Harvick rolling with the punches this season

CONCORD - Kevin Harvick, winner last year of what is now known as the Sprint All-Star Race, has seen a lot in both his life and his eight seasons of competition at NASCAR's highest level.

Only one man could've replaced the late Dale Earnhardt at Richard Childress Racing, and only Harvick, now 32, will ever be able to know fully what that was like. Harvick has won the Daytona 500, made the Chase twice, piled up 11 career victories and built, along with his wife, a successful team competing in both the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series.

Harvick's known victory and defeat, success and adversity, and pretty much enjoyed himself along the way.

He hasn't won since NASCAR changed the design of the cars - well, not in one of the new cars - but he isn't a critic.
"I don't know how you describe what it's like to make this change," said Harvick. "Whatever the hardest things are in your line of work. Flying without assistance, without autopilot? Maybe. It's kind of like taking all the amenities out of something. When you get through racing these cars, your shoulders are sore. Your arms are sore, and if your car was right last year, it doesn't mean anything. It's definitely a lot of hard work.

"But that's what we do this for. As racers, we're supposed to be adaptable. You hear other drivers talking about it being hard to see out of the COTs, but to me, it actually has more vision, to tell the truth. The roof is so high, you can see the top three quarters of whoever's behind you. Everyone has become accustomed to it. It takes a while to get used to where the blind spots are, where you are, but as far as total vision is concerned, you have better peripheral vision.

Understandably, a bit of difficulty seems a fair trade for safety. When rookie Michael McDowell not only survived but walked away from a gruesome crash during a Texas qualifying run earlier this year, Harvick took notice.

"I think the new car's got a bigger impact that, say the HANS Device," said Harvick, referring to the required head and neck restraint in use. "SAFER barriers (i.e., soft walls) mean more, but this car is an important advance in terms of safety."

In Harvick's eight seasons, a lot has changed. The car is different, and all of them are much more alike. The champion is determined differently, thanks to the implementation of the Chase in 2004 and its revision in 2007. Harvick's first Cup race was at Rockingham, which no longer hosts races. His first victory was at Atlanta, which has been reconfigured.

It's been a constant test of adaptability. Harvick's spent his whole career adapting, though. Moving up through the ranks has always meant responding to new challenges.

"My first year, I only got to race seven times," he said. "The second year, I tore one fender off the whole season and made it all the way through. We built our own cars; then we bought our own cars and worked on them and tried out new things.

"At this level, I think it's something where you see a lot of different backgrounds. Lots of drivers have taken one route, but more and more are getting here from different backgrounds. I'm proud of what I did in the past and the way I was brought up racing. I think I was 21 or 22 when I went off on my own and worked for Wayne Spears as a fabricator. They weren't happy with their driver, and I happened to be there. I made the most of the opportunity that came my way, and I was lucky to have gotten a break and been able to take advantage of it."

Harvick said he tries to shape his reactions to changes with the same attitude that worked during his youth.

"For the first couple of years (in Cup), I kind of took it for granted," he said, "but as I've gotten more involved in the sport, and gotten to where I had more ties and obligations, I've started to remember the things that got me where I am. I've started to realize that some things change and some things don't."