AVONDALE, Ariz.—Kevin Harvick took in the moment—one last time in the seat of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford—before unlatching his window net and climbing from his race car.
His son Keelan waited, Busch baseball cap in hand, to turn over to his father once his helmet was removed.
They embraced, then Harvick pulled back and asked the 11-year-old, “What’s next?”
Although Harvick has had his exit strategy planned for years, knowing the possibilities made Keelan beam. The 47-year-old, now retired racer, smiled back. After hugs from his car chief Cheddar Smith and crew chief Rodney Childers, Harvick described his seventh-place result—his 21st consecutive top 10—and the emotions of his final ride.
“There was just so much going on this week and before the race,” Harvick said. “It was pretty cool to lead some laps though in the last race. Just proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing, everybody that works on this and has worked on this car for a long time.
“Just got to thank the fans, NASCAR, my family and everybody for the support. It’s been a great ride and I can’t complain.”
After 42 starts at Phoenix Raceway, Harvick didn’t miss a beat. His consistency continued at the one-mile track with a third-place qualifying effort— his best in the last seven starts. The fans expressed their gratitude for the 2014 Cup champion throughout the weekend whether after qualifying, coming to the drivers meeting or when he took the lead from Championship 4 contender William Byron on Lap 93.
“I figured,” Harvick said when he heard the crowd roar. “The fans have been great wishing us well to do the best that we can on the race track.
“It’s been an up and down year but we’ve had some good runs. We were at least competitive. We didn’t run around in the back. That’s the main thing, just doing all we can do.”
Harvick finished second in the first stage and third in the second stage before his seventh-place result. He finished the season 13th in the standings. In 23 seasons, only twice did he finished outside of the top 15.
After catching his breath, Harvick said ending this chapter was just “relief now.”
“The emotions are kind of over at this particular point,” Harvick said. “For me, it’s been a great ride, so I don’t have anything to complain about. I’m just happy that we got to this point and kind of closed the book on our own.
“It really hasn’t been about wins or losses, but you never want to flop around, so to be able to lead laps in the last race kind of tells you how competitive we still are and I think with some tweaks and adjustments to some of the things at Stewart-Haas, you could go right back out there and be where you need to be with everything that we have going on.
“I wanted to leave here and be able to look at all you guys, look at the fans, walk in the TV booth and walk into any trailer in that garage, whether it’s a driver, a crew chief, NASCAR, whoever it is, and be able to end on good terms and I think we did that.”
Harvick amassed 60 wins, 31 poles, 251 top fives and 444 top 10s in 826 starts. While he didn’t win in 2023, he scored six top fives, 14 top 10s and advanced to the Playoffs for the 10th consecutive year. After NASCAR introduced the current title format in 2014—the year Harvick won the title—he advanced to the Championship 4 round five times.
Kyle Larson, who was going for his second championship this weekend in Phoenix, admires Harvick and the way he went out.
“I hope whenever I’m done, someday I can come away and finish my final race in similar fashion,” Larson said. “I really thought he was going to be the one to beat today. He was super fast in practice. Phoenix is his best track probably. Yeah, it was fun getting to battle with him in his final race there.
“He’s just been a fierce competitor, a great ambassador for the sport, and is going to continue to be, as well. Keelan is not too far off from racing with all of us, too. I’m excited to share the track with him someday.”
Childers has accompanied Harvick for the last decade at SHR. After winning the title together in 2014, they were a force throughout their partnership together. Under Childers’ direction of the No. 4 team, Harvick scored 37 of his 60 wins.
“We had a good car all weekend,” Childers said. “It felt good to qualify good.run good and lead some laps. It kind of got away from us a little bit there in the middle of the race and then those last two runs, we were good enough to win. We just didn’t have track position. Overall, everybody did a really good job to prepare and come here with pretty much everything.
“And he drove his heart out all day long. We had a good car and it sucks to end it, for sure. It’s been incredible 10 years and we’ve won a whole lot of races—and a lot of big ones that really count. That really mean a lot. It’s just something that you’ll never replace.
“Like I’ve told these guys, there are so many people in this world that don’t get a chance to do the things that we’ve done in the last 10 years. It’s just incredible to be able to do those things and accomplish the things that we’ve done.”
After Harvick completed his media obligations, he turned to his wife DeLana, grabbed Keelan and daughter piper and enjoyed a family hug.
And about that, ‘What next?’
“Everything is already in place with everything that we have going on with television and businesses and Keelan’s racing and school,” Harvick said. “We’ve got so many things in motion with the next couple of years with plans and what we want to do, so we’re gonna go back to work. I do already have calls next week with the folks from Fox and starting to work on end of the year things for what we want to do there.
“But I still think the responsibility is just as big to go up there and try to give the fans as much information as possible and do a good job for Fox and everybody with this sport to tell the best story that we can. We have a lot of great drivers, a lot of great personalities and I hope everybody gets to see that.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
