Kevin Harvick Inc. Returns At North Wilkesboro In May

What’s Happening?

It would appear that Kevin Harvick is going the Dale Earnhardt Jr. route, as he announced today that he will be returning to Late Model stock competition with the CARS Tour (a spiritual successor to the USAR Hooter’s Pro Cup Series of the mid-2000s) sporadically in 2023.

While the full-schedule of races Harvick plans to run in the tour has yet to be announced, one thing is for certain: Kevin Harvick will run a white No. 62 Ford Mustang on May 17th at North Wilkesboro Speedway leading up to his final All-Star race.

You Need To Know:

• It was reported back in January of 2023 that an ownership group involving Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, and Justin Marks had purchased the existing CARS Tour series. It was reported that the CARS tour would still be run and operated by Jack McNelly with the NASCAR-centric ownership group providing financial support.
• It would appear that with Kevin Harvick relaunching KHI, that he plans to continuing to race long after his Cup Series driving career wraps up in Pheonix in November. With this move, he will be following in the footsteps of former competitor and now business owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has competed off and on in the CARS Tour over the course of 2022 and now in 2023. Earnhardt was largely responsible for the return of North Wilkesboro as he competed in the first race back at the historic facility, driving a No. 3 Sundrop car to a 3rd place finish.
• Fans went bonkers over Harvick’s All-Star race paint scheme reveal, which will see him driving a white and red No. 29 (to pay homage to his first career win) one last time. The announcement was such a thrill that it was reported that Stewart-Haas Racing’s online store crashed from the overwhelming traffic by fans wanting to buy merch. This announcement is no different. Fans are loving the return of the team Harvick owned for the first half of his career and cannot wait to see the No. 62 Ford out on track.

The team will be entered under the Kevin Harvick Incorporated (KHI) banner, a former Xfinity and Truck Series team which fielded full-time and part-time efforts in the two lower national series for the likes of Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, Elliott Sadler, Ron Hornaday Jr., Bobby Labonte, Nelson Piquet Jr., Kevin Harvick himself, and Burney Lamar.

The team was owned and operated by Kevin and DeLana Harvick from the year of its inception (2001 as a part-time truck team) through the time of its sale to Richard Childress Racing (RCR) following the 2011 season. The reason for the team’s sale to Childress was stated to be Harvick wanting to focus on winning a driver’s championship, which he would later do in 2014, driving for close friend and former driver, Tony Stewart.

The No. 62 KHI Ford will be supported by Hunt Brothers Pizza, a long-time sponsor of Kevin Harvick and KHI (the management firm) aligned drivers.

The Main Characters

Kevin and DeLana Harvick

The former team owners proudly announced their relaunch this morning to quite a bit of fanfare, announcing that Harvick would not only race this one race but an undisclosed (and probably undetermined) number of races before eventually capping off his driving career. The car is meant to resemble Harvick’s old No. 6, in which he began his career.

#TeamKHI (the management firm which the prior race team ultimately became) had a little bit of fun on Twitter reacting to the amount of fanfare in replies the team has received.

Around The Garage

Harvick’s son, Keelan, got in on the fun, Tweeting the following:

With Keelan starting to race himself, could we see a dad vs. son on the Late Model scene? Maybe, maybe not…but Keelen did race against his dad, also driving a No. 62 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford, during the iRacing Invitational back in 2021.

Former NASCAR driver and current dirt racer, Kenny Wallace, also had some nice things to say about this announcement:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. also took some time to Tweet his support. He will also be racing against Harvick at Wilkesboro on May 17th.

Even the track itself is liking what they’re seeing…

Lionel Racing has already announced that a dicast will be made of the car…

They have already Tweeted out a rendering of the car.

In The Stands

Seems like Harvick is winning over some of his haters. Jerrod Clifton can’t help but get behind him!

Zach predicts that Keelan may one day get behind the wheel of the No. 62 bad boy.

Jackie wished she could have caught an earlier flight…a few days earlier.

Jo Jo is loving the throwback number font. It’s so vintage!

Samet is a little disappointed it’s not a throwback to Havick’s black and silver No. 29 from the early days of RCR.

Bryce Kingsolver predicts a jump to Cup might someday be in Kevin Harvick and KHI’s future…

Michael Stewart asks another CARS Tour co-owner, Jeff Burton, when he’s announcing his run in the race.

Jesse is estatic that KHI has returned after being inactive for twelve years.

Christopher wants the throwback of all throwbacks, open trailer and everything.

On Your Screen

DennyDelivers on YouTube digs the return of KHI.

Kevin Harvick being the only active Cup Series driver slated to run the Late Model race at North Wilkesboro so far, one can only assume that he’ll be a favorite to win. Regardless, we at the Daily Downforce will track this story as well as others from North Wilkesboro for All-Star week as soon as they break.