Kevin Harvick Reflects On Remarkable NASCAR Hall Of Fame Career

How Harvick’s Brickyard 400 Win Solidified The Foundation Of A Great Career

Harvick had already won three NASCAR Cup Series races in his career when he arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 2003 Brickyard 400. Crew chief Todd Berrier had prepared a fast No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing and Harvick put it on the pole at Indianapolis. The following day, Harvick led 33 laps in the 160-lap Brickyard 400, including the final 16 laps to claim the first “Crown Jewel” victory in his NASCAR career.

NASCAR’s Crown Jewels include the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Brickyard 400 and the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Harvick’s previous victories before the big win at IMS in 2003 came with his first win in only his third NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta on March 11, 2001. That was an emotional accomplishment because Harvick was thrust into that seat after the great Dale Earnhart was killed in a crash in the last turn of the last lap of the Daytona 500 on February 18, 2001.

He also won at Chicagoland Speedway on July 15, 2001, to score two wins during his rookie season.

Harvick’s second season in 2002 was far more difficult. He had expectations of contending for the championship but instead finished 21^st. He did win at Chicagoland Speedway for a second-straight year with a victory on July 14, 2002, but that was a rare highlight in an otherwise disappointing season.

In 2003, Harvick needed a “tentpole” win in a major NASCAR race to put him back on the winning track. It came at the most famous racing facility in the world.

Earlier this year, I had an exclusive interview with Harvick, who plays a major role at FOX Sports as the NASCAR Cup Series telecasts and is the host of two podcasts on FOX including Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour and SPEED With Harvick and Buxton.

“I think that the Brickyard was really the first one, the first really big win, that got us on the right track,” Harvick told me. “We really didn’t get to be a consistent winner in the Cup car until 2006 and that’s when I learned sometimes it just takes time. There are so many different things that happen off the racetrack, the politics of it all, how to interact with your team and develop the car. All those things just take time because it’s at such a different level than you ever get to before that.”

Kevin Harvick Was Already On The Rise At Richard Childress Racing

Harvick was a star on the rise in what was then the NASCAR Busch Series (now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series) and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series when team owner Richard Childress gave him the testing duties for Earnhardt’s No. 3 Chevrolet.

“I knew that group and going in it was a lot easier just to go to racetrack test, get out of the car and do that six or seven times a year,” Harvick recalled. “It was a lot different than being in the car every single week.

“It was like being married, right? When you are around somebody every day, you really understand who they are and how they operate and the things that they like and don’t like. There is a process that goes with it.

“I think in 2003 we were we won the Brickyard and were competitive. It’s just it’s so hard to get that all those things right to be able to win three to five races a year.”

In 2003, The Brickyard 400 Packed Them Into The Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Harvick’s win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2003 came when the Brickyard 400 was still near its peak in popularity. The grandstands were packed with over 300,000 fans who would brave the very hot and humid Indiana weather in August.

The crowds at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were double and triple the size of NASCAR’s other big races.

Plus, the Brickyard 400 was creating its own history at a time when the Indianapolis 500 was in the middle of a split between the Indy Racing League and CART.

“At that particular time, it was treated like the Indy 500, and they would almost purposely not put enough seats in there to make it bigger than the Indy 500 at that time,” Harvick recalled. “One of the moments I remember the most is the pace car ride after the race with Richard Childress and DeLana (Harvick’s wife) riding around the racetrack afterwards, because that’s what they do at Indy.”

It was a moment of clarity and reflection for Harvick because he remembered seeing the greatest names in racing take that same winner’s ride in the pace car after winning the Indianapolis 500 including Rick Mears after each of his four Indy 500 wins.

“To really take that all in was important, because I didn’t really want to race NASCAR because I didn’t know anything about it,” Harvick admitted. “Everything that I had been around in my hometown was all about the Mears Family. So, if you wanted to race, you wanted to race Indy car and race in the Indy 500.

“That was as close as you can come to living out your childhood dream, to go to the Brickyard. Everything that you had talked about to that point was wanting to race in the Indy 500.

“To go there and win at the Brickyard was pretty high up on my list.”

Kevin Harvick’s Incredible Journey To The NASCAR Hall Of Fame

From riding around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway after winning the 2003 Brickyard 400, Harvick’s path would take him to the NASCAR Hall of Fame with some incredible accomplishments.

In a career that ended in 2023, Harvick won 60 NASCAR Cup Series races, including the 2007 Daytona 500, three wins in the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2003, 2019, and 2020, and the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series Championship. Factor in Harvick’s time in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races, he won a total of 121 NASCAR National Series races, including 47 in O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races and 14 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Harvick’s last race was the final race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season at Phoenix Raceway.

Since then, Harvick has joined Mike Joy and former driver and teammate Clint Bowyer in the FOX Sports booth, calling the action in the NASCAR Cup Series telecasts that air on FOX. Harvick’s incredible career has earned him selection to the NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 19.

In addition, Harvick has become active in the podcast world with two highly acclaimed podcasts for FOX Sports, including Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, presented by NASCAR on Fox, and SPEED with Harvick and Buxton. The second podcast includes IndyCar on FOX lead announcer Will Buxton.

How Kevin Harvick Rediscovered The “Joy Of Racing”

Harvick is also a devoted father, along with his wife DeLana, to their two children, including 14-year-old son Keelan Harvick and 8-year-old daughter Piper. On February 23, 2026, Keelan Harvick signed a long-term deal with Toyota Racing Development to help him learn the skills to one day become a NASCAR Cup Series driver.

“The COVID season (2020) is what started the whole racing thing with Keelan,” Harvick explained. “He was playing baseball and soccer and basketball or whatever sport was happening at the school. For so long, we didn’t really want to get into racing with Keelan, he needed to go do something else. You get burned out on the things that you’ve done your whole life because it’s taken up so much time.

“And then, Keelan decided to race during COVID. And really, we haven’t stopped racing since.”

With Keelan following in his father’s path, Kevin Harvick rediscovered the joy of racing, something that had skipped him by because of the relentless schedule, and often brutal demands that come with racing at NASCAR’s highest levels for more than 25 straight years.

“Since he started racing, it reminded you of why you like racing and that’s the people, the places you get to go,” Harvick said. “Karting was a lot of fun for me because that’s how I started as a kid and he traveled all over the world doing it. But you remember when you see the parents and the kids and going to these different places and you remember why you love the sport.

“That really helped me get through the end of my career just because of the fact that you were reminded of why you were there on Sunday. It became a job, but it wasn’t a job when you started. You chased that path because you liked what you did. I think a lot of times, you need a reminder of why you like doing what you do. And in our sport, at the highest levels, it can become a job. I think that Keelan racing really helped get me through those last three years. It probably kept me driving longer because of the fact that he was into it.”

Harvick is able to share that joy of racing through a depth of knowledge when he is in the FOX booth during a NASCAR telecast, or on his weekly FOX shows and podcasts including Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour and SPEED With Harvick And Buxton.

“It gives people something positive to think about, the influence that all those moments had on the sport,” Harvick told me. “You realize it a lot better now sitting here at 50, 25 years later than you did at 25.

“I didn’t know that you don’t realize those things until you get a little bit down the road.”

This weekend, NASCAR returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400. On Sunday, a NASCAR Cup Series driver will experience the feeling that Harvick first enjoyed 23 years ago when he won the first of his three Brickyard 400s. Just as it did for Harvick in 2003, it could create the foundation of a NASCAR Hall of Fame career.