“For ‘my kids” Kevin Harvick leaves a mark as…

The longtime persona of Kevin Harvick was a NASCAR champion who made a career of making his opponents miserable.

There are endless examples of destabilization by the former high school wrestler from Bakersfield who devilishly played withering mind games during title battles, gleefully shoved the competition into brawls, and ruthlessly put himself and his team first at all costs.

But as the 47-year-old nicknamed “Happy” (a moniker with sarcastic origins) enters his final season in the Cup Series, the next generation of drivers is happy to destroy the façade of Harvick as a selfish superstar.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver they know has been a fount of good advice and emotional support. A veteran who proactively has offered a hand even when many were unaware they needed it. An available and wizened ear to bend on virtually any topic – and with virtually any driver, regardless of their history with the mercurial star.

Though Chase Elliott and Harvick engaged in one of NASCAR’s most memorable recent feuds in 2021, the Hendrick Motorsports driver said he and Harvick still “have a good relationship” that dates back nearly a decade. When Elliott was entering his rookie Xfinity Series season with JR Motorsports in 2014, it was Harvick (who was running his first part-time year with JRM) who became his biggest sounding board.

“For ‘my kids” Kevin Harvick leaves a mark as…

“Kevin was the veteran there in the building that was willing to help me and willing to allow me to ask questions, and I asked a ton of questions,” Elliott told NBC Sports. “We talked quite a lot there early on, and I’m grateful for that. It’s not often you have a veteran guy who is willing to lend a hand to a young racer who had very little experience, especially coming to a lot of these tracks for the first time. And he recognized that and was willing to help. So I’ve always had a lot of respect for him in many regards. He’s a very good driver, but just that period and him being willing to help me, I’ll always really appreciate that. Those are important moments in a young driver’s career.”

Bubba Wallace recalls getting an unsolicited dinner invitation from Harvick just as he was making his first Cup starts several years ago. Wallace shared the meal with Harvick and his wife, DeLana, and “just was able to chat and talk about life.

“I’ll always remember that moment of him just wanting to help,” Wallace told NBC Sports. “Just knowing that ‘Happy’ has an actual nice side to him was pretty cool to see, and from the moments that we’ve had our run-ins on track, we still race each other with respect and treat each other with respect. So I’ll always remember that moment.”

Harvick wants to leave that impression but would prefer “to keep it as private as possible because I don’t want them to ever think it’s so that I can talk to (the media) about it.” Notably, the details of these meetings emerged years later (and only by prompting the younger set).

“When they speak about it, I’m OK with it, but I just have a real interest in trying to share the things that I’ve been able to experience and make mistakes,” Harvick said. “There are so few guys that drive these cars, that you can have more conversations with them and just reach out. Some of them reach out to and don’t hear much from them. Some of them you reach out to and wind up at dinner with you or at your house having dinner.

“They need to know that you’re there. Some of them can’t believe that you reached out because they’re trying to figure out why you reached out to them. Or understand why you’re taking an interest in things that they’re doing. And really, “For ‘my kids” Kevin Harvick leaves a mark as…just trying to set an example, because in the generation before me, those guys all communicated and helped each other and knew each other and I think it’s important for our group of drivers. We’ve kind of gotten away from that. Some of that may be my fault for not trying to tie that together a little bit better, but we’ve worked hard on that over the last year and a half with all the safety stuff and things that we’ve had going on and trying to have everybody sit down a little bit more.”

“For ‘my kids” Kevin Harvick leaves a mark as…

Harvick left the first iteration of the Drivers Council five years ago after growing frustrated with its lack of impact. But with the safety issues raised by the Next Gen debut last year, he re-emerged as an outspoken force who was adamant about advocating for his younger peers. Before the 2022 season finale at Phoenix, the father of two explained why he had been leading more publicly.

“I want to keep my colleagues informed and educated, and I’m good with doing that,” he said. “It’s just an interesting time and something that worked out that way. I feel like most of (the younger drivers) are my kids. I don’t feel obligated, but I think the timing of it is just what it is. You do the things you think will help everybody. And try to do the right thing and balance that with what’s right for the sport.”

After being thrust into a virtually untenable situation in filling the ride vacated by the death of seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt, Harvick got sideways with NASCAR and other stars often in his early years. He was parked for a Cup race after several incidents in a 2002 truck race at Martinsville Speedway (where he also had been in a spat with Bobby Hamilton in 2001).

But Harvick managed to stick around through the guidance of some NASCAR veterans (along with late PR rep Jim Hunter). He credits Hamilton, Rusty Wallace, and Dale Jarrett as “guys that reached out when I was in trouble and always give you advice.” Later in his career, it became his teammate Tony Stewart, who would “compare notes” on his past missteps and how he handled them.

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In guiding his son Keelan’s burgeoning career, Harvick has seen how young stars need “somebody outside of their circle that they can trust and ask questions to and talk to about certain situations and know that it’s not going to go anywhere but between the two of you.

“I guess being a father has given (me) some sort of idea of what is happening with some of the kids and what they’re up against and trying to understand that. So I think as you try to understand the kids – because they are kids, and they are young – there are so many sharks in the water in this particular sport that a lot of them just don’t understand how to manage their time and all the things that are asked of them. You can’t say yes to everything at this particular level, but they’ll try for a while until they’re in trouble from their job perspective because they’re not focused on the racing side of it. But the safety stuff brought all this into play as far as being closer to understanding who all the competitors are and the drivers.”

The bridges have gotten firmer with some younger but established drivers, too. Joey Logano’s history with Harvick is well-documented, but the two-time Cup champion said they get along well now.

“Yeah, we didn’t take off on the best note — some of my doings, some of maybe his doings — we’ve had the conversations, and honestly, now I probably have a better relationship with Kevin than I do 90% of the drivers out there,” Logano told NBC Sports. “I think we can relate on a lot of different levels.

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“I think one of my favorite moments for Kevin is we were flying back from Vegas (after a race) last year. We were just BS-ing and back and forth. And we were talking about kids and the mistakes that we made and how they all live on YouTube. In a lot of those videos, we’re laughing about it, which is great we can laugh about it. You know that that part’s pretty cool. Now that we have a friendship, it’s kind of funny because, gosh, if you said to me 10 years ago that I would get along with Kevin Harvick, I’d say you’re nuts. No way.

“But I think now as we both have changed so much that we get along well.”

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