Kevin Harvick was born on the 8th December 1975 in Bakersfield, California. When he graduated for kindergarten in 1980 his parents Mike and JoNell bought him his first go-cart as a present. Kevin took to go-karting exceptionally well and during the next ten years competed in the sport, gaining several national championship along with two Grand National championships. When he was seventeen and still in high school he began racing late models on a part-time basis in the Featherlite Southwest Series. His father owned his own garage, Harvick Motorsports, and therefore was able to build a car for Kevin to compete in the lower NASCAR series.

Kevin Harvick in Zanesville, Ohio 2006 (Wiki Commons)

Kevin made hi debut in his home town of Bakersfield in 1995 at the age of twenty driving the family owned #72 where he finished in 27th place. In the next season he drove the #72 for four races, again at the Mesa Marin Raceway. His best place at this raceway was 11th. Two years later he drove the #75 when he was signed up for Spears Motorsports mid=season, gaining two eight- place finishes. The following year he drove a full season, posting three top-five places and he finished 17th in points. This was also the year he moved on to the AutoZone West Series in the NASCAR Grand National Division and in 1998 he won five races whilst driving for Spears. During the Winter of 1998/1998 he received his first national exposure on ESPN2’s coverage of the Tuscan Raceway Park’s NASCAR Winter Heat Series. Kevin finishes 12th in points with six top-five finishes in 1999 when driving the #98 Porter Cable Ford for Liberty Racing.

During his career Kevin has raced in other series such as the 1998 West Series championships when he completed four races with one win. In 1999 he competed twice in the ARCA RE/Max Series, driving the #20 Invinca-Shields/Realtree Chevrolet for Childress when he finished each time in the top-five position. 21st July 2008 saw him win $37,300 in the TD Banknorth Oxford 250 in Oxford, Maine when he defeated regulars; Glen Luce and Joey Polewarcxyk Jr.

In 2010 Kevin and his wife , DeLana established the Kevin Harvick Foundation, a foundation aiming to enrich the lives of underprivileged children in the United States. The foundation hopes to improve the quality of the childrens’ lives and enable them to realize their dreams. Programmes have been set up as the Kevin Harvick Athletic Scholarship Fund at California State University, a camper cabin at Victory Junction, Baptist Children’s Homes of NC, Boys and Girls Clubs and Kevin’s Krew.

In his personal life Kevin lives in Kernersville, North Carolina with his wife, DeLana, three dogs and two cats.

Kevin has appeared on talk shows as a guest and he was also on the first season of FX’s NASCAR Drivers: 360 which took an in-depth look at the drivers outside of the track and the preparation it takes to make a NASCAR driver

Kevin also enjoyed wrestling when he was in high school and competed in the wrestling team during the Winter months when he couldn’t drive and won a section title for his weight class in his senior year.

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Kevin Harvick - Wikipedia
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