Before the 2006 season, Richard Childress made dramatic changes to his entire organization. Childress had become the hot topic because many said he wasn't willing to make the necessary changes to win, but he wanted to change that.
And along with the changes, Kevin Harvick needed to decide if he wanted to stay with RCR or move to another team in 2007.
The deadline was April.
Newcomer Jeff Burton helped Richard Childress announce his comeback by winning the pole for the Daytona 500. Burton would score a win in the Nationwide Series at Atlanta and would go back to victory lane in a Cup car at Dover. It was his first win in nearly five years. Clint Bowyer, a rookie, enjoyed a breakout year in which he and his team grew stronger ever week and were soon competing for wins.
Harvick on the other hand was dominating everything he sat in. He decided to run a full schedule in the Nationwide Series and very quickly found himself the odds on favorite to win the title. He took the point lead after the second race of the year and nine wins and 824 points later, he clinched his second championship over Carl Edwards, four weeks early.
In the Cup series, he and his team finally found the consistency they once lost. His first win came at Phoenix after winning the Nationwide Series race twenty-four hours earlier. Win number two came at the Watkins Glen road course, along with a move to third in points. Four weeks later he was back in victory lane again at Richmond, after also winning the Nationwide race.
A week later when the Chase for the Championship started, he dominated the New Hampshire race, leading the most laps and winning the race. He also took the points lead. A week later, teammate Jeff Burton would take the points lead from him after his victory in Dover, and Harvick would never gain it back. But he did pick another win in Phoenix, the second to last race of the year.
Burton would end the year in seventh place in points and Harvick would end up fourth, loudly announcing that RCR was back, and that Kevin Harvick would also be back in 2007.
It would prove to be the right decision.
Richard Childress has a lot of memories when it comes to Daytona International Speedway. The year, 1990, Dale Earnhardt driving his famous black no. 3 seemed to be headed toward victory in the Daytona 500. As he entered turn three on the last lap, a flat tire blew his chances for victory as Derrick Cope blew by and won the race.
The year, 1998, after twenty years of trying Dale Earnhardt finally scored his first and only Daytona 500 victory.
But most recently February 18, 2001 when Dale Earnhardt was killed in a race he love so very much.
As Kevin Harvick sat idle on the backstretch of the Daytona International Speedway on February 18 2007, all those memories most have been going through Richard Childress' mind, along with the long journey to get to this point. Could Kevin Harvick give Childress a new memory from this track?
Mark Martin, the fan favorite was leading the race, and Harvick was in sixth when the race restarted; by the time the white flag flew, Harvick had dropped a spot seventh, but then he made a bold move down the backstretch to the high side and Matt Kenseth not only followed by gave Harvick a bump draft hard enough that sent Harvick into turn three and four ahead of Mark Martin who was still the leader.
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