Harvick clinches Busch title.

Kevin Harvick finally wrapped up the 2001 Busch Grand National Series crown after finishing fifth in Saturday's Sam's Town 200 at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham in what has so far been a remarkable year for the Richard Childress Racing driver and with the Winston Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year also within reach for the 25 year old Californian, a run on the 2002 Winston Cup crown is not totally out of the question.

Richard Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick clinched the NASCAR Busch Series title at the Sam's Town 200 at North Carolina Speedway with a fifth place finish. With one race to go in the 2001 season, the driver of the No.2 AC Delco Chevrolet Monte Carlo has scored 5 wins, 20 top-fives, 23 top-tens, and 4 pole positions in addition to running a complete Winston Cup schedule for Childress in the wake of Dale Earnhardt's death a Daytona in February.

With this championship, Richard Childress Racing enters the record books as the first race team in the history of NASCAR to win at least one championship in each of NASCAR's three major series: Winston Cup, (Earnhardt), Craftsman Truck (Mike Skinner) and now the Busch Series.

Harvick burst onto the Busch scene from almost literally nowhere at the start of the 2000 season behind the wheel of Childress' AC Delco sponsored Monte Carlo and broke the rookie points record en-route to capturing three wins and third place overall in the series. With a possible move into NWC competition with Childress in 2002 in the pipeline, Harvick's primary focus this year was the Busch title but when Earnhardt was killed at Daytona, Childress asked Harvick to step up and in effect 'replace' The Intimidator' in his team on a full time basis in addition to running for the Busch title.

With a maturity that far belied his age and experience, Harvick has achieved more this year and everyone, including Childress, thought possible. Racing twice a weekend most weekends, sometimes in different states, Harvick has scored two wins and no less than 14 top ten finishes in his first 31 Winston Cup starts behind the wheel of the No.29 (No.3) Goodwrench sponsored machine in addition to his Busch Series heroics.

Harvick has also been making a name for himself off the track as well with a number of fellow Winston Cup competitors voicing their disapproval of the young pretender's highly aggressive, no nonsense driving style. However with a top six NWC points finish still a very real possibility for Harvick, no one can argue about his talent and with the Busch crown under his belt, the 2002 season could well see Harvick begin to contend for victory on a weekly basis.

Comments from Kevin Harvick, No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and RCR team owner Richard Childress after clinching the Busch crown.

On being announced as the 2001 Busch Grand National Series Champion

Harvick"That sounds pretty good. We've been through our ups and downs this year. We've been through some things we probably shouldn't have done. But this makes it worth it all right here. These guys have worked hard all year long. I don't know what to say. We've run both series. I guess the best thing to do at this point is to dedicate our season to Dale Earnhardt and that's enough that needs to be said."

With all the ups and downs this year, tell us about your most memorable moments.

KH"I think the most memorable moments were going back and forth (between races) during the summer months. A lot of people said we couldn't do it. It's been a tough year on everybody, but this makes it worthwhile.

"A lot of people said we were crazy. We thought we were kind of crazy too. We thought if we could make it through July, we could make it through the rest of the year. And we made it through July and won some races. I just can't believe it. Dale Earnhardt is the one that built everything that we've got. We've got a championship team.

"To tell you the truth, I'm just absolutely exhausted. I'm wore out. I don't even really want to be at the racetrack. But you walk into the shop and you see the pictures of these guys and the No. 3 Chevrolet and Dale and Richard and you get your lift back up and just keep racing for that reason. It's been a special year for us. We've tried to do everything we can in memory of him. It's a great way to end it. We can just go to Homestead now and not worry about points anymore."

Now that you've pulled it off, tell us about those tough decisions.

Childress"It's tough. Kevin was a champion. He won out west. We knew he could do it. It's just a matter of everybody pulling and working together. I'm so proud of this organization. We've won championships. This one is very special."