Q&A: Kevin Harvick.

Saturday, 11th February 2006

One of the more outspoken members of the NASCAR community, Kevin Harvick has had pressure on his shoulders right from the moment he stepped into the Nextel Cup Series five years ago in place of the late Dale Earnhardt. Having proved his wares, Harvick shows that as far as speaking your mind goes, he has picked up a lot from ‘The Intimidator.’

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That's the most important thing right now, is to focus on trying to win the Daytona 500. If you're winning races, usually things take care of themselves on that side.

Q.
This year marks the fifth anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's death. How much of a distraction is that for you as a team?

KEVIN HARVICK:
It's the first I've heard about it, honestly. It hasn't been a distraction. Obviously, we live it every day, so it's probably a little bit different for us than it is for some people.

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We live that, you know, from the day that it's happened until right now in this moment. Obviously, it's something that everybody remembers, everybody wants to forget but you can't. You know, you go out and try to do the best you can and carry the legacy forward.

Q.
On the magnitude of Earnhardt's death

KEVIN HARVICK:
To be honest with you, it was probably the next year before you realized the magnitude of the situation. Before I was so busy and had so many things to do that it really wasn't thought about until the year got over.

Once you step back and look at the situation, you really realized what the magnitude of the situation was.

Q.
On the overnight success of Kevin Harvick Inc.

KEVIN HARVICK:
I think it all comes down to people. We cherry picked a little bit, I guess you could say. When we started the truck deal, I drove the truck, tried to establish a lot of the things that we needed, established a foundation for the truck team. We took the truck team, we put a driver in it. It's been solid, you know, year in and year out.