Kevin Harvick was inducted into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame, flanked by Mark Faber, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Texas Motor Speedway, and Marcus Smith, President & CEO, Speedway Motorsports. (Photo: Rachel Rachel Schuoler | The Podium Finish)
FORT WORTH, Texas — Kevin Harvick may hail from Bakersfield, California, but on Friday, he earned a permanent place in Texas motorsports history with his induction into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame ahead of the Würth 400 race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion and nine-time winner at TMS reflected on the significance of this moment, particularly with being embraced by “The Lone Star State.”
“We’ve been fortunate to to travel a lot of places and race. Texas is a pretty top of the tier market for us to be in,” Harvick said. “And to go back and reflect on all that and be fortunate to have the success in things that we did here is, it’s quite an honor. So it’s pretty cool.”
In many ways, Harvick’s journey to the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame mirrored his climb from humble beginnings in stock car racing to his dominance at the 1.5-mile track later in his career.
“No, no, not at all. Look, when I started, I was just happy to drive,” Harvick said. “So when I came here the very first time, I was actually just a mechanic on the [No. 75] Spears truck and to be able to have to go through that whole cycle of events… to go from mechanic to driver to owner to Cup driver, we’ve been down every path from the NASCAR side. And to be able to experience that is something that I’ve been pretty fortunate to be a part of and fortunate to be successful at all of them.”
When Harvick competed in his first race at this challenging venue, it was for the No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet fielded by Wayne Spears in the 1998 Pronto Auto Parts 400K. It was evident that this track resonated with him in a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series vehicle, charging from 21st to a fourth place finish.
Harvick emerged victorious for the first of nine career wins at Texas, besting the field in 2001 Jani-King 300 in the No. 2 AC Delco Chevolet prepared by Richard Childress Racing. That victory was the first of five that led to him winning the 2001 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship.
Kevin Harvick shares a story during his induction into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame alongside Marcus Smith. (Photo: Rachel Rachel Schuoler | The Podium Finish)
Whether in a truck or a stock car, Harvick consistently rose to the occasion at Texas. From the track’s 1999–2016 layout to its current unique configuration introduced in 2017, he adapted and delivered.
Like any great athlete, Harvick may have not mulled over his statistics or track record at Texas. It came down to his confidence level and ability to excel at tracks that resonated with him from the driver’s seat.
“When you look back at those race tracks that are successful, and I was terrible at just noticing, I knew where our good tracks were, but I never really paid attention to how many times you wanted a racetrack,” he shared. “We didn’t win as many Cup races here as we should have. But we definitely won our fair share, probably more than we should have on the XFINITY side. So, it’s always great to be able to go back somewhere and bring those thoughts and memories back up.
“As a driver, you would go to these places and you knew going in, ‘Hey, this is a weekend that you that you need to capitalize on.’ And we were able to to do that here at Texas so many times. So it took a long time to get to Victory Lane on the Cup side. But in the end, it was a good run all the way through the years. And we were able to do it a few years in a row too.”
On the surface, Texas may look like Charlotte or Atlanta prior to its reconfiguration in 2022 with a distinct dogleg on the frontstretch, relatively high banked corners and high speed backstretch. The comparison ends with how this track challenges drivers like those playing an intense game of Texas hold ’em — it knows who has the best poker face.
Kevin Harvick has seen his success at Texas Motor Speedway parallel with his prolific stock car career. (Photo: Rachel Rachel Schuoler | The Podium Finish)
“It’s just fast. This is a racetrack that is just full commitment,” Harvick observed. “They have knocked the banking down some in Turns 1 and 2, it’s still super fast and more technical than it used to be. But this was always a place [about] how much commitment you had and how much throttle you could hold down as a driver. So I always enjoyed that side of things.”
While Harvick’s stock car career concluded in 2023, he embraces his current role as a FOX NASCAR color commentator alongside Mike Joy, play-by-play announcer, and Clint Bowyer, his booth partner and former Richard Childress Racing teammate.
That transition allows Harvick to reflect on honors like this one with clarity and appreciation. Life might be moving slower now than at 180 mph, but moments like this carry even more weight.
“To be able to to have done that was never something that I would have thought about,” he reflected. “I think that the TV piece is just kind of icing on the cake because of the fact that I still get to be here every week. I still get to be around all the events and people and things that go, the businesses that we run around and with the racing world are still well intact.
“So to be able to participate in all those things and not have the pressure of the driving piece of it has been pretty fun for me. To come back and enjoy stuff like this and also enjoy the events, see the magnitude of the events and talk to the people and just have a more relaxed perspective… that has been a lot of fun for me.”
