Kevin Harvick gets another NASCAR trip in the No. 29 automobile

Stewart-Haas Racing and Harvick revealed on Thursday that Harvick will drive a No. 29 Ford in the May 21 inaugural NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.

The vehicle will include a “throwback” paint plan similar to the style which decorated Harvick’s then-No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet when he won his very first Cup race on March 11, 2001 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

At the time, it was simply Harvick’s 3rd series start with RCR’s No. 3 group which had actually been rebranded as the No. 29 following chauffeur Dale Earnhardt’s death in a last-lap wreck in the season-opening Daytona 500 2 weeks previously.

On the last lap, Harvick wound up racing side-by-side with Jeff Gordon leaving Turn 4 and to the checkered flag at Atlanta with the novice edging the now Hall of Famer by a little 0.006 seconds.

” When I beinged in the No. 29 for the very first time, it truly wasn’t by option, however I absolutely would not have actually done it any in a different way,” Harvick, 47, stated. “Dale’s passing altered our sport permanently, and it altered my life permanently and the instructions it took.

” Looking back on it now, I recognize the significance of getting in the Cup cars and truck, and after that I end up winning my very first race at Atlanta in the No. 29 vehicle after Dale’s death. The significance and the significance of keeping that automobile on the race course and winning that race early at Atlanta– understanding now what it indicated to the sport, and simply that minute in general of having the ability to continue– was so crucial.”

The choice to use the No. 29 in a race becomes part of Harvick’s desire emphasize a lot of unique minutes of his NASCAR profession.

” I had a fantastic 13 years at RCR and actually discovered a lot through the procedure since of being tossed into Dale’s cars and truck, where my very first interview as a Cup Series motorist was the most significant interview I would ever have in my profession, where my very first minutes were my most significant minutes,” he stated.

” With the All-Star Race going to North Wilkesboro– a location with a lots of history– we believed it made good sense in a year filled with turning points and minutes to highlight where everything began.”

Harvick’s Ford for the All-Star Race will be white and include the red elegant No. 29 that he drove throughout 2001 when he ended up ninth in the series standings.

Busch Light, the main partner for Harvick in the All-Star Race, will bring back its logo designs from that age.

Harvick has actually contended in every All-Star Race given that signing up with the Cup Series in2001 In 38 begins, he has actually been on the beginning grid for 22 of them, winning two times (2007 and 2018).

This year’s All-Star Race go back to North Wilkesboro– a track that initially appeared on the Cup Series schedule in 1949 however has actually not hosted NASCAR nationwide series competitors given that 1996.

” I do not understand the last time the All-Star Race was the most awaited occasion of the season,” Harvick stated. “Fans are going to appear in droves.

” North Wilkesboro is a terrific brief track, the asphalt’s worn, and I believe it’s going to be a wonderful occasion.”