Kevin Harvick Openly Discusses Challenges of the 2001 Season 

I know right

Yeah I remember that moment.

I honestly jumped for joy that day, (house was empty, wife had taken the kids out to do something I can’t recall, likely because of the first time our daughters witnessed my meltdown that prior infamous Sunday)! Seeing “Chocolate’s” reaction validated my own, but man I was all in on that 29 Car, at least for a while. Kevin’s henpecked for starters and if you so much as hint at disrespecting Dale Jr., I’m out. Don’t know either and simply coming at this from a Fan point of view. All I know, is after Sr. passed, if Jr. was pissed off or in this case, misunderstood, (pissed on cuz Kevin’s wife said so) WE WERE ALL PISSED-OFF. Kevin is talented and I’ve rooted for him over the years, but he just reminds me of some past competitors I’ve “spoken to without uttering a Word” on the BMX track, running their mouth to others, ultimately making its way back to the Individual. CONTEXT. It helps to ZIP IT until ya KNOW IT ya dikk! Kudos to Jr. @ Company for having him on, but I bet there’s some of us that can’t stand to listen to Kevin “DANCE” around taking ownership of most of not all of this. On the Track FANS wanted A CHIP on Jr.’s shoulders, but watching and listening to these Podcasts reveals more than Greatness, it shows the Goodness of Jr., which reflects on those closest to him. He’s a brilliant man on his own, but I too had a Sisters fend for me during difficult periods of my life, One great friend and a Wife that’s stood beside and Up, (for me) as well. I still keep people like Kevin in my life, (keep your enemies closer) much to the chagrin of others for no other reason NOT TO STOOP to their level. Killin them with humbleness-at an arms length like I assume God’s kept me-regardless of my own transgressions. Harvicks Stock went up for coming own His show, but better think twice about wasting a dime on starting his own… Well, Kevin could have Theresa on a guest AND RELATE!!!

I’ve met Chocolate a few times, and he’s such a great, down to earth guy. I felt his pain, and pleasure of that day myself.

Yes I was crying too

There's a lot more people to think about in that situation. Some dropped the ball(Dale SR's wife)and a few that never even caught the ball. But there really is no greater seat to fill than Dale Earnhardt's when it comes to NASCAR.

I can’t imagine how Kevin was thrust into this situation essentially with 5 days notice to drive Dale’s race car

Earnhardt sucks. Sr. Was overrated. Gordon is the greatest driver to ever drive in nascar.

@@thomasc.5219 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 that’s funny. Stupid but funny

@@thomasc.5219 don't be a dick...Dales record speaks for itself...

Breaking in my gloves… I belly laughed fr

I remember thinking about this and just being blown away by his performance under that kind of pressure. Instantly having a ton of respect for the type of person he was. I can't think of any else that could have handled that situation any better and fit what Dale's fans had grown to love about Sr in himself. Truly amazing.

I'm glad Dale had Kevin come on and tell his side of the story of 2001. I just remember standing in front of the tv and watching the #29 car take the checkers and the fans going crazy. Never thought about what Kevin was going through behind the scenes. Excellent show, glad I could see it.

And to STILL be at the top of the game, you're right in that it would've been easy for him to have that initial success and then fade into obscurity and be remembered as the guy who replaced Dale. But how it turned out was that a lot of modern casual Nascar fans probably have no idea that he replaced Dale. I was born in 1994, grew up watching the 2000s era, I never knew until I was WAY older. Like til after 2016 before I learned that. I guess what I'm trying to say is he totally elevated himself to a legend in the sport in his own right.

Racers are always waiting for that opportunity

Him and Dale Jr I can’t imagine .. they handled it so well from what we saw

Hey Christopher this is Jeff Yoder the ol'broke down scooter tramp, exbiker, Vietnam 🇻🇳 Era veteran and I agree 👍 💯 percent with your comment about Jr,I've been a big fan of his podcast videos since the first one I saw I think 🤔 his kind of easy going style combined with his knowledge of the history of Nascar is what has gotten him the fan base he has that and the easy to see enjoyment he has getting some of his guests to tell stories about their times in Nascar especially the ones who were the same generation as his dad and the ones who were from his grandpa's generation ,almost all of whom are great story tellers who you can see really enjoy the chance to tell their stories even if they need a little bit of help getting the times that their stories are about and listening 👂 to their stories you can learn a little of the history of Nascar from the guys who helped make Nascar's history from just recently all the way back to the very beginnings of Nascar and even before Nascar officially became Nascar

@@jeffyoder8105 - Right on man. Junior is exactly the right age to be the bridge from the past to the present. Plus, no other current NASCAR media personality except Kyle Petty have lived their every waking moment in the NASCAR garage like Junior has.

Don't forget Park

Jeff Gordon?

@@signoresantinoburnett1169 was coming here to say that because he won the championship in 2001

Jeff Gordon saved it.

Actually Jeff Gordon did that single-handedly the one that's what Jeff Gordon did there would have been no Kevin Harvick racing and if Jeff Gordon do what he did there would have been no Tony Stewart Jeff Gordon some guys like Tony Stewart and other guys like that that you could go racing NASCAR Savannah get those guys credit first and foremost Jeff Gordon should be getting a shout-out

Yeah man, Elliot fan also. Kevin helped with the healing after Sr. Chase and Kevin will get it figured out. What a great show though!

I am a fan of Elliott and now have a new found respect for Harvick. This is the best Podcast on Earth. Period.

@@bones40447 agreed 100%

great comment!

Omg Elliott fans that aren't rabid 😍 I didn't think such a thing existed

Me too.....that image will be with me forever.

absolutely agree with you 100%......as Richard Petty said in an interview I heard awhile back....."It's not NASCAR racing anymore, it's the NASCAR Show" or something fairly close to that....I stopped watching when we lost Dale Sr., knew it would never be the same & here some 20+ years later, i thank God for the intuitions and Jr. for putting this youtube channel and group together doing these interviews!

If you decide to cheer for him this year, know that ppl say Harv has a horrible fanbase. Hopefully the fans you meet won't be jerks. I'm a diehard Harvick fan, I'm just warning ya. If you do cheer for him, I'd like to give you a warm welcome. :) 🏁

@@thebroskis6364 right here with ya, been a Harvick fan since the beginning, was at AMS when he won that first race, and I don't know any fan of his who is a jerk.

@@runswithbeer I've been a fan since I was 4 years old. My first memory of seeing a race and cheering for a driver was the 2007 Daytona 500. Before the race, I picked a car to win it. My favorite color was yellow, and I ended up picking the 29 of Harvick. There was just something about that car. He ended up winning it and I've been a diehard fan ever since. I met him over a zoom call during a fan insights thing last year unexpectedly, and it was one of the best days of my life. Hopefully he can get back on track next year and win a few more before his retirement. Cheers :)

@@thebroskis6364 ever since I started watching nascar (recently in 2020) I’ve always have loved Harvick

yes, loving the stories

Kind of Richard childress racing went from essentially a factory Chevy team with one of the greatest drivers of all time to today it's a midfield at best shell of its former self. Kevin all but said it in this interview when they did testing GM was there telling them what shocks to run and stuff the three car got everything first back then RCR was the factory Chevy team not Hendrick. I mean RCR still exists but it's nowhere near the team it was in the mid-90s

@@robertstone9988 Gordon and Dale SR where the premier drivers for GM In the 90s they developed the Monte Carlo with RCR and HMS input

@@fatpatlives1998 HMS was kind of a second-tier team I would compare them to like what ganassi was in the early 90s Jeff Gordon though he wasn't their first winning driver was their first I guess you would say legendary driver. No offense to Terry labonte or Ken Schrader or to Tim Richmond or even bodine but they were a upper mid-level team until Jeff Gordon got there and made them the quintessential Chevy team. I've been watching NASCAR since the early 80s it's kind of crazy that I watched Hendrick Motorsports become the Juggernaut it is today. But in those days the late 80s through about the mid-90s RCR was the premier Chevy team. Kind of like how Roush was the premiere ford team for a long time. I bet they don't even get invited to company meetings anymore.

@@robertstone9988 Ganassi in the early 90's? I don't think Chip Ganassi was involved in NASCAR until the early 2000's when he bought part ownership of Felix Sabates' team. Which cars were you thinking of in the early 90's? When I think of "second tier" Chevy teams in that time period after RCR and Hendrick, I think of Joe Gibbs, Morgan McClure, Jackson Brothers with Harry Gant... In other GM cars, Handsome Harry drove Oldsmobiles too. Bret Bodine and Larry Mac had a decent Buick for Kenny Bernstein. Penske and Sabates both had good Pontiac teams for Rusty and Kyle Petty. Then there were those yellow Pontiacs of Bahari Racing and Michael Waltrip that never could seem to win anything...

@@TonyM132 no how ganassi is now well how it was the last few years

Backstretch grandstands holding up the three fingers the whole time (when I didn't have a beer in my hand).

Very well said!

What a great comment man. Well said.

If I was dillion I would've ran a 33 or 30 car

thank you, this comment is the reason I love youtube more than twitter.

Wish I'd watched Sr race so badly. I started watching in 2002.

@@94nolo RU-vid is full of past races and documentaries that tell stories of Nascar and Dale Earnhardt. Once you watch a couple the analytics will start popping up more.

That's why Dale Sr. was My all time Favorite Driver!! It was Amazing watching Dale Jr grow throughout the years just so sad 😭 what happened!

My favorite was his brickyard win car, when he blew out the tire

Yes 2002 was not a good year for RCR and Kevin missed a race after dumping Coy Gibbs at Martinsville in the Truck Race.

That 2002 GM Goodwrench Service Chevy was a beautiful scheme. So was that Daytona 2005 Goodwrench scheme was Harvick's best at RCR.

Yup. I agree. Dale was wrong for not backing the drivers with salaries, and Kevin was obviously upset and aired Dale out. Kevin was wrong for what he said but he felt Dale didn’t have is back during contract negotiations. Glad we got the full story

@@Ktaurus26 truth

What makes you think they came out as friends?

@@brians48now they said they " buried the hatchet" in yesterday's podcast, or podcast #1 of Kevin Harvick interviev

@@johnparker6642 And from that you now believe that they are friends? There is a lot of people I don't hate but that doesn't mean we're friends.

@@brians48now you watch both podcasts like I and you have an opinion like I. Happy holidays, be safe.

@@johnparker6642 great way to shut down such a dense guy. I applaud you.

Seems like something to like

Thank you

It's also interesting that skinner wasn't a option. I heard he wanted to drive Dale's car

Of Harvick never drives the 29… we would never know who he is today. Yeah he didn’t want to but he’s a HOF driver now because of it. He carried RCR all those years. And they still haven’t recovered from him leaving for SHR.

@@ghostfarmer358 skinner was tied to the 31 and lowes.

@@Ktaurus26 yeah your right. I can't remember where I heard that rumor and that's exactly what I thought at the time

I’m new to this podcast but so far the talk with Kerry is my favorite. The recollections of first meeting and the family’s dynamic was surreal and awesome.

I was sad too but RCR was holding Kevin back. He’s been arguably the best driver in nascar since 2014

It wasnt him it was SHR. Look at where his teammates ran compared to him. That says a lot. He gets the most out of the equipment given to him but the fords in general this year were just off compared to the chevys and toyotas. If you're concerned about his passion/drive look no further than Bristol when the win was stripped from him.

@@Skins4life2117 great points. Thinking back to some of the races and the last 20 laps this makes sense.

It was a miracle he finished 5th in points with the junk they had.