Denny Hamlin claims Kevin Harvick ‘was cut from the same mold’ as Dale Sr.

Kevin Harvick’s tribute is coming in from all directions ahead of his final NASCAR Cup race.

Denny Hamlin claims Kevin Harvick ‘was cut from the same mold’ as Dale Sr.

Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt and Kevin Harvick (Via IMAGO)

The 2023 Cup season finale at Phoenix will be the last NASCAR race of Stewart Hass Racing’s Kevin Harvick’s career. He will retire from the sport and is set to join the Fox Sports’ race coverage booth for events from the 2024 season. Harvick is also expected to race in the CARS Tour, a series he co-owns.

He is leaving a long-lasting legacy in the sport after making his Cup debut as the replacement for Dale Earnhardt following his tragic death in the 2001 Daytona 500. He had huge pressure on his shoulders from his debut day, as he was taking over the seat of a seven-time champion and fan favorite following an unforeseen tragedy.

YouTube video

Harvick delivered on the track in his first season and showed the same ferocious attitude Dale Sr. had on the track. This was more than enough for him to inherit a loyal legacy fan base of Dale Sr. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin pointed out that Harvick inherited this fan because he was a driver very similar to Earnhardt.

I think that Kevin has been around a very long time right? And he’s got a lot of the legacy Dale Earnhardt fans that quickly latched onto Kevin because he was cut from the same mold.
Hamlin said via a Tribute YouTube Video by SHR.

Denny Hamlin says Kevin Harvick was a leader of the sport in the last four seasons

NASCAR saw the exodos of some of the biggest and most famous names of the sport in the second half of the 2010s. The retired drivers included Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Denny Hamlin (Credits: IMAGO)
Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)

Hamlin claimed that the leadership void since their retirement was filled by Kevin Harvick, who arguably is the last legacy driver in the sport. The Toyota driver claimed that Harvick enjoyed being the sports leader in the last four seasons.

I think that he’s really been a great voice and a great leader within our sport. And many years when we lost Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and that whole group, during that four-year span, really Kevin has been the leader amongst the drivers I feel like from that point. And it’s a role I think that he has really taken on and enjoyed doing.

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