In case you didn’t know, Kevin Harvick and Phoenix Raceway get along pretty well. He has nine wins in the Cup Series there! However, the NASCAR driver was racing in the desert before making it to the big time. It’s a place he loved going because he always knew his grandpa would be there.
When you’re a young athlete, there is nothing better than having the support of your family. Kevin Harvick as a young driver in the 1990s knew he had support. Even when the Bakersfield, California native made the trip to Arizona, he knew he would have someone there to cheer loudly the whole weekend.
As Harvick reflects on his last season in the Cup Series, he fondly remembers how his grandfather would always be there in Phoenix. No matter what.
“When I started racing there, I guess 1994 was the first time, my grandpa would go there three weeks early, and he’d drive his motorhome there and he’d park it right in the same spot,” Harvick posted to Twitter.
This was back when Kevin Harvick was doing it all. Working on the car, driving the trailer, racing, and more.
“I drove the truck and trailer, and every time I’d get there, my grandpa would be smoking a cigarette, leaning against the chain-link fence, waiting for me [to] drive in and race. I knew if I didn’t go over and talk to my grandpa, he’d yell obnoxiously loud until I came over there, and he knew exactly when I was going to get there, when I was going to drive by, what time the garage opened, whatever it was, you were not escaping Grandpa.”
Grandpa, 4Ever.
Kevin Harvick Seeking 10th Win at Phoenix Raceway
During his career, Kevin Harvick has found his groove at Phoenix Raceway. In fact, his stats at the track are kind of out of this world when you look at them closely. He has nine wins, and he won four of those races in a row.
If Harvick is able to win the 10th race of his career at Phoenix, he will enter rare air in NASCAR. In the history of the sport, only five drivers have ever won double-digit races at a single venue.
The King, Richard Petty did it at five tracks – Martinsville (15), North Wilkesboro (15), Richmond (13), Rockingham (11), and Daytona (10). Then Darrell Waltrip did it at Bristol (12), Martinsville (11), and North Wilkesboro (10). Jimmie Johnson did it at Dover 11 times. David Pearson hit 10 at Darlington. And of course, the Intimidator, Dale Earnhardt had 10 wins at Talladega.
So, will Kevin Harvick join this list of NASCAR legends and notch his 10th win at Phoenix Raceway? He gets his first of two chances in his last season to do it this Sunday.
