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Saturday, February 24
Earnhardt respected Harvick's style
By Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Kevin Harvick is no dummy - he knew that replacing Dale Earnhardt in the Richard Childress racing lineup was no small task.
He just never, in his wildest dreams, imagined he'd have this much support behind him. After all, there was Harvick, a relative unknown to those outside the sport of racing, receiving the loudest ovations of anyone during introductions for Saturday's Busch Grand National Series AllTel 200.
|  | | Kevin Harvick qualified 36th for Sunday's Dura Lube 400. |
And when the race was finished and Harvick completed his assault from the 22nd starting position to a second place finish, there was that throng of cheers behind him again.
"It's a lot more support that I realized," Harvick said. "Obviously, there are some pretty intelligent race fans because they understand what's going on, too. Not only did Dale Earnhardt have intelligent race fans, he had a lot of them."
And Sunday, they'll be squarely behind Harvick, who will start his first Winston Cup race in the 36th and final position. Harvick was the last driver to qualify Saturday with a one-lap speed of 153.20.
But qualifying problems are nothing new for Harvick at Rockingham, who failed to qualify in one of two races here last season.
"It's a tough track," Harvick said. "Every time I think about this place I get tense. It's pretty clear that Kevin Harvick isn't a very good qualifier at Rockingham."
But there is plenty of talent. Harvick, the 2000 Busch Rookie of the Year that set the rookie record for overall points, was originally scheduled to spend the 2001 season competing in the Busch Series with seven runs in Winston Cup.
But after the death of Earnhardt, Childress quickly scrapped that plan, promoting the rising star to fill the spot of Earnhardt. Harvick will drive a white Monte Carlo, No. 29, with Earnhardt's GM Goodwrench sponsor.
"Obviously we didn't plan on moving Kevin into the Winston Series so soon," said Childress. "But wanting to keep the GM Goodwrench team at the strength that Dale would have wanted, we felt he was our No. 1 choice. Dale always told me he respected Kevin's driving style."
That's because much like the man he is replacing, Harvick's driving style is aggressive. That was more than evident Saturday, as Harvick often went three cars wide on the North Carolina Motor Speedway's somewhat narrow tracks, to catapult from 22nd to second.
"I race every lap to win because 99-percent of the time, it's the aggressor that wins," Harvick said. "It's pretty basic, I know, but it works for me."
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I race every lap to win because 99-percent of the time, it's the aggressor that wins. It's pretty basic, I know, but it works for me.” |
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—Harvick |
Now it will need to work against some of the greatest drivers in the world. Though Harvick said Friday that Earnhardt is "irreplaceable," he knows the onus is on his shoulders to do the best impersonation he can.
And everyone will be watching, as they were Saturday, with fans and media members huddling around Harvick's garage, trying to get a peek at the new No. 29 car.
Complicating the task will be the fact that Harvick will have to compete in his rookie Winston Cup season without Earnhardt, someone he frequently used as a mentor.
"Obviously, his loss is not going to help (my development) in any way," Harvick said. "But this is a strong organization and obviously this is going to bring us a whole lot closer than we were."
With Harvick jumping into Earnhardt's GM Goodwrench car, plans to unveil Harvick's own America Online Winston Cup car have been put on hold. He will race in the Busch Grand National Series when those races are held in conjunction with Winston Cup races.
"It's going to be tough," Childress said. "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 this winter, and we owe it to AC Delco and Goodwrench to try and give them the best."
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