NASCAR’s Kevin Harvick Going Nostalgic, Running No. 29 Car That Started It All

Kevin Harvick will go sentimental for this year’s NASCAR All-Star Race in his final season as a fulltime driver in the Cup series.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver will wheel a No. 29 Ford for the 39^th running of NASCAR’s All-Star event, an exhibition race that for the first time will be held at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina on May 21.

Harvick made his NASCAR Cup debut driving a No. 29 Chevy for Richard Childress Racing in 2001. It was a debut, and a car number that wasn’t his choice. In February of that season, the same RCR car was being raced by Dale Earnhardt Sr. and carried the No. 3. Earnhardt tragically lost his life on the final lap of the season opening Daytona 500.

The sport was in shock and needed a way to express its grief. As it has always done after tragedy NASCAR raced on, and with the blessing of team owner, and close Earnhardt friend Richard Childress, the No. 3 was rebranded and renumbered to the No. 29.

The job of taking over the most famous seat in NASCAR fell to a young 26-year-old California native who was forced to shoulder the grief of the legions of Earnhardt fans who seemed lost. Childress brought the driver who raced for RCR in the Xfinity series up to the biggest stage in NASCAR and the rest is history.

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Harvick didn’t hesitate and in just his third start in the former No. 3 car Harvick scored his first win beating Jeff Gordon to the line by inches. It was an emotional victory that had Earnhardt’s former crewmembers in tears on pit road.

“When I sat in the 29 for the first time, it really wasn’t by choice, but I definitely wouldn’t have done it any differently,” Harvick said. “Dale’s passing changed our sport forever, and it changed my life forever and the direction it took.

“Looking back on it now, I realize the importance of getting in the Cup car, and then I wound up winning my first race at Atlanta in the 29 car after Dale’s death. The significance and the importance of keeping that car on the racetrack and winning that race early at Atlanta – knowing now what it meant to the sport, and just that moment in general of being able to carry on – was so important.”

That win began the healing process for the Earnhardt, and NASCAR, nations and became the first of Harvick’s 60 wins in the Cup series.

“I had a great 13 years at RCR and really learned a lot through the process because of being thrown into Dale’s car, where my first press conference as a Cup Series driver was the biggest press conference I would ever have in my career, where my first moments were my biggest moments.”

With this season being the now 47-year-old’s final one, Harvick wanted to remember the start of his career.

“With this being my last year as a Cup Series driver, we wanted to highlight a lot of these moments, and many were made at RCR in that 29 car,” he said. “So, with the All-Star Race going to North Wilkesboro – a place with a ton of history – we thought it made sense in a year full of milestones and moments to highlight where it all started.”

Anheuser-Busch, a long-time sponsor of Harvick with its Busch Light brand, will also get in on the nostalgia bringing back its logos from that era for the car, and for the All-Star Race.

“As a proud sponsor, Busch Light has been along for the ride throughout Kevin Harvick’s celebrated career in NASCAR,” said Krystyn Stowe, head of marketing for Busch Family Brands at Anheuser-Busch. “Kevin’s final All-Star Race is the perfect time for us to revisit a bit of history and bring back the iconic No. 29 paint scheme with our 2001 logo as the ultimate ‘cheers’ to one of Kevin’s most memorable wins. We’re looking forward to seeing some nostalgia on the track come raceday.”

This year’s All-Star Race will be the last for Harvick. He’s been entered in every one of them since 2001, winning the event twice in 2007, and 2018. This year’s event at North Wilkesboro continues a nostalgic theme. The NASCAR Cup Series cars last raced on the .625-mile oval on Sept. 29, 1996. Ironically, Jeff Gordon took the victory over Dale Earnhardt.

One can only imagine that a bit of Earnhardt will return on May 21 when the No. 29 hits the track with the driver who helped heal a sport back in 2001.

“I don’t know the last time the All-Star Race was the most anticipated event of the season,” Harvick said. “Fans are going to show up in droves. North Wilkesboro is a great short track, the asphalt’s worn out, and I think it’s going to be a fantastic event.”