NASCAR: Stewart-Haas Racing’s lone constant to carry on
By Asher Fair
The one NASCAR Cup Series driver who has remained constant at Stewart-Haas Racing over the years is Kevin Harvick, and he is now under contract for another four years.
Before making the switch to Stewart-Haas Racing ahead of the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series season, Kevin Harvick had spent his entire 13-year career in the series at Richard Childress Racing after taking over for seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt following his tragic passing in the 2001 season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
In his first three years at his new team, not much changed for him nor the team as a whole. Harvick won his first championship in his first year driving the #4 Chevrolet in 2014, and he drove the #4 Chevrolet for the team in the 2015 and 2016 seasons as well.
The team’s driver lineup remained constant, aside of the occasional temporary replacement, from 2014 to 2016, with Harvick behind the wheel of the #4 Chevrolet, Danica Patrick behind the wheel of the #10 Chevrolet, Tony Stewart behind the wheel of the #14 Chevrolet and Kurt Busch behind the wheel of the #41 Chevrolet.
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But after that, no two seasons have been alike for the Gene Haas and Tony Stewart-owned operation.
Except when it comes to the #4 car.
The team switched manufacturers from Chevrolet to Ford after the 2016 season, which is when Stewart retired from his driving duties and gave up his ride behind the #14 Chevrolet-turned-Ford to Clint Bowyer. After the 2017 season, it was Patrick who retired from full-time competition, and Aric Almirola replaced her behind the wheel of the #10 Ford.
After the 2018 season, Busch made the switch to Chip Ganassi Racing, opening the door for Daniel Suarez to replace him behind the wheel of the #41 Ford. Keeping the trend alive for another year, the team promoted Xfinity Series driver Cole Custer to the #41 Ford and released Suarez after the 2019 season.
That makes four new teammates in four seasons for the driver of the #4 Ford, and the trend could continue in 2021 with Bowyer and Almirola set to enter contract years.
But Harvick, despite the fact that he is the second oldest full-time driver in the field at 44 years of age and is slated to become the oldest once Jimmie Johnson retires after the 2020 season, has remained constant.
And for four more years, that is slated to remain the case.
Harvick had already been under contract with Stewart-Haas Racing through the 2021 season, even amid mounting retirement speculation (even though he never indicated he was even remotely preparing to walk away from the sport).
But yesterday, it was revealed that he and the team had agreed to a two-year contract extension to keep him behind the wheel of one of the team’s four cars through the 2023 season, which would be his 23rd season of Cup Series competition and his 10th at Stewart-Haas Racing.
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Will the next four seasons by Kevin Harvick’s final four seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series? Will he retire at Stewart-Haas Racing? How much different will the team’s driver lineup look in 2023 compared to now, which is already so much different than it looked just a few short years ago?