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Kevin and DeLana pose with the 2007 NASCAR Truck Series Champion
trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Photo: CIA Stock Photography
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"For me it's obviously a little
bit more personal than it probably has been for a lot of other
people, but to share that moment with (Hornaday) on the
backstretch and be the first one to congratulate him, that's
something I'll never forget,"
- Kevin Harvick |
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Kevin and DeLana Harvick add truck title to
growing list of accomplishments
Championships weren't the initial reason Kevin Harvick decided
to go truck racing -- he was simply chasing the one that had
gotten away.
On his way to the top ranks of NASCAR, Harvick's years in the
Craftsman Truck Series didn't include a victory. Once he'd won
Nationwide and Cup races, he was determined to win in a truck.
Wife DeLana, the daughter of a racer, supported his dream and
Kevin Harvick Inc. was born in 2001. KHI has since won races in
both the Craftsman Truck and Nationwide Series and now there's a
championship trophy in Kernersville, N.C., as well.
Ron Hornaday Jr. saw to that in November when he captured the
truck title at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
That it was Hornaday who won the title brought the type of story
that seemingly happens only in racing full circle. When Harvick
first moved to North Carolina from his native California, he
slept on a couch in Hornaday's home.
Harvick never forgot that generosity and hired Hornaday to drive
his Chevrolet Silverados in 2005. Now Harvick, who has won two
Nationwide championships as a driver, has an owner's title to share
with his wife.
DeLana had celebrated the championships Kevin won on the track,
but this one belongs to her every bit as much.
"There's nothing that can quite describe the feeling that you
have when it's your own and your own team because we're there
every day with these guys and we see how hard they work," DeLana
said. "Coming into [the finale at Homestead], I told Kevin, it's
got to be over for me. I can't go up and down anymore. My
emotions were completely shot. I don't know how these guys do
what they do every weekend because for me being a competitor is
emotionally draining. To watch this race unfold was probably one
of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life.
"The 33 team, they've been so resilient and they're so
determined, and Ron Hornaday, what can you say about him? To
watch him battle like he has, and to battle Mike Skinner, they
mean so much to the truck series. That's what's so cool for
Kevin and I is Ron has done so much for Kevin, and to be able to
give back to him, that's just not a feeling that you can
describe."
Hornaday was in need of a ride for '05, and Harvick felt his
team needed another driver to take the next step forward. To say
it's been a mutually beneficial pairing would be understating
the point.
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