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Friday, February 23
Harvick steps into long shadow
Associated Press
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Dale Earnhardt's car will be back on the track this weekend with a different look, a different number and a different driver.
That's the way most people prefer it.
|  | | Kevin Harvick was named to replace for Dale Earnhardt for the season at Rockingham, N.C. |
Kevin Harvick, a 25-year-old Busch Series driver, was promoted Friday into Earnhardt's car for the rest of the season.
He takes over for the seven-time Winston Cup champion who was killed last Sunday in an accident on the final turn of the Daytona 500. But Harvick wants it known that's he's certainly not replacing Earnhardt.
"I'd like to say one thing," Harvick said, pointing out into a crowd of reporters. "Dale Earnhardt is probably the best race car driver that ever came through NASCAR. I hope you guys don't expect me to replace him because no one ever will."
Although it's Earnhardt's car and Earnhardt's team, owner Richard Childress has stripped everything away to remove any reminders of The Intimidator.
Harvick's car will be white, instead of Earnhardt's trademark black, and his number will be 29 instead of 3. GM Goodwrench remains the sponsor, but that's the only similarity.
NASCAR doesn't retire car numbers, but allowed Childress to put a one-year moratorium on the No. 3. He said he'll have a difficult time using the number again because it will forever be linked to Earnhardt.
"We were going to carry on with the No. 3 car and (Dale) was going to help me pick who would go in the car," Childress said. "He didn't want just anybody in the car."
If he ever uses the number again, Childress said it would not be on a black car.
Harvick, a baby-faced blond from Bakersfield, Calif., was the Busch Series' Rookie of the Year last season while driving for Richard Childress Racing.Just last week, Childress said he planned to put Harvick on the fast track.
Praising him for his "cool, aggressive style," Childress had said he would enter Harvick in seven Cup races this year and let him run a full season in 2002 as a teammate to Earnhardt and Mike Skinner.
Now, everything has been moved up and Harvick has to take over for The Man in Black.
|  | | Richard Childress, car owner for Dale Earnhardt, ponders a question during a news conference Friday at Rockingham. |
"Kevin is a good race car driver and Dale thought so, too," Childress said. "He was going to get a Winston Cup car, but it happened a lot sooner than any of us expected and it isn't the way Kevin wanted to get into a car."
Harvick, meanwhile, is trying to settle in for what will be a very hectic season. He's scheduled to get married in Las Vegas next Wednesday while out there racing.
And Childress intends to have Harvick fulfill his commitment to his Busch team by running the full schedule, as well as the full Winston Cup schedule.
"I know he's a tough, tough guy and has been working out all winter and mentally he's strong," Childress said. "We're going to try to run him every race. It's going to be tough and we're going to be doing a lot of flying across the country, but we owe it to the guys who worked on the car all winter."
Harvick said he's up for it, especially driving Earnhardt's car.
"I watched Dale drive when I was growing up, from when I was 5 years old," Harvick said. "He was a hero to me and a friend. I know he would want me to drive the heck out of the car." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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