The 2023 season saw plenty of reflection on the outstanding career of Kevin Harvick as he retired from driving after 22-plus-years in the Cup series.
Harvick had been very appreciative of all the tributes he received throughout the year but by far his biggest appreciation is for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) and Richard Childress Racing (RCR)—the two teams he raced for in his Cup career.
SHR gave Harvick plenty of fun and inspiring tributes, but some of that wouldn't have been possible without the help of his former race team RCR.
The two teams who race for rival manufacturers, Ford and Chevrolet, yet both showed their appreciation for Harvick throughout the season for both Harvick's sake and that of his fans who could show their love for the 2014 Series Champion and 60-time cup race winner.
Speaking with Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass, Harvick opened up about how meaningful it is to him that Richard Childress Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing's worked together to honor him.
"It's very intentional. And it was definitely one of the things on my list as we sat last November and said, 'Hey, here's some of the ideas' and some of my requests. And one of my requests was to run the 29-car at the all-star race and be able to include RCR and SHR to work together. And both sides agreed. And I think both sides would agree that it's been very beneficial," Harvick said. "That was one thing that came from the team. 'Hey, this is one thing that we weren't able to do with Tony (and his previous team JGR), that would be really cool to do if we could tie something together with RCR and SHR.'"
Harvick fans and others in the sport clearly enjoyed watching Harvick pilot the No.29 one final time at North Wilkesboro.
"So being able to do that just added a much bigger impact of telling the story. The goal was to tell the stories of the last 30 years of racing because of the fact that there are some fans who don't know that I drove the 29 car and I think that's an important piece. I see your pieces all the time of 'You Kids Don't Know' because we have a lot of young fans/ Part of this last season was to educate everybody on my career and my path and the things that we've done that weren't just about the last few years. It was about 30 years. And I think we've told that story well," Harvick said.
Despite rivalries on the racetrack, both teams came together to honor their legendary driver in his final season, creating memories that capped a truly memorable career.
