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CORAL GABLES, Fla.(AP) Now that the ordeal has been in his rearview mirror for nearly a decade, Kevin Harvick acknowledges there was a time when he didn't want anything to do with Dale Earnhardt's legacy.
Harvick abruptly took the wheel at Richard Childress Racing in 2001, just days after Earnhardt died in a crash at Daytona. With all those heavy hearts for Earnhardt came even heavier scrutiny for Harvick.
The cars he was driving had a No. 29 on the side, but everybody - including Earnhardt's soul-stricken legion of fans - knew they were really just Dale's No. 3s with a new paint job.
In hindsight, Harvick acknowledges that the pressure of replacing a racing legend under the most awkward of circumstances was too much to take at times. But now that he's racing for a NASCAR championship of his own, Harvick has grown to embrace the Earnhardt legacy.
"I embraced it zero in the beginning," Harvick said Thursday, as drivers prepared for Sunday's Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. "I wanted to change the color of the car, I wanted new sponsors. If he wore a white suit, I wanted a black suit. I wanted zero to do with it."
Today, Harvick says he has a better perspective on the idea that he and Earnhardt will forever be tied together.
"You get a little bit older and you really start listening, and you really start understanding: People aren't trying to make you into him, it's just a part of our company that you have to be comfortable with," Harvick said. "And I've gotten comfortable with that."
Now Harvick is in position to deliver another championship to Earnhardt's former car owner and close friend, Richard Childress.
SI.com
