NASCAR Champion and Daytona 500 Winner Announces Retirement From Racing

By Brian Jones

A NASCAR champion just announced his retirement. On Thursday, Kevin Harvick revealed he will retire after the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. This ends a legendary career for Harvick which began in 2001 when he replaced Dale Earnhardt after he died in the last lap of the Daytona 500. 

"There is absolutely nothing else in the world that I enjoy doing more than going to the race track, and I'm genuinely looking forward to this season," Harvick said in a release from Stewart-Haas Racing. "But as I've gone through the years, I knew there would come a day where I had to make a decision. When would it be time to step away from the car? I've sought out people and picked their brains. When I asked them when they knew it was the right time, they said it'll just happen, and you'll realize that's the right moment. You'll make a plan and decide when it's your last year. It's definitely been hard to understand when that right moment is because we've been so fortunate to run well. But sometimes there are just other things going on that become more important and, for me, that time has come."

In Harvick's career, he won the Cup Series Championship in 2014, won the regular season title in 2020, won the Daytona 500 in 2007 and collected a total of 60 Cup Series race wins. Harvick also won multiple awards, including the 2001 Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year, 2001 NASCAR Busch Series Most Popular Driver and the 2015 ESPY for Best Driver. After winning the Cup Series title in 2014, Harvick finished in the top 10 in the Cup Series standings seven times in the least eight years. 

As mentioned by ESPN, Harvick will now focus on Kevin Harvick Inc. which is a management business. He will also do some television work, race on a part-time basis and spend time with his family. "With championships across several NASCAR series and a NASCAR Cup Series win total that ranks in the top 10, Kevin Harvick's legacy as one of the all-time great drivers is secure," NASCAR President Steve Phelps said in a statement. "Beyond his success inside a race car, Kevin is a leader who truly cares about the health and the future of our sport – a passion that will continue long after his driving days are complete. On behalf of the France Family and all of NASCAR, I congratulate Kevin on a remarkable career and wish him the best of luck in his final season."

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