(Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)
“Racing is something I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” Harvick said. “In 1997, when I was attending Bakersfield Junior College, the time came for me to make a choice about my future: I either had to focus on racing full-time, or decide on a new profession and begin training for it. I chose racing, and I’ve never looked back.”
It was a dream that began after graduating kindergarten, when JoNell and Mike Harvick bought their 6-year-old son, Kevin, a go-cart. A gift that, 29 years later, would bring racing fans from Bakersfield, CA, to Charlotte, NC, to his 300th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start.
Harvick spent 10 years racing go-carts, winning seven National Champions and two Grand National titles, and even then demonstrated the hard charging attitude that would make him a household name in the future.
In high school, "Happy" began racing in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Series, and wrestled for his varsity team during the winter months. He would run his first full time Elite Series, winning Rookie of the Year honors, and Harvick made his way up to the NASCAR Winston West Series.
But it didn't come without making a difficult decision. Harvick had enrolled in Bakersfield Community College to get a degree in architecture. And while choosing between an education and racing career couldn't have been easy, there's no question Harvick made the right choice.
In 1998, Harvick won his first NASCAR Winston West Series championship, backing it up with his five wins. At the same time, Harvick was attempting to make a name for himself in the then Craftsman Truck Series. He started 44 races from the time he was 19 to 22, collecting three top fives and seven top 10s.
It was during his time running for his father and then Wayne Spears that Harvick caught the eye of NASCAR owner Richard Childress.
He offered the 22-year-old a ride in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, where he debuted at Rockingham Speedway in October, 1999.
Because of an engine failure, the young driver finished 42nd. However, his Truck Series career was improving, as he finished in the top five six times and garnered 11 top 10s.
The following season, 2000, Harvick would focus all his energy on his NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year campaign.
His blue and white ACDelco No. 2 Chevrolet would land in Victory Lane three times, the first coming in his 14th start of the season at Dover, and the others coming at the Gateway International Raceway and a win from the pole in Bristol.
Harvick's crazy year would eclipse with his third-place finish in the points and Rookie of the Year honors.
Little did Harvick, or anyone else, know the next would would be even crazier.
On Feb. 18, 2001, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was killed in a wreck in the closing laps of the Daytona 500.
The next week, just days after marrying wife DeLana, it was 25-year-old Kevin Harvick who would take over the renumbered No. 29 Goodwrench Chevrolet the following week at Rockingham, where he finished 14th.
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