Atlanta Motor Speedway “will always be the place” for Kevin Harvick

HAMPTON — A little more than 22 years ago, Kevin Harvick came to Atlanta Motor Speedway for just his third career NASCAR Cup Series start.

Being that green of a Cup Series driver was daunting enough but Harvick had been called up by Richard Childress Racing weeks earlier after the death of Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500.

The young driver was replacing one of the all-time greats in the worst of situations but on March 11, 2001, Harvick drove the No. 29 car to victory, fractions of a second ahead of Jeff Gordon. The finish was a near replica of the 2000 spring race at AMS when Earnhardt edged out Bobby Labonte for the win.

Now, Harvick returns to AMS once again but this time he is nearing the end of his career as he will retire at the end of the season.

Regardless of how many years it’s been since that first win, AMS will always be a special place for Harvick.

“To think any time you come to Atlanta it brings back those memories and those things that went along with that particular weekend,” Harvick said Saturday. “You can’t ever do your first twice so winning that race and being the first win of my career obviously brings back a lot of great memories as to everything that happened on that particular day…this will always be the place.”

How special would it be to win on Sunday?

“Winning any weekend would be great,” he said. “I think doing it here would be even better to win at.”

Harvick could be able to win Sunday as he turned in a solid sixth-place qualifying effort Saturday.

Kevin Harvick (who drives the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing) has made 34 career series starts at Atlanta two poles, three wins, nine top-fives and 16 top-10s. All are series highs among the active drivers.

This season, he’s currently in first place in the points standings and has two top fives. He started the season by finishing 12th in the Daytona 500 and followed up with a fifth-place at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

He then finished ninth in Las Vegas and was fifth last week in Phoenix.

Paying tribute to the No. 29

Earlier this week, Harvick announced he will drive a No. 29 throw-back paint scheme for the NASCAR All-Star Race May 21 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

The paint scheme and number pays tribute to the design of the car he raced won the NASCAR Cup race at AMS.

“With this being my last year as a Cup Series driver, we wanted to highlight a lot of these moments, and many were made at RCR in that 29 car,” Harvick said. “So, with the All-Star Race going to North Wilkesboro – a place with a ton of history – we thought it made sense in a year full of milestones and moments to highlight where it all started.”

Earlier this week, Harvick announced he will drive a No. 29 throw-back paint scheme for the NASCAR All-Star Race May 21 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The paint scheme pays tribute to the design of the car he raced won the March 11, 2001 NASCAR Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The previous month, Dale Earnhardt died at the Daytona 500 and Harvick was tapped by Richard Childress Racing to replace Earnhardt.

“With this being my last year as a Cup Series driver, we wanted to highlight a lot of these moments, and many were made at RCR in that 29 car,” Harvick said. “So, with the All-Star Race going to North Wilkesboro – a place with a ton of history – we thought it made sense in a year full of milestones and moments to highlight where it all started.”