Drivers' Bios
Kevin Harvick
Date of Birth: December 8, 1975
Hometown: Bakersfield, CA
Career Stats |
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| Nextel Cup Series | ||
| Year | Starts | Finish |
| 2001 | 35 | 9th |
| 2002 | 36 | 21st |
| 2003 | 36 | 5th |
| 2004 | 36 | 14th |
| 2005 | 36 | 14th |
| 2006 | 36 | 4th |
Kevin Harvick was only a young Busch Series driver when he was catapulted into the spotlight immediately following the death of Dale Earnhardt at the 2001 Daytona 500. Harvick was put in the car for the following race by the owner, Richard Childress, and has raced at the Cup level ever since. Harvick has a best finish of 4th in points, which came in 2006, the third year of the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
You could say Harvick climbed through the ranks of NASCAR. In Bakersfield, as a kindergartener, Harvick received a go-kart as a gift. In the years that followed, Harvick won seven national and two grand national go-kart championships. He continued his racing career – and started in NASCAR- in the Featherlite Southwest Series. He won Rookie of the Year in the series in 1995 after he graduated high school.
Harvick went on to compete in the Winston West Series and became the champion after just two years. He was also competing in the Craftsman Truck Series by this time, posting top five and top ten finishes consistently. He caught the eye of owner Richard Childress, who would eventually move him into the Cup Series after just his first year on his Busch Series team, a year in which Harvick won the championship.
Kevin Harvick holds the distinction of being the first driver in NASCAR history to run both the Busch and Cup Series full-time in the same year, as well as the first to win the Busch championship and Cup Rookie of the Year in the same season.
