Kevin Harvick got the best retirement advice from the most unlikely source

Kevin Harvick is one of the only five drivers have won championships in both the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series.

Kevin Harvick got the best retirement advice from the most unlikely source

Kevin Harvick (Credits: Racingnews)

Kevin Harvick announced last week that he would retire from full-time racing at the end of the 2023 Cup season. The Stewart Hass Racing veteran started his full-time career replacing Dale Earnhardt after his tragic death in the 2001 Daytona 500 and became one of the greatest modern-day racers of the sport.

The 2014 Cup champion made one of his life’s biggest and probably one of the hardest decisions. He set the time to say goodbye to the sport he loves the most and something he spends half of his life doing. Harvick sought guidance from veterans and retired drivers who went through a similar phase, and the group had a surprise inclusion, a legend with a bad record in retirement.

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The ex-driver in question is Mark Martin, the Hall of Famer who announced retirement twice only to unretire before finally announcing his retirement in 2014 from the Cup series. Harvick was curious to know the thought process behind Martin’s moves and understood how to decide his retirement on his own terms.

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“As I’ve gone through the years of trying to figure out when the right time was to step away from the car, I’ve tried to seek out different people throughout the years, and Mark Martin was always one that I thought would be fun to talk to because he retired, then unretired, and then retired, and then unretired,” Kevin Harvick told SHR YouTube Channel.

“I was just always curious. I would really pick everybody’s brain. I think Mark made it pretty clear that the thing he missed the most was seeing his number on top of the scoreboard in the infield. Those are quotes from him,” Kevin Harvick added.

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NASCAR will miss the winning formula of the Kevin Harvick and Rodney Childers duo

Kevin Harvick and Rodney Childers
Kevin Harvick and Rodney Childers (Credits: NBC Sports)

When a young Harvick replaced Dale Sr. at Richard Childress Racing, he was expected to win the Cup title with them. But RCR failed to give Harvick a competitive car to fight for the Championship. He spent 13 years with the team and scored 23 Cup victories before moving to SHR. He joined the No:4 team and demanded Rodney Childers‘s service as crew chief. Childers, who was going through a rough career, joined the Harvick and straight away won the title that season.

The duo has won 37 races together, and the balanced team they built was enough for them to chase glory with consistency. Harvick said, “Rodney and I are pretty much the same age with very similar backgrounds, as far as racing goes. But we’re opposites in that he’s very calm, cool and quiet, and I’m kind of rambunctious and excited. That pairing has brought a lot of respect just because I know his demeanor, he knows my demeanor, and it’s a good balance in the middle,”.

“In 2013 I was kinda lost at what I wanted to do with my life. Then KH called and wanted me to start the 4 teams with him. He looked me in the eyes and told me he believed in me and wanted to win races and championships with me. He gave me the chance of a lifetime,” Rodney Childers tweeted after Harvick’s retirement announcement.

“In that chance, our relationship has never wavered. It’s been easy, every day. We’ve talked every day for 9 years. Our passion and push to be the best have never changed. And isn’t going to change. We still want to win every single week that we show up,” Rodney Childers added.

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