get closer to waving him goodbye, the Tony Stewart-owned team decided to help their legendary driver reminisce some lovely memories through striking images of his younger days in NASCAR.

Teary-eyed Kevin Harvick goes down the memory lane

Throughout his career, Harvick has displayed grit, elegance, and versatility on the tracks. He came into the sport in the middle of a perilous time when arguably the best driver in NASCAR history, Dale Earnhardt, lost his life in a gruesome accident at Daytona in 2001. Harvick became a savior for team owner Richard Childress back then, winning his first-ever race in the Cup at Atlanta later that season.

Fast forward to 2023, and Kevin Harvick is still the sole ray of hope for his team. The 47-year-old was the only driver in an SHR Ford in this season’s playoffs. While the team has gone without a win this season, the team’s last win was also secured by Harvick in 2022. That tells us his importance to the team that gave him his first and only Cup championship in 2014. The 2014 triumph revisits Harvick’s mind as an image of him celebrating his win with son Keelan and wife DeLana and the championship trophy to cap it off comes up as a part of SHR’s initiative.

A moist-eyed Harvick exclaimed, “Oh. See. You guys are just trying to make me cry again!”

“But for me, I think this was the coolest moment because of the fact that…. like this was a great moment… taking a picture with the family but I think Keelan just, he would rather go on racetrack and throw a rubber down the racetrack and we sat up next to the wall just kind of hung out. But, you know, I think when you look back at these photos, I think man it seems like a long time ago now when I look at the size of Keelan. Those are the moments that make it all worthwhile.”

Coming from a man with a world of experience in the profession, to celebrate a Cup Series championship with your family sitting beside you, proud and happy, seems like something dreams are made of. Harvick must have dreamt of it as a child, and through all of his work and passion, he managed to make it a reality.

Kevin Harvick Reveals One Thing That Is More Important Than Racing, Melts Fans Hearts

Harvick to run the iconic Budweiser paint scheme at Homestead

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Kevin Harvick and SHR’s love story began in 2014 when the veteran finally made a switch after a long stay at RCR. He became a fan favorite instantly as he won the championship in his first season with the team. With Harvick at the wheel, legendary crew chief Rodney Childers on the radio and Tony Stewart as the owner, fans had found the perfect mixture to support a team. To add to their achievement, the #4 driver was also the first driver to win a championship with the new elimination-based playoff system at Homestead.

As Homestead returns to the schedule for next race, the NASCAR community is flooded with memories of Harvick leaving his mark on the sport 9 years ago on the same asphalt. To commemorate this occasion, Budweiser have collaborated with SHR to bring back the iconic paint scheme from that fateful evening. The venue has been historically strong for Harvick as well, with 14 top-10s in the last 15 races on the track.

“We put everything together, from hiring a driver, to hiring Rodney Childers to be the crew chief, to him hiring the car chief, all the way through everything that we did,” spoke Harvick recollecting memories from his win.

“We didn’t have a sponsor, we didn’t have anything. So to be able to put all that together and allow that to grow throughout 2014, because we knew we were fast, we just had to figure out how to get to the end of the race in order to put ourselves in a position to win, and by the time we got to the second half of the year, we had most of those bugs worked out.”

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From not having a sponsor to having a sponsor return and celebrating your championship win from almost a decade ago underlines the type of respect Kevin Harvick gets in the NASCAR community.