As part of his analyst role, Craven studied Harvick’s numbers to back up his argument that Harvick is in the “generational” conversation, something he initially experienced on the track. However, it wasn’t until he joined the TV ranks that he truly realized Harvick’s place among the all-time greats. He also calls him a “deep thinker,” and believes he will be a valuable addition to FOX’s TV booth starting in February.
Craven notes that Harvick could very easily have won four or five championships, and indeed, he scored six top-five points finishes with RCR before breaking through to win it all in his first year with Stewart-Haas. He went on to claim six more top-five points results with that organization.
Craven fondly remembers heated battles with Harvick in the Xfinity Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in the Cup Series. More recently, he has watched him evolve.
“Kevin contributed enormously to our sport, not just with his 60 Cup Series wins, which is a very strong statement, but (with) how he was that maverick early in his career and then a voice of reason later in his career,” Craven said.
Harvick will be 48 in December with victories in all the crown jewels among those 60 Cup Series victories, along with a Cup Series title, two Xfinity Series championships and a West Series crown.
In many ways, he is also a bridge between the NASCAR of old and the future. His and wife DeLana’s son Keelan and daughter Piper are both burgeoning racers, and his Kevin Harvick Inc. Management company represents Cup Series competitors and up-and-coming drivers, along with professional golfers, MMA fighters and professional bull riders.
Harvick is also restarting the competition side of KHI, occasionally competing in the CARS Tour (of which he is a co-owner) with his No. 62 late model stock Ford Mustang. For other late model races, Harvick hand-selected 21-year-old Layne Riggs to pilot the car. Riggs is the 2022 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champion and the son of former driver Scott Riggs.
Harvick’s current Cup Series crew chief Rodney Childers handled crew chief duties for the elder Riggs when the two worked for Evernham Racing. They also competed against one another in late models. Plus, DeLana Harvick’s father, the late John Paul Linville, once fielded a Hooters Pro Cup team for Scott Riggs.
The connections are an example of how the racing world is intertwined and how many facets of the sport Harvick reaches.
During May’s CARS Tour race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, Harvick and Layne Riggs talked over the course of the event and Riggs finished ahead of Harvick with his family-owned team.
Riggs got a call Monday morning from Harvick asking him to drive his late model. It’s one of multiple opportunities Harvick has helped to facilitate for young drivers.
For Riggs, Harvick’s lessons are about being mentally strong and analytical, but also learning not to dwell, as he competes in the difficult late model world while also climbing the NASCAR ladder.
“I feel like I really put things on my shoulders hard,” Riggs said. “I’ve always been really tough on myself, but he’s like, ‘Hey, nobody’s perfect. We’ve just got to do what we’ve got to do, and you do it to the best of your ability. That’s all you can do. You’ve got to move on and focus on the next thing to be better the next weekend.’”
In the relatively short time they have worked together, Riggs has also seen Harvick’s unbridled passion.
“He is a racer, that’s for sure,” Riggs said. “He’s more passionate about it than anybody and he loves coming to the races. I’ve talked to a lot of people that have worked with him for many years who have seen him through it all. They say he couldn’t be more happy and joyful about this late model team.
“They say he’s super, super passionate about it, super happy about it and he talks about it all the time. He just wants us to go out there and win races. So that’s what I want to go do for him.”
Stewart summed up Harvick’s impact on the sport, saying it was harder for him to think about Harvick not driving one of his team’s cars than it was during his own retirement in 2016.
“The great thing is I’m going to have him as a great friend the rest of my life,” Stewart shared. “When I get feeling bad about him not driving a race car, that’s the one thing that kind of makes it better, knowing that he may not be in our camp, and may not be in our shop, but he’s always a phone call away.”
This story appeared in the Nov 1, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
